ATHERTON Collieries’ impressive run in the Lancashire Challenge Trophy ended in a dramatic semi- final at the LFA County Ground on Tuesday night.

The North West Counties Division One leaders lost 2-0 to Evo- Stik Division One North outfit Clitheroe, despite playing against 10 men for more than an hour.

Clitheroe had player-manager Simon Garner sent off on 28 minutes after picking up two yellow cards in as many minutes.

The tie was in the balance until the last 10 minutes, David Lynch breaking the deadlock on 81 minutes and Louis Mayers sealing the victory seven minutes later to book Clitheroe a showdown with Chorley in the final.

Four days earlier Colls extended their winning run to eight games when they reached the semi-final of the NWCL First Division Cup.

The league leaders eased through with a 2-0 win at Barnton despite missing their two top scorers from the starting line-up. Strikers Mark Battersby and Mark Truffas were absent, but Jordan Cover stepped in to grab both goals in the space of a minute, notching his ninth and 10th of the season.

Manager Michael Clegg was delighted with Cover’s impact.

“Jordan has been great this year,”

he said.

“His attitude is spot on and he’s been unlucky to be behind Mark Battersby, who’s been on fire all season.

“The lads all went over to him after he scored and that’s a sign of our team spirit, which has been so important for us.”

Clegg made a few changes to the side that beat Colne in their previous match and was pleased with the response he got from his players.

“We knew it would be a tough game with us missing a few lads, so I told them it was an opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the remaining games.

All season, the whole group has been brilliant and hopefully we can achieve our goals in the league and cup.”

Collieries have back-to-back home games on Saturday (Eccleshall, kick off 3pm) and Monday (Chadderton, 7.45pm)