by Garry Clarke Pictures John Hopkins
THERE was no early Christmas present for Warrington Rylands as they were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom of the table Atherton Collieries.
Despite taking an 11th minute lead Rylands were unable to hold on to the advantage and missed the chance to go level on points with league leaders Radcliffe.
Atherton’s Lewis Mansell gave the home side an early warning drawing a fine save from goalkeeper Luke Pilling in the opening minutes after Adama Sidibeh had seen a first-minute shot deflected over the visitor’s bar for a corner.
Rylands soon gained control of the game with former Colls player Ben Hardcastle drilling the ball into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the area.
Hardcastle celebrates with his teammates
Rylands continued to push forward but were thwarted by Colls goalkeeper Joe O’Shaughnessy, a native Warringtonian, who pulled off a string of good saves to deny Sidibeh, twice, Hardcastle and Joe Adams.
Adams was also slightly off target with a free kick which went just over the bar.
The second half started with Nathan Caine forcing Pilling into a smart save low down before Rylands regained control with Sidibeh being released by a ball over the defence but he dragged his shot wide while O’Shaughnessy did well to tip an Adams header over the bar.
Looking anything but a team at the foot of the table, Atherton were working hard to keep Rylands at bay and started to threaten their hosts goal with Adam Dawson firing a free kick over their bar.
They got their reward in the 75th minute when Josh Solomon-Davies got in behind the Rylands defence to pull the ball back to Enoch Luisama who scored from close range.
With the game becoming stretched in the closing stages, Sidibeh was denied by some good last ditch defending as the points were shared.
WARRINGTON RYLANDS: Pilling Smith Swaby-Neavin Butler Regan Furman Hardcastle Hough (Neild) Pedro (Baillie) Adams (Uche) Sidibeh; Subs not used: Touray, Hurst
ATHERTON COLLIERIES: O’Shaugnhessy Solomon-Davies Evans Rydel Boon Ali Putnam Fofana Mansell Dawson Caine; Subs: Coulton Moonan Thompson Lusiama Scanlon
Refeeree Jonathan Wyatt Attendance 411
Ben Hardcastle goal v Atherton Colls #WeAreRylandshttps://t.co/m00yZrddwd
— Warrington Rylands FC (@RylandsFC) December 23, 2023
Atherton Colls Post Match interview now available on our YouTube channel!!https://t.co/FUkYQFKUnK
— Warrington Rylands FC (@RylandsFC) December 23, 2023
