Ashton Utd 4 Atherton Collieries 3

A high scoring encounter at Hurst Cross saw the home side recover from falling behind before holding on in the final reckoning against the ten men of Atherton.

Captain Nathan Lowe was restored into the Robins' midfield and Alex Byrne was back on the right wing and it was his early cross which was blocked out at the near post before his next delivery saw Warren Clarke denied at the far.

Lewis Mansell then cut inside and brought a decent save out of Cooper in the home goal and a decent build up then led to Mitchell Rose clearing the crossbar with a rangefinder. On 13 minutes Byrne's cross came off James Hardy for Jake Charles to volley it over the top but the game sprung to life after half an hour as Ben Rydel delivered a corner for Colls which saw Sidi Fofana's far post header helped home close in by Dylan Moonan. Immediately Enock Lusiama was fouled outside the area by Ashton's advancing keeper who picked up a yellow card for his troubles.

4 minutes later a good turn by Charles won a corner at the other end and when Alex Byrne delivered it Sean Newton was on hand to sweep the ball home at the far post. On the stroke of half time Byrne's chip to the by line saw Luke Burke provide a fine left foot finish from a narrow angle a minute after Teddy Mfuni had seen red for the visitors picking up a second yellow card for a late challenge on Byrne.

3 minutes into the second period a great combination between Byrne and Burke saw Nathan Lowe find space in the area for an emphatic finish and 4 minutes later the game seemed safe as James Hardy picked up a loose ball and exchanged passes with Mitchell Rose before firing past Calderbank-Park. With the hosts rampant at this point Scanlon was penalised for a foul on Couto out wide with Lowe's curling effort coming back off the crossbar.

With 4 minutes left Oli Putnam played a 1-2 on the edge of the area with Dan Cowan's miscue allowing the sub to pull a goal back and entering added time a left wing cross was turned back by Fofana for another sub Dylan Thompson to help the ball home.