North West Counties League
Atherton Colleries 0 Leek CSOB 0
LEEK CSOB hit the road for the second consecutive Saturday with another depleted squad on a wet and windy day in Atherton.
The Old Boys were forced to shuffle the pack with Dan Cope and Charlie Knott both injured and Jon Sheldon unavailable. They included new signing Ian Bold and gave a debut to 18-year-old Sam Chawner Atherton were looking to take all three points to move them up into the top four of the table.
The home side dominated possession without really troubling Rhodes in the Old Boys’ goal and at the other end, Chawner pounced on a mistake but shot wide.
The half drew to a close without either side doing enough to take the lead but the Old Boys were pleased with their work rate and defensive play.
With the slope now with Atherton, it was the hosts who again started well but they again failed to trouble Rhodes. When Atherton did eventually manage to beat the keeper, Wooliscroft got himself in a good position to clear the ball off the line.
The visitors now reverted to 4-5-1 formation content to try to restrict the hosts to the long-range efforts and crosses which Ball, Wooliscroft and Heath were handling very well.
The Old Boys created a good opportunity in the 75th minute when the tireless Mellor broke into the box but his cross was well intercepted by the Atherton defence.
Atherton continued to try to make the breakthrough but the Old Boys stood firm to earn a well-earned point.
