BOOTLE WIN 5 IN A ROW

By Brendan Doyle

The Bucks asserted their dominance into the game almost straight away as Joe Woolley found himself with the ball at his feet with a half volley chance but the effort went just wide of the Atherton Collieries goal. As Bootle continued to stay on top, Xavier Smith whipped in a promising ball in towards Courtney Duffus who was seemingly nudged in the back and went down appealing for a penalty, but the referee waved play on.

Atherton Collieries had their first clear cut chance of the game as Kielen Adams had a ball played into his path and managed to get a shot away but Tony Thompson was untroubled by the effort and made an easy save. Bootle eventually took the lead after a corner was whipped in by Xavier Smith and Matty Fenton got the flick on but it come off an Atherton Collieries player and ended up in the back of the net, a deserving lead for Bootle heading into the tunnel at half time.

The hosts started the second half much better than they finished the first as they put Bootle under more pressure and made more work for Tony Thompson as a Sam Sheridan cross found Neil Battersby in the area but Tony Thompson made a fantastic save to it to keep Bootle ahead. Chinedu Uche came on and made an impact cutting in from the left flank causing Bootle headaches, but after weathering a short storm, Bootle went 2-0 up after a very well executed counter attack resulted in Courtney Duffus found the back of the net, a big relief for Bootle some might of said at the time.

The match would finish 2-0 Bootle after a very good performance away from home yet again showing that the lads are a solid unit and work for each other. This would be our fifth consecutive win and third consecutive win away from home, long may this form continue.