Atherton Collieries v 1874 Northwich (Kick off 3pm)
North West Counties League Division One
Referee Anthony Ball
Venue Alder Street, Atherton, Greater Manchester M46 9EY
Admission Adults £5, Concessions (NUS/OAP) £3

Atherton Colls
Leading scorer Paul Atherton (20)
Form (Past six home in league) D D W L L W
Record (home) P14 W8 D4 L2 F42 A22 Pts28
Record (overall) Pos3 P26 W16 D6 L4 F73 A41 Pts54

1874 (from) Conkie (GK), Duckworth, Farnworth, Mitchell, Tagoe, Thomas, Aston, Bailey, Jones, Murphy, Stewart, Woods, Woolley, Brandon, Lunn, McGregor, Ward, Wellstead
Doubtful none
Injured Foy (broken leg)
Suspended none
Leading scorer Mike Brandon (27)
Form (Past six away in league) W L W L W W
Record (away) P13 W9 D2 L2 F30 A15 Pts29
Record (overall) Pos4 P24 W16 D4 L4 F53 A24 Pts52

Match pointers
FOR a first ever meeting between these two teams, there is a lot at stake.

1874 Northwich will swap places with their hosts – two points better off but from more games played – if they score maximum points at Alder Street.

Ian Street’s men have won six of their past seven Division One matches, including a comfortable 3-0 victory at lowly Daisy Hill’s expense last weekend.

However they have lost three of four head-to-heads this season to date against their rivals in the race for promotion.

Despite having Danny Thomas available again last Saturday, he stuck with newcomer Michael Aston in defence alongside Craig Farnworth.

Lee Jones was preferred to Rick Bailey in the centre of the pitch alongside Matthew Woolley.

Hosts Atherton have won only one of their past five league matches at Alder Street, including a 2-2 draw with promotion-chasing Formby last time out.

That means none of the other teams hoping to finish inside the top two – Nelson, Hanley and the Squirrels – have managed to win a Division One match there this term.