Colne 3 Lostock St Gerards 4

Colne welcomed Lostock St Gerards for a pre-season friendly at the Haffners Eats Stadium on Saturday after the scheduled game against Padiham had been cancelled. The visitors from the West Lancs League provided excellent opposition in a competitive and entertaining game.

Lostock took the lead after only two minutes with a left wing attack and a shot which was parried by the Colne keeper at the near post before the ball was fired home into the far corner of the Reds net. And Colne needed to defend some lively attacks by the visitors who were clearly up for the game.

The Reds settled into the game and began to create some good attacks with Miles Storey making runs on the left wing and providing crosses into the visitors’ penalty area. And Jack Holt was only denied by the outstretched leg of the keeper as he looked a certain scorer with a great chance in front of goal after 25 minutes as Colne created a series of good chances.

And when Holt forced another good save from the keeper, Jamie Walker fired home the rebound to level the scores at 1-1. But with half time approaching, Lostock restored their lead with a breakaway goal as the ball was chipped over the advancing Colne keeper for a 1-2 scoreline at the interval.

Colne came back strongly in the second half with the introduction of some more experienced players and levelled the scores at 2-2 when a good cross was fired home by Luke Stowe from just inside the visitors’ area after 50 minutes. Five minutes later, Lostock went in front again with a penetrating run and a good finishing shot into the bottom corner.

Colne pushed forward looking for another equaliser but found the Lostock keeper in good form behind his solid defence. After 74 minutes, the Reds levelled the scores when Mo Butt and Storey combined on the left wing to supply a cross for Stowe to fire home for a 3-3 scoreline.

Colne continued to press for a winner and were denied a penalty when Stowe was brought down on his run into the visitors’ area. But a late tackle at the other end after 89 minutes saw a penalty awarded to Lostock which was comfortably converted for the winning goal at 3-4.