Colne suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of an in form Longridge Town on Tuesday evening but will point to an injury sustained by keeper Harry Allen early in the game that greatly restricted his abilities during the game.
In the opening stages Allen made some good saves to keep out shots by the Longridge attackers.
But after thirteen minutes he was injured in a crowded goalmouth while clearing a high cross from a corner and needed lengthy treatment.
When play resumed a subsequent corner was headed home at the near post by Owen Watkinson to give Longridge the lead.
Five minutes later Longridge doubled their lead when Watkinson’s shot was deflected over Allen and looped into the Colne net. As Longridge pressed home their advantage Allen did well to save a well struck free kick on his line but was powerless to keep out the follow up as Matty Van Wyk tapped in from close range for a three goal advantage.
On the half hour Longridge got a fourth goal when Watkinson forced the ball home in a crowded Colne goalmouth following a corner kick.
Colne looked to attack on the wings and Josh Green worked his way into the home area after 37 minutes only to be clearly pulled back by a defender but the referee waved aside claims for a penalty.
And with half time approaching Longridge added a fifth goal when a backpass put Allen in trouble and Van Wyk scored from an easy chance.
Three minutes after the interval Longridge made it 6-0 when Watkinson headed home at the near post from a corner kick and seven minutes later it was 7-0 as Jordan Dainty found the Colne net with a diagonal shot into the far corner after cutting in from the right wing.
Colne came close on the hour at the other end when a corner was half cleared by the home defence and Alex Pile saw his well struck twenty five yard shot turned over the bar with a good save by the Longridge keeper.
But Longridge made it 8-0 on sixty four minutes when Colne lost the ball when pushing forward and Nathan Whalley had a simple tap in with the Reds defence exposed.
In the closing stages Colne looked for a consolation and created a series of half chances but Shak Ali crashed his shot against the crossbar when he looked a certain scorer in the closing minutes of the game.
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