Colne got off to a solid start to the season with a point from their away game at Trafford on Saturday.
The Shawe View Stadium is never an easy place to go and the Reds were forced to defend in the first half, but grew into the game after the interval to earn a well deserved draw.
In the opening stages, Trafford pushed forward with some dangerous attacks as Curtis Miller tested the Reds defence with some good runs in the final third. But Lee Pugh was on hand to head away a dangerous cross in the Colne goalmouth and Hakan Burton was quickly off his line to clear the danger from another raid by the home side.
The constant aerial threat of Trafford’s tall defenders from set pieces had the Reds defence under pressure at times, but again Tom Dean and Tyler Forbes made vital clearances.
Colne’s sporadic attacks frequently broke down on the edge of the opposition area, but a good run by Billy Hasler-Cregg after 34 minutes gave Reece Webb-Foster a half chance and his shot flew just wide of the Trafford goal.
Four minutes later however, the Reds fell behind when Darius Palma cut in from the right wing with a penetrating run and slipped the ball through for Mike Burke to fire home at the near post and give Trafford the lead.
Colne emerged for the second half in a more determined mood and a series of good attacks had the home side defending desperately with Ollie Roberts finding gaps in the Trafford rearguard and Hasler-Cregg being denied as Trafford keeper Matt Cooper dived at his feet in the penalty area.
As play swung to the other end, Burton raced from his area to head the ball clear from a break by the home side. But Colne still enjoyed the majority of the attacking play as Cooper fisted away high crosses from a series of corners.
After 73 minutes, Paul Dugdale’s cross from the left wing found Webb-Foster 12 yards from goal and although his first shot was blocked, he fired the rebound into the roof of the net to equalise for Colne.
In the end-to-end play that followed, both sides looked for a winner and the result could have gone either way as Forbes made a vital clearance to head the ball over his own bar from a searching cross by Miller in the Colne goalmouth. And at the other end, Roberts and Webb-Foster both came close with shots in a crowded Trafford penalty area.
At the final whistle, both sides settled for a deserved draw and will meet again in seven days time in the FA Cup Preliminary Round to continue what is proving to be a close contest.
Colne F.C. Line Up:
Hakan Burton / Tyler Forbes / Lee Pugh / Tom Brown* / Tom Dean / Ryan Taylor / Anthony Williams / Oli Roberts / Billy Hasler-Cregg / Reece Webb-Foster / Harry Winstanley**
Subs:
Alex Dodd* / Paul Dugdale**-*** / Harry Cannon-Noren***
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