Colne 1, Winsford United 0: WINSFORD were undone by the weather as much as the North West Counties League second division title favourites on Saturday.
A torrential downpour before the start of the game left the pitch covered in pools of water and the match should not have gone ahead.
However, the referee, perhaps conscious of Colne's backlog of fixtures and diminishing time to accommodate them, decided otherwise.
It went against the Blues as the pitch soon turned into a quagmire and their passing game was made impossible.
The home team made the stronger start but they found the Blues defence on top form, and any efforts that got past them were dealt with by Barry Crellin. But on 20 minutes, a Daniel Heys free kick on the left evaded everyone and finished in the far right corner of the net.
Neil Harrison almost levelled but his free kick just cleared the bar. Winsford were lucky not to go two down when Rob Corcoran cleared off the line and Crellin produced a fine fingertip save from the follow-up.
Winsford started the second half with more purpose and Chris Melia and Ian Givin both squandered good chances in the first five minutes.
Their bigger opponents began to take control of the game and it needed Crellin to produce fine saves from Scott Gizon, Ian Simpson and Gary Rushton to keep the score to a single goal.
The Blues threw everyone forward for the equaliser in the closing minutes but the home defence was well organised and managed to repel all attacks.
UNITED: Crellin; Frost, Well-stead, Chambers, Corcoran, Hutchinson, Webber, Quinn, Melia, Givin, Harrison.
Att: 107
Star Man: Stuart Wellstead, great all-round display
Next Best: Danny Frost
Team Rating: 3
Match Rating: 3
