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Atherton Laburnum Rovers 0 Golcar United 3 Burnett, Bradshaw, Stor Att 160



The club were established as an under-14 team by Joe Riley in 1956,[2] and were originally named Laburnum Rovers, named after Laburnum Playing Fields where they first played.[3] They joined the Briarcroft Junior League in December that year despite the season already having started, as there was an odd number of teams due to other clubs dropping out;[3][4] their first competitive fixture was a league cup game against Marsh Players A, which they lost 10–0.[4]

As the players exceeded the league's age limit, the club applied to join the Farnworth under-17s League. However it folded before the season started, and club applied to join the Leigh & District League instead, a full age competition. In 1961 they joined the Bolton Combination.[4] They won the Division Two and the Division Two Trophy in 1965–66, and after moving into a new ground in the summer of 1966, were promoted to Division One for the 1966–67 season.[2]

In 1980 the club joined Division Two of the Cheshire County League,[5] but had to change their name as league rules required the name of the town to be included; as a result they became Atherton Laburnum Rovers.[3] Two seasons later the league merged with the Lancashire Combination to form the North West Counties League, with Atherton placed in Division Two.[5] In the 1984–85 season they won the Bolton Hospital Cup, beating Scotts Park United 3–1 in the final.

Despite finishing second-from-bottom of Division Two in 1986–87 the club were promoted to Division One as part of league reorganisation and due to the quality of the facilities at Crilly Park.[4] In 1992–93 the club won the Division One title, and after retaining it the following season, were promoted to Division One of the Northern Premier League.[5] The 1993–94 season also saw them reach the semi-finals of the FA Vase, in which they lost 2–1 to Diss Town in a replay at VS Rugby after the two legs finished 3–3 on aggregate;[5] the quarter final match against Aldershot saw the setting of the club's record attendance of 1,856.[1]

The club spent three seasons in the Northern Premier League, before finishing bottom of the division in 1996–97, resulting in relegation back to Division One of the North West Counties League. In 1998–99 they won the Goldline Trophy, beating Atherton Town 3–0 in the final Hilton Park in Leigh. In 1999–2000 the club were relegated again, this time to Division Two, after finishing bottom of Division One. However, a third-place finish in Division Two the following season saw them promoted back to Division One at the first attempt.[5] They also won the Bolton Hospital Cup for a second time, beating Ramsbottom United 2–1 in the final.

The 2003–04 season saw Atherton win two trophies; the Goldline Trophy was won when Blackrod Town were beaten 4–1 at the Reebok Stadium, whilst the Bolton Hospital Cup was won with a 3–1 win over Eagley at the same venue. They remained in the division (which was renamed the Premier Division in 2008)[5] until finishing bottom of the table in 2011–12, after which they were relegated to Division One.[5]

Just a smidgen over 7 months since I actually paid to get into a game, Crilly Park, Atherton was the venue for the home sides game against Golcar United who come from the people's reublic of Yorkshire and are based in Huddersfield.
This was the visitors third game of the seasonwhilst it was the home sides first having had one game postponed due to a soggy Crilly Park and the other down to the Vid in the Liverpool area.

Decent drive to the ground only a yoof who didn't look were he was going on his mountain bike got s tream of abuse which is unusual when behind the wheel
Got me test and track app to work at the gate paid a fiver could have paid concession but an extra £2 is not a problem useful to clubs at this level.
Masked up for a visit to the tea room as you do these days.

Second time I've been here the last time was to see Lancaster play Leigh Genesis on a Tuesday night a while ago. The odd thing about that night was behind the goal at the bottom of the slope is a railway line and to this day I still think a saw a car being driven down it, can be a bit odd around there.

Last saw LR years ago at Bamber Bridge when they were in Division one of the Evo Stick or whatever it was called in those days, since those heady days they have slipped down the league but with a loyal fan base have struggled on whilst being over taken by cross town rivals Collieriers.
It's a decent ground, main stand covered arears behind on goal and down one side, with a row of houses behind the goal at the top end.
There was a bit of support for the visitors with legaue fans from Huddersfield, Rotherham and Bolton also attending
THE GAME
The first half the visitors dominated a great early stop froman early shot by Torrance saved LR bing one down although not for long from a corner Burnett scored from close range after Forbes from the home side was flattened in the original aerial challenge for the ball


Forbes on the deck
Couldhave been two shortly afterwards but offside saved the home side although didn't look offside to me. There was a peiod were it got a bit fiesty three quick bookings and one of those 50/50 challenges were the ball is the victim.
Rovers rallieed for a while before Comber had the home sides first effort at goal, it went wide.
Getting towards half time Golcar upped the pressure and on the stroke of half time Bradshaw beat some ineffective challenges before burying home the second bottom left corner.
Impressive were Golcar using the left flank well were there was plenty of space, Stocker and Lawrence exploited the space excellently.

Rovers substituted their captain at half time put on a winger made them look better balanced, early Golcar dominance couldn't beat Torrance though as the game opened up Rovers finally tested Lawlor he pulled off some great saves to stop experienced Battersby from bagging a couple. The next goal would be crucial sadly for the home support Golcar got it.
Penalty, Torrance saved the kick but couldn't stop Stor from scoring. Game over with about 25 to go. Rovers battled away more decent saves by Lawlor and a header from a corner was cleared from the line by a United defender. In the end it was the right result although Rovers should take heart from the second half performance and the fact they made several good chances.


For anoraks only

The attendence was 160 which was probably better than the norm given Bolton were at home five miles away but can't get into league games.