ATHERTON Collieries are facing a double-final dilemma, as they're fast becoming victims of their own success.

Colls reached the final of the Hospital Cup with a 4-0 semi-final victory over Ladybridge on Thursday.

And while the side from the North West Counties Premier Division are relishing the opportunity to take on Prestwich Heys at the Macron Stadium on May 9 that's only half of the story.

Colls must play a second cup final 24 hours later, as they are to contest the Men United Cup final at Fleetwood Town's Highbury ground the following day.

Not that manager Mike Clegg is complaining. Fresh from their semi-final success at Crilly Park, he told The Bolton News: "These are two massive finals so we'll be putting two teams out that we've got confidence in and that we feel can get the results. We have a few lads coming back who played in the earlier rounds so they're eligible to turn out for us.

"We're frustrated by it as I'm sure the competition organisers could have put their heads together and avoided this situation but we've come a long way over the last year and we're definitely not upset to be playing two finals at these two grounds.

"We hope we can with both as we're the holders of the Hospital Cup and we want to go one better in the Men United Cup after we lost in the final last season."

Colls' 4-0 win was far from a formality, as they could have fallen behind and lost a man to a red card on the half-hour mark. But moments after surviving that scare Jonathon Hurst put his side into the lead, latching onto Mark Truffas' through ball and lobbing the Ladybridge goalkeeper.

Minutes later the provider turned scorer as Truffas drove the ball unerringly into the top corner.

Goals for Jordan Cover either side of half time sealed Colls' win but Clegg was quick to pay tribute to their opponents from the West Lancashire League Division One.

"We could easily have been behind and down to 10 men in that first half," he admitted. "Chris Pauley brought their lad down on the edge of the box – it could easily have been given as a penalty and a red card.

"We got a bit of luck though, the referee awarded a free kick and Chris was only shown a yellow but from that point I think we deserved it. Those first two goals were sublime finishes from two very good players.

"All credit to Ladybridge though, they played some really good football. We're used to playing at a higher level each week and they definitely didn't disgrace themselves.

"We'll look forward to these finals now, we haven't conceded a goal in the Hospital Cup yet so we're all-out to retain the trophy.

"The second final is against Colne, who are second in the table, just above us. We've beaten them in the league already so that final should be a real humdinger.

"We lost the final last season to a very mature Glossop side. A crowd of 1,400 were there that night and we didn't do ourselves justice. We want to make amends this time, and there isn't a group of lads that deserve it more.

"They're a great bunch who make a lot of sacrifices and I want them to be successful as a reward for their dedication."

If Colls can overcome this fixture fiasco they'll be deserving of every ounce of success that comes their way.