Atherton Collieries poor start to the NPL West season continued after they fell to a 3-0 defeat to Witton Albion at the Dreams2Reality Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
A brace from Joe Duckworth and an Elliot Rokka wonder strike saw off the Colls who recorded a fourth defeat of the season.
The game started at a slow pace, but on the cusp of the 20-minute mark, Duckworth met a great ball into the area and started the rout.
Duckworth got his second as he rounded the despairing Ellis Litherland to double his tally and the lead with 27 minutes gone.
The third goal after the break for Witton was the pick of the bunch as ex-Colls man Rokka collected the ball outside of the area before unleashing a wonder strike from 30 yards from that flew past Litherland in the Colls goal on 61 minutes.
Colls tried to mount a comeback through efforts by Adam Dawson and Eden Bailey, but were unable to breach a stubborn Albion backline.
The Colls return to action on Bank Holiday Monday with a trip to Wythenshawe, before a two-week break courtesy of next weekend’s FA Cup schedule.
The next match at the Dreams2Reality Stadium will be the Under-18s opening foray into the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday, September 4.
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