Atherton Collieries Under-18s confirmed progression to the next round of the Lancashire County Youth Cup with a comfortable 5-0 ‘Flatcap’ derby win against Laburnum Rovers at the Dreams2Reality Stadium on Sunday.

In-form striker Liam Sheppard collected the iconic man-of-the-match Flatcap award with a four-goal showing, joining an elusive list of names such as Paul Atherton, Joel Amado and Brad Cooke in the Atherton derby hall of fame, with the accolade presented by Colls vice president Eric Lancaster post-match.

The young forward started the game as he meant to go on, controlling a great 40-yard pass from Harry Stephens to beat the offside trap and slot home.

Stephens produced a second assist from the halfway line just moments later, this time finding the head of Alfie Rogers, who flicked home above the on-rushing visiting goalkeeper.

Atherton’s Black and Whites eventually took a four-goal lead into the interval, with Sheppard notching his second following a wayward back-pass in the Rovers defence.

And he sealed his hat-trick with an acrobatic turn to score from a tight angle after pressuring the defence into a repeat mistake.

The forward was unfortunate not to take a fourth of his own into the interval, almost recording a goal-of-the-season contender following a great one-touch passing move between Harrys’ Brown and Stephens, with the latter crossing in for Sheppard to hit a fantastic volley from the edge of the box, met by a great save from the goalkeeper.

Laburnum Rovers came out for the second half with great character and resolve, rediscovering a foothold in the game as the Collieries opted to manage fitness and see out the result.

However, it was Sheppard who unsurprisingly rounded off the scoring.

The forward was reintroduced following an injury to Brown, and collected the ball from Luis Monteiro, who did well to dispossess the defence, before calmly placing home.

The Young Stripes are next in action against Winstanley Warriors on Sunday, to be played at 2.30pm at Horwich St Mary’s Scholes Bank, before travelling to Stalybridge on October 27h, as they look to strengthen their claim at the top end of the North West Youth Alliance First Division table.