Liam Ralph's penalty going in

Stoneclough had by far the better of the first half, with much of the game played in Atherton's half of the pitch. A strong, solid performance by the Atherton defence though, meant that chances for the West Lancs side were few and far between. However, as soon as the Atherton defence cleared one attack the ball was lost further up the field and Stoneclough came back at them. Only one goal separated the teams at half time and that came from the penalty spot following a handball decision. While Stoneclough deserved to be ahead it did seem a slightly harsh decision as the ball was blasted straight at an Atherton defender from almost point blank range and he had little time to move out of the way. However, sometimes these are given and sometimes not. This time it was and Liam Ralph made no mistake from the penalty spot. Atherton's keeper Chris Brinksman made an excellent save just before the break when a through ball sent Brett Deane on a free run at goal.

The second half started in a similar fashion, but two goals in two minutes put Atherton ahead. On 58 minutes a 40 yard free kick by Rob Hope was sent into the area. Stoneclough keeper Craig Tebay seemed caught in two minds on how to deal with it and the ball bounced over his head and into the net. On 60 minutes Atherton took the lead when they were awarded a free kick 5 yards outside the area. Phil Howard took the kick and curled the ball round the wall and straight in. LR began to play with more confidence and it began to look as if they'd at least hold on to their lead but Stoneclough levelled on 75 minutes when a long ball was sent into the area and found Andy Jenkinson. Despite three defenders and just the one Stoneclough player in the area, Jenkinson had time to control the ball, turn and hit a powerful drive past Brinksman. Five minutes later Stoneclough scored what was to be the winning goal. Their tails were up again as they clearly believed they could win the game and they pressured the Atherton defence. When a high ball was sent into the area, substitute Steve Harrison controlled the ball well and hit home. Atherton tried to rescue the game, but good work by the Stoneclough defence meant that Tebay only had one real save to make.