Mickleover ended their recent run of poor results with a well-deserved 2-0 win at home to Atherton Collieries thanks to a brace from Mason Warren.
Both goals came at the start of the second half and Mickleover then defended well to see out the victory.
It was a very slow start to the game for both sides, there was barely a chance between the sides in the opening 15 minutes.
Andy Dales looked to change that in the 16th minute with an excellent driving run from inside his own half, but his pass across goal evaded everyone in the box and went out for a goal kick.
Atherton should have gone in front after 27 minutes when the ball dropped to Elliot Rokka just outside the six-yard box, but his powerful effort was well saved by Hawkins.
However, Mason Warren opened the scoring for Mickleover just three minutes into the second half with an excellent volley smashed into the bottom corner. An Andy Dales cross was half cleared by an Atherton defender, but it fell to an alert Warren and he made no mistake from 18 yards out.
Five minutes later and Mickleover had a penalty following a clumsy foul on Dales, who would have been in on goal following a chipped through ball. Warren stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way.
Atherton then began to grow in the game having the majority of possession but the Mickleover defence was staying very strong and limiting the away side to only a couple of half chances.
It was very nearly 3-0 however in the 68th minute, Kemy Agustien nearly caught the keeper out with a cheeky free kick but it hit the inside of the post and then the keeper before falling to Stuart Beavon a couple of yards out, but his effort was somehow saved again by Hutchinson. Agustien claimed on twitter that his effort actually crossed the line but sadly for him, the Northern Premier League Premier Division is yet to install VAR.
Some very solid defending from Mickleover meant they managed to see out the victory with relative ease, leading to them claiming all three points and a clean sheet in a successful afternoon.
John McGrath said he set the defence the target of keeping more clean sheets and they duly obliged, the back four and keeper were very solid.
The win meant Mickleover climbed out of the relegation zone, much to the delight of their manager.
He said: “I was delighted with the performance. I thought the performances of late have been very good and yesterday was an accumulation of everything coming together. We scored the goals at the right times and I thought everybody impacted the game.
He added: “We worked harder (than in previous games) for the whole 90 minutes, rather than just for 45 or 60 minutes. Hopefully this win can be the catalyst for us to kick on and start stringing some results together.”
Mickleover’s next match is another home game against Warrington town on Saturday 20th November.
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