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Atherton Collieries’ midfielder Jack Lenehan was the standout as his side sealed their progression into the Second Qualifying round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 replay win away at Bridlington Town.
Having drawn 1-1 at the Skuna stadium last weekend, the Colls had to make a 216-mile round trip up to the East Riding of Yorkshire just three days later. And on what was an unusually warm evening on the coast, Lenehan netted a second half penalty to help Brad Cooke’s men on their way to the next round.
That his first ever goal in the FA Cup, the 22-year-old was delighted to have secured the victory.
He said: “First of all, I’m just really happy to get through the round. They made it difficult for us over the two games so to get the win here tonight was important. In the second half especially, we showed a lot of people how well we can play so we’re happy with that and hopefully we can take it into the league then the next round of the competition as well.
“I’m delighted with the goal too. When I’m taking a penalty, I just like to pick my spot. I commit to it as much as I can and back myself to put it where I want to put it with enough pace on it to make sure that the ‘keeper can’t get there.”
Progression in the cup adds to some relative success in the league for the Black and Whites already this season. Three wins from their opening six games in the seventh tier leaves them 11th in the table with a game in hand on those above them.
Having been tipped for relegation by some again before the start of this campaign as the club with the lowest budget in the league, Lenehan wants and believes that there could be more to come from the team.
“We’ve had a good start. Of course, there have been games that have been tough, every game in our league now is tough, but we’ve got a good few wins under our belt now and long may that continue.
“It’s a cliché because a lot of people say it, but we’ve got to try and take one game at a time. We can’t get too carried away because there are too many good teams in the league and if you do, you’ll become stuck.
“We just have to try and take confidence from the win tonight and build on it. As a group, we talk about momentum a lot so if we can start picking up some wins and climbing the table then that’s got to be the aim.”
Signed from fellow Northern Premier League Premier Division outfit FC United of Manchester last year, Lenehan is fast becoming a fan favourite at Atherton and earned the club’s Man of the Match award for his performance in the cup win at Bridlington, becoming more influential as the game went on.
Jack Lenehan converts his penalty against Bridlington Town / Credit: David Featherstone (@FabPhotographic)
And while the league is the priority for both he and his teammates, the midfielder isn’t dismissing a cup run either.
“Everyone says that a good cup run can help in the league. We know how big it is for the club and without a doubt, we want to do well ourselves too. We saw a lot of teams in the lower leagues do well in the FA Cup last year so hopefully that can be us this year as well as doing well in the league.
“Even in some of the other competitions that we’re involved in like the FA Trophy which we have a better chance of getting further in, we want to win every game that we’re involved in. That’s the attitude that we’ve got to take going forwards.”
Lenehan and the Colls will continue their bid for success this campaign back at home in the league this coming Saturday – August 11 – as they welcome Grantham Town to the Skuna stadium. It is there where their FA Cup quest will pick up too, when Witton Albion are the visitors the following week on September 18.
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