ATHERTON Colls have set a twelve noon kick for the Bank Holiday Easter Monday NWCL Division One clash with Salford City hoping to attract a strong following to act as the trump card in a meeting the big spending visitors.

Salford are managed by former Manchester United star defender Billy Garton and include in their ranks star of the England semi pro team Ged Kimmins, one of Non-League's top goalscorers of recent seasons Tony Carroll, winger Karl Marginson, once of Rotherham United, and Steve Eyre, son of Fred who became a football legend with his hilarious books about his career in the lower reaches of the pro game.

Colls sprang a real surprise on Tuesday night with a 3-2 home win over third in the table Prescot Cables. Goals came from Brett Golding, Frank Smith and Stuart Shepherd but the real delight for everyone at the club was that there was much more to shout about than just one of the best results of the season.

Press secretary Paul Gregory explains: "We had a decent crowd on and that was just great to see. After everything we have been through this season both on and of the field it is just so fabulous to see everything coming together again at the same time.

"It is very gratifying that the local public is coming along to see us again and we feel that the football now being produced by the lads under Tommy Foster and Dennis Haslam is worthy of that support. Nothing shows that more than the win over Prescot.

"No neutral could have watched that game and said which of the sides was third in the table and which was near the bottom end. We more than matched one of the top sides in the division in every department and we now feel we can do that against the very best the North West Counties Division One has to offer.

"The football we are serving up is good to watch and is worth making the effort to come along and see. Having a good crowd on again was great for us and there is no doubt it lifted the lads and helped them to get that cracking result. Hopefully if we can get the same sort of support against Salford we can show what we can do against another of the title challengers.

"No-one is harder to please in terms of standard of football than our own committee man Frank Anderson and even he is now saying he's pleased with what he is seeing. Against Prescot he almost forgot himself and smiled!"

Joking apart the uplift in the team's fortunes is fantastic news. After two changes of management up to the midway point in the season and relegation looming large the Alder House club now has a bright future again.

The Colls spirit, which has never in the club's entire history been more severely tested than in this last 12 months when vandalism and burglaries were becoming almost a weekly sickening event for everyone. How good it is to see that despite all the setbacks people are the club are now smiling again - even Frank!

Tomorrow Colls travel to Woodleigh Sports for a 3pm kick off.

Atherton LR came back from an early deficit on Tuesday night to win 2-1 at Ashton Athletic in a Division Two fixture. Barry Massay levelled on the stroke of half time with Colin Lomas getting the winner on 75 minutes. Rovers have no game tomorrow and on Monday travel to Stone Dynamoes.