ATHERTON Collieries boss Brad Cooke felt his side deserved more than the share of the spoils they earned in a 1-1 draw at Warrington on Tuesday night.

Cantilever Park has rarely been a happy hunting ground for Colls and for the third consecutive season, it was the destination on a Tuesday night in August.

Despite two 2-0 defeats on previous occasions, performances had been strong so far this NPL Premier campaign but the points were shared after Scott Bakkor had equalised for Colls just before the hour mark.

Speaking post-match, Cooke said: “We are all disappointed we haven’t got the three points tonight. We thought our performance warranted it.

“We showed so much character and continued to work to the game plan.

“The lads dug in and got a deserved equaliser.”

Cooke admitted pre-match the priority for this game was a good performance.

The previous Saturday’s defeat to Hyde United left all in black and white feeling a little flat and CVooke got the required response, if not the win.

With the pack shuffled slightly, Ollie Brown came into the side to make his Atherton debut.

The midfielder was joined by Luca Defreitas-Hansen and Aaron Smith in three changes from the Hyde clash.

The Colls took the game to Warrington from the first whistle and on 13 minutes, keeper Tony Thompson’s palms were warmed. A dead-ball situation saw Town clear their lines, but only as far as Adam Rooney and the defender – who has impressed since his summer transfer to the Skuna – whipped the ball back in instantaneously for Joel Amado to loop a header towards goal before Thompson collected.

Seconds later, the black-and-white wave surged forward once more as Jay Fitzmartin cut inside and teased a shot on goal. Thompson was troubled – the stopper dived low to his left to turn the ball behind for a corner.

Suspension served and back in the side, Defreitas-Hansen played a pivotal role and saw a header crash against the bar.

But Warrington drew first blood on 17 minutes after they were awarded a free-kick on the left of the Colls box and Jordan Buckley took advantage as he poked home a drilled ball to make it 1-0.

Colls responded and took the game to their hosts in the second half and played positive, attacking football.

A good 20-minute spell saw the Colls dominate and they got their equaliser on 57 minutes.

A free-kick from the right from Fitzmartin found forward Scott Bakkor leaping to meet it and he volleyed home – Thompson and his colleagues in yellow given no chance. It was a fine finish to deservedly bring Cooke’s Colls level and open Bakkor’s account in black and white stripes.

As the Colls continued to put last season’s play-off finalists under pressure, Defreitas-Hansen caused yet more problems for the Warrington defence on 72 minutes when the American was first to the ball but his header was cleared off the line by a superb piece of individual defending from Josh Seary.

A triple substitution from Town boss Mark Beesley saw a different approach from the hosts as they switched the game and put Atherton under more pressure.

The remaining 20 minutes saw the Colls disciplined in defence and show great character to continue to break and attack, but the scoreline remained the same.

With four of the current top six played, attention now turns to a Bank Holiday weekend double-header.

Matlock are the visitors to the Skuna tomorrow, before a 48-hour turnaround for a trip to Lancaster City on Monday.

And Colls boss Cooke wants his side to stop conceding first in those matches.

He added: “The average age of the squad today was 22 years old, we have some good young kids in there.

“But they have got to learn quickly.

“We can’t keep giving teams a goal head.

“Hopefully, that will start Saturday against Matlock.”