Whitby Town put in a convincing performance in difficult conditions against Atherton Collieries on Saturday afternoon.

Following two straight league defeats, Chris Hardy was eager for a reaction and he certainly got that on a windy afternoon at the Towbar Express Stadium at the Turnbull Ground.

Town ran out 3-1 winners in the first ever meeting between the two sides who are both playing at their highest levels of the footballing pyramid.

It was a dream situation for Adam Gell as he opened the scoring with just five minutes on the clock with a sweet left-footed strike into the bottom corner on what was his 200th Whitby Town appearance.

Whitby's lead was doubled shortly before half-time when Dale Hopson was tripped in the area. He stepped up to take the penalty and sent Paddy Wharton the wrong way from 12 yards.

Callum Patton added a third three minutes into the second half when he beat two defenders before rolling the ball home from just inside the box.

Atherton got one back with seven minutes of normal time to go when Dylan Glass prodded the ball home from close range following a corner.

This had no effect on the the eventual outcome and the Seasiders travel to Mickleover Sports next Saturday looking to build on this victory.