Whitby Town battled to make it four consecutive wins in all competitions and lift themselves to third in the Northern Premier League Premier Division table, running out 1-0 winners over Atherton Collieries at the Skuna Stadium.

Joint managers Lee Bullock and Nathan Haslam opted for an unchanged side, as they looked to extend their winning run going into Saturday's crucial FA Cup game at Prescot Cables.

The opening stages of the game brought very little in the way of action, with both sides looking to get an early grip on what promised to be a tight game.

The hosts were the first to go close, as Elliot Rokka's ball in was palmed to Clive Smith by Shane Bland. The full-back tried an effort from a tight angle, but saw it palmed away by the Whitby gloveman.

While it was a close affair, Colls threatened the Seasiders. Marcus Cusani caused problems, beating his man and firing wide, before Whitby got away with one. Bland's poor clearance fell straight to Rokka inside the Blues' area, but the Atherton man fortunately fired wide one-on-one.

Whitby had spells in the opening 45 too. While Josh MacDonald struggled to get into proceedings he still threatened from range, firing just over with a first-time effort following good work from Liam Cooke to keep a Jassem Sukar cross alive.

If anything was to happen for the hosts, it'd have come through Cusani. He beat Lewis Ritson minutes before the break before seeing Bland push his curling effort away. He should have given his side the lead moments before the interval too, heading Ethan Kershaw's cross wide from point-blank range. At the other end, MacDonald went close for the Blues, seeing a low effort from 18 yards held by Danny Taberner.

After the break, Whitby looked to take the initiative and did so seven minutes into the 45. Liam Cooke's 30-yard free-kick cannoned back off the upright and fell to Jacob Hazel, who tapped into an empty net, taking his tally to nine in the season's opening nine matches.

The Seasiders continued to threaten too, with Marcus Giles seeing a dipping 25-yard effort tipped over the bar by Taberner on the hour mark.

Following this, the game fell into a lull, with resolute defending - particularly from the excellent Jonny Burn - keeping Atherton well out of reach of the Seasiders' goal, despite renewed efforts to try and force an equaliser over the last twenty minutes of proceedings.