COLNE boss John Lister gave a wry smile after seeing his side snatch a valuable NWCL point deep into injury time against Great Harwood Town at Holt House.

For much of the season it has been Colne on the receiving end of late strikes, as was the case in the return fixture at the Showground only three weeks ago.

"It was nice for us to steal one at the death for a change," said Lister.

"It was a typical derby, a great crowd, lots of passion and chances at both ends.

"It may only be a point but it's certainly something we can build on."

The home side went behind on 20 minutes, a Colne clearance took an unfortunate ricochet off the referee and fell into the path of John Eastham, who made no mistake in slipping the ball home after riding some lacklustre challenges.

Carl Barton was then guilty of shooting when a simple pass to an unmarked team-mate looked the better option and Gavin Cooper also failed to convert.

George Craddock then forced a fine save from the Great Harwood keeper, and

at the other end, Eastham in particular looked a real threat from set pieces.

Colne upped the pace in the second half, however they were restricted to half chances and long-range efforts.

Lister then went with five across the midfield in a desperate bid to salvage something from the game. However it was Great Harwood who went the closest to scoring, Richard Fogarty blasting over from a good position.

This spurred Colne on and four minutes into stoppage time their efforts were rewarded as Craddock made the most of a lucky bounce to send the Holt House crowd into raptures.

COLNE...1 GREAT HARWOOD TOWN...1