Kidsgrove Athletic showed no signs of a let up despite Saturday’s FA Cup defeat as they battled injuries and illness to ease past promotion rivals Colne at Holt House.

Grove took the lead after just 20 minutes, as Lewis Bergin notched another effort from range, his thunderous strike crept past Havan Burten, leaving the Colne keeper stranded.

Three minutes before the break, the Blues doubled their advantage as Chris Budrys rose highest above Richard Taylor, connecting with a deep, in swinging cross to power his header across goal and beyond Burten, ensuring Austin’s men went in two to the good.

After a dominant first half display from the Grove, a riled Colne reduced the deficit after 57 minutes as Brad Lynch evaded the challenge of Rhys Thompson before cutting inside to fire his driven shot against the post and in, despite debutant Jacob Holding’s best efforts.

The 17-year-old shot stopper had joined the Blues on an emergency loan from Abbey Hulton and enjoyed an impressive first appearance for the Grove who were without Dom Kurasik and Krystian Burzynski.

Just as Colne began to reclaim a foothold on the tight affair, substitute Kyle Diskin sealed all three points for the Grove eleven minutes from time, capping an evening to forget for Burten as Diskin steered his strike between the legs of the Colne keeper.

A depleted Blues side held on to secure the victory in Lancashire, climbing the table to 8th, while Colne drop one place to 6th in the race for promotion. The Grove return to action on Saturday, this time at home to Yaxley FC in the Buildbase FA Trophy first qualifying round.

Line-ups:
Colne: Burten, Taylor, Barber, Coleman, Hodgkinson, Nangle, B Lynch, Knox, Hughes, Curran, Morgan (Subs: C Lynch, Poscha, Pope, McNally, A Lynch)

Kidsgrove: Holding, Morris, Butler, Freeland, Thompson, Saxon, Bergin, Twyford, Rumenio, Williamson, Budrys (Subs: Jepson, Austin, Williams, Rhodes, Diskin)