TOP-OF-THE-TABLE Drighlington boasted 17 wins from 17 games before meeting their nearest rivals and, having beaten Collegians 4-0 last time they met, it was obviously going to take something special to spoil Drighlington’s proud record.

The something special arrived in the form of a Billy Lodge, Regan McHugh and Alex Marriot-Mills, whose skill and workrate dominated virtually the entire game on a perfect day at Salendine Nook.

An early strike from Lodge, after some good work by Liam Hodgson and Cathan Noel, gave Collegians a flying start but, despite taking control of the game, Drighlington’s Luke Simpson, Jake Carney, Tom Lewsley and Aaron Burke were not about to cave.

And the home side’s failure to improve on their single goal advantage looked as though it might cost them as Drighlington began to show why they sit at the top of the division.

A shot from 20 yards flew just left of the Collegians goal and, minutes later, Kieran Boulton looked certain to score but good defending from Blake Corcoran forced the Drighlington striker to slice his shot wide.

With half time approaching, a terrific run from Jordan Allen gave Jake Carney the chance to cross and, with the Collegians defence in disarray for the only time in the game, an unmarked Bradley O’Donnell levelled the scores with a simple tap-in.

The goal was a blow for the home side but, far from being down, Collegians started the second half determined not to see their good work go to waste and only top defending kept the scores unchanged.

Lodge, whose non-stop running continued to be a thorn in Drighlington’s side, forced himself into a shooting position but, having beaten the keeper could only watch as his goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Tom Lewsley.

A terrific Marriot-Mills run and shot was also cleared off the line and Collegians were still unable to take advantage when Lodge drilled a follow-up shot straight into the arms of keeper Jay Milomo.

On the rare occasion that Drighlington broke out of their own half, the rock steady defending of Alex Lovitt, McHugh, Corcoran and Ben Hoggard made sure the Collegians goal remained out of range.

But, with yet another Lodge shot rolling just wide of the Drighlington post, Collegians looked to have thrown away their chance of glory when the visitors finally found a way through but, O’Donnell’s shot from six yards was brilliantly saved by Dan Nellis.

Having survived the scare, Collegians were back on the attack and, again, Lodge fired in a shot only to see Milomo pull off another terrific save.

With the minutes ticking away, Collegians finally got their reward, albeit by a strange route.

Marriot-Mills’ inswinging corner to the far post eluded everyone and nestled in the top corner to give Collegians a deserved if somewhat lucky goal.

The home supporters suffered a heart-stopping moment in the last minute when O’Donnell beat Milomo with a shot across goal, but the striker’s effort drifted.

This setback is unlikely to damage Drighlington’s promotion chances but it will have done wonders for Collegians confidence and their hopes of promotion.