The Rams worst home performance for many years saw them slip to a very poor defeat at the hands of Colne and in the process condemned them to their worst points tally since entering the North West Counties League back in 1995.

The signs where ominous 15 minutes before kick off when the dark clouds descended over the ground before a deluge of rain soaked the Riverside pitch but things got even worse for the Rams when on just six minutes Colne took the lead via a freekick.

As the ball was played into the Rams penalty area there was some confusion between John Ogden and one of his defenders and neither made any contact with the ball giving Garbutt the opportunity to head the ball over the Rams keeper and into the net.

Colne looked lively on the break and they threatened to kill off the game in the opening 15 minutes with some nice flowing football.  

At the other end, Richard Dunn had the Rams one and only half-chance of the first half when he struck a fantastic shot goalwards but the ball went narrowly wide of the right hand post with the keeper struggling to cover.

As the half-time whistle blew, both sides went into the changing rooms with varying emotions and Neil Hart would have been relieved to get his side in if only to try and stir some interest in what was seemingly an uninspired Rams side.

However, whatever team-talk Neil held during the 10 minute interval went up in smoke within two minutes of the restart when Colne substitute, Croaken - (on at half time), latched onto a delightful chip into the Rams area and he unleashed a terrific shot that no keeper in the league would have saved.

Within seconds of the Rams restarting the game, Colne almost got a third when they broke into the area but the shot was just inches wide of the bar with Ogden once again beaten.

Looking at the Rams and it was evident that they had now lost their belief and this was easily exploited by a very good attacking Colne side who seemed to be in second gear for most of the half but yet looked threatening with every move.

Garbutt was proving to be a real thorn in the Rams defence with some menacing runs and he sent in some neat crosses that were just about cleared to safety.

Ramsbottom should have got back into the game in the 65th minute when the ball was played into the area and with the keeper on the floor, Matt Kay had the simplest of chances to tuck the ball into the net but his shot went wide of the far post and out for a goal kick.

Colne went three goals in front in the 74th minute when a long ball was played over the top of the Rams defence and Hall managed to beat Ogden before placing it into the net.

Other chances fell to Colne who on another night may have scored six or seven such was their dominance.

As for Ramsbottom things got worse when John Ogden was sent off for a late tackle in the last minute of the game when yet again Colne broke the offside trap and he brought down the attacking player just outside of the box.

To sum up a miserable night for the Rams, some supporters actually walked out at half-time saying it was much better being at home rather than being stood in the cold rain watching a very poor performance from their side and others followed suit seconds after Colne scored their third goal.  

This result must surely rankle both Neil Hart and Iain McLellan as they have both done a lot of hard work in getting their team to play some neat, attractive football over the last month or so and for their players to put in what has been labelled as the worst performance in many years by a Rams side, it must surely hurt them a lot.

Abbey Hey this coming weekend has become a massive game in terms of performance and obviously result so should the Rams `not turn up` and under perform in this game then it would not be surprising if Neil and Iain make further changes ahead of their semi-final date with either Turton or Bolton County in the Bolton Hospitals Cup.