COLWYN Bay made it two wins from two contests to open the Evo-stik League West Division thanks to a 4-2 win at Atherton Collieries.

The Seagulls marked the return to competitive action following a turbulent summer in fine style with six points in three days, and Alan Morgan’s men will look to build on this positive start when they travel to Atherton once again in an FA Cup qualifying round clash on Saturday (3pm).

The hosts made a strong start to their Monday night clash and went ahead on 14 minutes when Ben Hardcastle reacted first to slot home from close range, but this provoked a strong response from Bay and they levelled matters after 28 when Ashley Ruane’s glancing header from a corner found the net.

Things got even worse for the home side soon after when Greg Hartley was shown a red card, but despite their numerical disadvantage they regained the advantage just before the interval courtesy of a fine effort from Connor Gaul after 42 minutes.

After the break saw the visitors come out with a renewed sense of purpose, with Ruane breaking free to finish well for his second of the evening on 62 minutes to level matters once again.

This was swiftly followed by Tom McCready’s excellent effort after 65 minutes to give the away side the lead for the first time in the contest, and Bay sealed their second successive triumph after 84 when Callum Hassan steered home a Ruane delivery to complete the scoring.

The impressive victory came just two days removed from Bay’s narrow 1-0 home victory over Kendal Town.

A fine individual run and finish from James Barrigan on 52 minutes was enough to separate the two sides, with the hosts holding firm in the face of some fierce pressure to get their season off to the best possible start.