Glossop boss Paul Colgan was left to reflect on the ups and downs of life as a football manager after seeing the Hillmen go from stunning success to abject failure in less than 72 hours.

North End’s fortunes under Colgan hit a new high last midweek with a sensational 7-1 rout of visiting Flixton taking them to third place in the North West Counties League's premier division.

But Glossop came crashing down to earth just three days later when soundly beaten 3-0 at Bacup, where they never recovered from trailing by two goals inside the first quarter-of-an-hour.

Colgan said: “I could make every excuse in the book about Saturday, drizzly day, dodgy pitch, dismal surroundings, but the truth is we didn’t get out of the traps.

“Bacup played a really weird formation and we just couldn’t seem to get to grips with it.

“After what happened last Wednesday, it was very disappointing.

“We were better in the second half, but, by then, the damage was done, and, at the end of the day, I can’t take any positives from our performance.

“Quite what went wrong so soon after we’d played so well in outclassing Flixton is hard to understand.

“Whatever the reason, we’ll just have to take it on the chin and move on. The sooner we put it behind us, the better.”

Ironically, Glossop’s seven-goal romp over Flixton came shortly after Colgan had made an unsuccessful attempt to boost his firepower by signing former Curzon Ashton goalgetter Steve Moore, who instead opted to join Mossley.

But, despite that and his team’s subsequent setback at the Brian Boys Stadium, the Surrey Street chief insists he is nevertheless pleased with the Hillmen’s start to their 125th anniversary campaign.

Colgan added: “In spite of the result at Bacup, 13 points from our first seven games is a very satisfying return, particularly when you look at the teams we’ve played and also consider that we're still a work in progress.

“Our target now is to achieve greater consistency, but I'm absolutely certain this will come.

“We have a great bunch of lads here and they are all working really hard for one another.”

The men have announced details of match sponsorship packages for the new season.

Packages for sponsorship start at £30 for a child mascot for the day, which includes a souvenir T-shirt, up to £150 for matchday sponsorship.

Contact commercial manager Paul Eccles on 07968 043983 for further details.