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with your Advertiser Rovers on a | | column is somewhat dated


learning curve A


GAIN unfortunate printing deadlines means the Rovers


this morning after the crunch clash at Birming­ ham last night. Obviously what hap­


pened at.St Andrews will have a big bearing on the promotion race, and hope­ fully nothing too untoward


| went on last night. The sides are certainly


bang in form - Rovers' FA Cup exit apart - and regardless of the result, the most consistent of the two sides in the remaining 11 or 12 games will go up. Rovers' FA Clip involve-


| ment has seen them fall fur- i ther behind leaders Fulham in terms of points and games played, but it could yet get tight at the top for Jean Tigana’s men. Graeme Souness’ side have still to face the Cot-


I tagers at Ewood, and should they capitalise on their games in hand, it could get interesting.


: It is not uncommon for I top sides to show signs of the jitters at this stage, and Rovers' mix of experience and youth will stand them


i in good stead. The young­ sters will also have learned a lesson at Highbury. Arsenal, with Thierry


I Henry, Patrick Vieira and Silvinho on the bench, all


■ but wonthe tie in the space of five minutes, and rubber- stamped their semi-final


I berth before half-time. It could have been differ­ ent had Marcus Bent's bul-


| let header not flown over David Seaman's crossbar


| within the first minute. Within seconds Lauren


i sent Robert Pires scamper­ ing down the right, and his cut back was instantly thumped inside the upright by in-form Silvain Wiltord. Three minutes later Tony Adams showed great hunger


I to thump Ashley Cole's cor­ ner into the net, and Rovers were in trouble. Wiltord's pin­ point cross field ball set up Pires for the third before the break, the former Marseilles man expertly guiding the ball


into the far corner across the helpless Brad Friedel


By Suzanne Gee Souness switched from 3-


5-2 to 4-4-2 during the interval, taking off Eyal Berkovic and Alan Mahon, whose lack of recent action at left wing back saw him


exploited by Pires. Rovers tightened things


up, and might have had a


goal of their own. Jason McAteer was


unlucky to see Cole's attempted clearance hit him on the arm, before he steered the ball past Seaman. After the emphatic 3-0


cup win over Bolton last Wednesday, both sides received criticism in the press after fielding what could be considered as


weakened sides. People questioned


whether the cup remains


magical. One only has to look at


the story of Roy Essandoh to see that it retains the quality to thrill and surprise. But Rovers could hardly


be knocked on Saturday, despite Arsenal - with their own important Champions League clash last night — cantering to victory. It was more a sign of


what lies in wait. And hopefully, should


Souness and his team nego­ tiate all the hurdles that remain ahead, they will be back in front of the Clock End better prepared, and on a level playing field. Rovers' next hurdle is improving Wimbledon at


Ewood on Saturday. The Dons are creeping


into play-off contention on the quiet, despite selling


their best players. And their away record


holds comparison with the


- best in the division. But Rovers’ is among the


top home records, and they will be out for a 13th league win in front of their own


fans. Mission:


I Accompli M


I S S I O N : Accomplishedl B u r n 1 e y


I reached Stan's magical 50-point mark with a


I gritty 1-0 win at Wat­ ford on Tuesday night.


I The Clarets have never looked in doubt of retaining


I their place in the First | Division, but it was good to


finally put survival to bed


| after the recent stutter. And although Burnley’s


I first away win in 11' games 1 lifted the Clarets to within I seven points of the play-offs with two games in hand,


I Stan Ternent refuses to be I drawn on the subject of 1 pushing for the top six. 1 But he won’t allow the I season to die with 11 games


I to go. I And with Blackburn,


Preston, West Brom, Birm-


I ingham, Wimbledon, Sheffield United and Wat-


1 ford, again, all to play the Clarets, they can still shape


their, and other teams', des­ tiny.


Burnley, according to the


club’s plan, should have been winning promotion to


I the First Division this sea- son. ‘


So to be firmly estab­ lished in the Nationwide


, . •


1 League top flight is a I remarkable achievement. I don't think for a


I moment that Burnley will 1 complete a magnificent | campaign by reaching the play-offs, but to still be in I contention keeps the season


I going until the end. 1 However, who knows


what will happen? The side have kept two


I successive clean sheets I away from home, and have I got back to being hard to


1 beat. At Vicarage Road, they ,


also managed to snatch a solitary match-winning goal which they just about


1 deserved. -


Ternent sent his side out in an attacking 4-3-3 for-


. v • . u o o ■» mation, with a narrow m*aV • I By Chris Bd


intelligent passes and prob­ ing runs, Burnley had Wat­ ford on the back foot early


, _n! *. on. Ian Moore hooked a ,


John Mullin cross wide, before, at the other end, Tommy Mooney's low vol­ ley was comfortably dealt with by Nik Michopoulos. Weller got into a great


position after a one-two with Thomas, only to pull the ball back from the by­ line beyond everyone, and he then saw a shot deflected for a corner after jinking inside the box. After the break Weller


was inches away from a possible penalty after being barged down just outside the box, before Moore lashed a volley at the keep­


er from 25 yards. Gareth Taylor turned


Darren Ward only to fire at Espen Baardsen, before the winner 17 minutes from


time. Thomas' quick throw


released Weller, and although Moore couldn't


connect with his cross at the near post, Taylor caught Ward napping and bundled the ball in at the


back stick. Mullin was agonisingly


close to turning in Moore's cross-shot moments later, and although Watford mounted the pressure late on, Michopoulos was redundant and Burnley held on for a fine victory. Having picked up their


first away success since October 21st at QPR, the Clarets can now look for a


second successive win at shfi'£f jeid Wednesday on


fiejd being backed up by : Saturday with some confi- fullbacks Mitchell Thomas


*


and Lee Briscoe, who went Ternent may also be able forward and back, as if on


calj on the services of


rope, depending on whicn Qlen Little an(j Graham | sideplaywas.


With the outstand h g^ n ra ^ TuMd with Paul Weller orchestrating , o


, i things from the middle with miury.____________' ,.x Branch, who both missed oen ....... . . r t rnVl - I


By CRAIG SALMON


C


h i p p e n h a m Town boss Tom


Saunders is backing


his c lu b ’s arch-rivals Taunton Town to win through to the Carlsberg


FA Vase final. Despite seeing his side


to ta l ly outplayed by Clitheroe in the quarter­ finals of the competition 12 days ago, Saunders is adamant that it will be his fellow Screwfix Direct West­ ern League Premier Divi­ sion manager Russell Musker who will be cele­ brating at the final whistle o f Clithe ro e ’s semi-final showdown with Taunton. Taunton and Chippen­


ham are currently battling it out at the top of their league and Saunders is in no doubt as to who will come out on top in the last-


four battle. Clitheroe manager Dave


Burgess said: “ I spoke to Tom Saunders on Friday night and he told me that Taunton will definitely beat


us. “ 1-Ie said he would love us


to win but thinks they are


the stronger side. “ But it ’s what I like to


hear. I will tell the lads before the game what he said to me and it will just


spur us on. “ I am sure Chippenham


under-estimated us. Saun­ ders could not believe that we beat thpm.


“They were all geared up 'They were all geared up


Leek CSOli................................. , hrvnn


to win and we went down there and played them off


the park. “ I went to see Taunton


play last Wednesday. They got beat 1-0 against a team


called Welton Rovers. “ But don’t get me wrong.


They are a very good side. “ I was impressed with


the way they played. They looked a very good side when attacking and I would say are better than Chip­


penham. “ But I personally think


there is n ot the same strength in depth in their league as there is in the North West Counties.” Taunton have been champions of their respec­ tive division for the past


n , Carolyn is new lady captain ___


ByGEORGE EMBLEY______


L


ADY captain Car­ olyn Blocked is pic­ tured driving into


office at Stonyhurst Park


Golf Club on Saturday. . It proved to be a great


occasion as the new incum­ bent laid on a champagne reception to celebrate the start of her year of office at the Hurst Green club. Jo Porter won the competi­


tion for guessing the distance of the lady captain’s first


drive of the season. The campaign started with


a greensomes competition and this was won by Kris Baldwin and Gay Tole (44- 10.5-33.5), with Betty Austin


and Frances Lee (49-15.25- 33.73) in runners-up spot. The Jean Coward-Anita


Boylan, Kris Baldwin-Gay Tole pairings recorded twos. And Kris Baldwin had


another cause for celebration when she was presented with a trophy for the overall best gross score for 2000-2001. The new lady captain is


pictured driving into office on Saturday. She is being pro­ tected from the elements by retiring lady captain Jo Park­


er. (C100301/1) • There was a double-headed programme at Clitheroe Golf


Club at the weekend. Peter Harrison, Archie


Moro, George Stoddart and David Jackson returned 61- 6.7-54.3 on Saturday to win the Texas Scramble.


Paul Connolly, Peter spot. , r\____li.. pm nr Hip card from the Steve Hi


Dunne, John Cartmell and Andrew Walmsley (59-4.2- 54.8) claimed runners-up


Third place went to Daniel _ . .


Preedy, Martin Cane, Nigel Willis and Paul Ainger (58-3-


55). Derek McIntyre, Bert


Hemingway, John Holt and Harry Richardson finished


fourth with 62-6.3-55.7 A card play-off was neces­


sary to determine the out­ come of Sunday's fourball


stableford. Peter Dunne and Gary


Speak compiled 45 points and triumphed on the card from Rob and James Andrew.. Scott Milne and Eddie


White handed in 42 points and claimed third place on


Clitheroe are just 180 minutes from glory


a goal every game. However, the deadly duo


are not alone when it comes to goalscoring prowess in


the Taunton team. Super sub Leon Ilapgood


is possibly the best finisher at the club and has 21 goals this season to prove it. And midfielders Martin


Parker and Derek Fields have also contributed 30 goals between them as Town bid for a league and FA Vase double.


Confident Taunton manager and


former Torquay and Bristol City player Musker is confi­ dent his side have what it takes to reach Villa Park although he is wary of the threat posed by Clitheroe. He said: “ Clitheroe are a


good, strong and hard work­ ing side. But I am very con­


two seasons and look odds on to make it a third tri­ umph. They are currently 16 points clear of Chippen­ ham, but have played four


games more. Frighteningly, Town


boast a fearsome strikeforce which has plundered a stag­ gering 82 goals this season.


Hat-trick Antony Lynch is one


short of hitting 50 while strike partner Ellis Laight struck a hat-trick at the weekend against Bridport to take his season’s tally to


33. Former Torquay hitman


Laight scored 56 goals in as many games last season while Lynch notched 51 strikes at the same ratio of


......................... double boosts Blues to second spot


.................. I Shawbridgers two-goal advantage , when he smashed the ball home after


. fw E A B iw 6 k iS i i ' '6 i iT t a V » e being pieked-on. by «


moved to second in the North West Cou nt ie s ’ F o o tb a l l League First Division after picking up their fifth


league win in six matches. Resting several key players such as


Barrie Hart, Martin Aspinwall and Neil Reynolds, the Blues, playing their fourth match in seven days, pro­ duced an excellent display to totally out-play their opponents on a very heavy and energy-sapping pitch. T h ey were given a tonic when


Leek’s Lee Pugh amazingly lobbed his own goalkeeper from fully 40-yards for a truly bizarre own goal to give the


visitors a 2-0 lead. Before that, Neil Spencer had side­ .


footed Clitheroe into a 13th minute lead after latching onto a pass from


Carl Greenwood. Neil Robinson gave bottom-of-the-


table Leek some hope when he pulled one back shortly before the interval after Clitheroe failed to clear their lines. But Gary Jackson restored the


® . . . through-


ball from Spencer. The second half saw Clitheroe con­


tinued to dominate and Andy Cowk- ing almost made it 4-1 but saw his vol­ ley from outside the area crash


against the crossbar. Jason Jones was also unfortunate to


see an effort bounce against the wood­ work while a shot from substitute Steve Denny was turned onto the post


by the keeper. In the end Blues boss Dave Burgess


will have been a satisfied man on Sun­ day morning as his team looked for­ ward to a week off before Saturday s


semi-final tie at Taunton. Cheadle Town ................................1


Clitheroe .........: ................ CLITHEROE put their Carlsberg FA Vase aspirations to one side when they travelled to Cheadle


Town on Thursday night. With the manager of Vase semi­


BuLGary Jackson restored the sell Musker, m m e n a c e , — ...


final opponents Taunton Town, Rus­ sell Musker, in attendance, the Blues


got o ff , n r f tno the worst possible start f A n w n r s t . T lO S S ib le S t a i when they conceded an early goal


courtesy of some sloppy defending. Mark Stewart equalised for the vis­


itors with the first of two penalties on 25 minutes. Neil Spencer was felled inside the area and Stewart stepped up and made no mistake from 12


yaClttheroe had further chances to impress the watching Taunton man­ ager but were unable to edge ahead in


the first half. Stewart eventually slotted home his , .


second penalty after Gary Jackson, this time, had been pushed inside the


area going for a high ball. The writing was on the wall for the


homesters when Clitheroe added goals three and four within quick succes-


Jackson latched on to a loose ball


down the right and outpaced a static defence before firing low into the bot­ tom corner. Moments later, Stewart delivered a telling corner from which M a t t Anderton met firmly at the back post to head past the despairing dive of the goalkeeper.


Rimineton win again to stay on promotion trail Mitt Ml SI Peter's.......1 S ^ f K


,brought about by Zulfi's persis- l “ S .0»dWlhh,


f o L r & G t e ' v S n a t r o e M t l r e ^ t c ^ r e . Kershaw kept the deficit to


table-topping Enfield m their last match, Rimington kept in promotion con­ tention with a victory over third-placed Mill Hill. The villagers started bright­


ly with Shaun McCullough causing chaos in the home


defence The home side got into their


I stride and caused Rimington all sorts of problems as they


I attacked via the flanks and through the centre.


cause. • The gap between the back


four and front two widened and this did not help the visitors'


It seemed only a matter ol .


time before a home goal arrived, and it duly did when hesitation led to a forward


one goal at half time, with one point-blank save in particular typical of his bravery and com­


mitment. Rimington compressed the


game in the second half and it paid dividends as they spent more time in the Mill Hill half. Wes Clarkson and Glen Tay­ lor pushed on, giving the mid- field more chance to feed and join the front two. Aamir Zulfi and Paul Sayle combined to send McCullough


racing into the box and he was brought down as he was about


to shoot. Terry Braithwaite slotted home the penalty. Within five minutes Riming­


ton scored again as Roger Haythornthwaite pounced to


score from a defensive mistake wv.ulfi's nereis-


tencc. That set up a cracking finale


as Mill Hill looked for a leveller. They hit a post from a free


kick, while at the other end Rimington were denied by a wall of Mill Hill bodies. Rimington must now keep


their momentum going with nine matches remaining. Stork....................... ........A


Strategy ..............J AFTER three weeks with­


out a game, Stork finally played,their Peter Shaw Cup quarter-final tie and came through in some com­


fort. In a keenly contested game,


the locals created a number of chances in a fine display.


Hargreaves and Neary dic­


tated the tempo of the game, and it was only a matter of


time mistake. The second quickly followed, , ■


with Snape this time the provider, Sam Marshall beat­ ing the keeper. Strategy committed men forward and Stork found more


space to attack. Ian Uttley made it 3-0, ris­


ing unmarked at the far post to head home a delightful Neary


cross. Strategy grabbed a consola­


tion, but Stork wrapped up the win when a brilliant through- ball from Hargreaves sent Mar­ shall away, and he scored at the second attempt. • Shoot to page 31 for the rest


of the local football news. 3^ bed buogalow^with «/


im before Stork scored as Strategy struggled against their crisp passing game.


a: The breakthrough came in


the second half, with Booth finding Snape, who made no


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fident. “We are as good as any­


thing left in the tournament and see no reason why we can’t reach the final.” Taunton began their


Vase campaign with a resounding 9-0 victory oyer fellow Screwfix Direct side Street. They followed that up with 3-2 and 4-1 victo­ ries over Diss Town and Brockenhurst respectively. Spartan South Midlands


League Premier Division out­ fit Arlesey Town were nar­ rowly beaten 2-1 in the fifth round while in the quarter­ finals Tooting and Mitcham United from the Isthmian League Second Division were overwhelmed 3-0. However, while Burgess is under no illusions as to the


task facing his side in the next two games, he admits Villa Park is now a distinct possibility for his side. He said: “ The reality is


that - yes, we could get to Villa Park. It’s so close. “ But we are 180 minutes away and there is still a lot


of work to be done. “ I certainly haven’ t


ordered my suit and flower.” Blues leading goalscorer


Lee Cryer is a major doubt for the first leg with a pulled hamstring while skipper Barrie Hart is expected to shrug off a troublesome calf


injury. Meanwhile, the Blues


made sure all is rosy on the league front as they prepare for the Vase semi-final. Burgess’s men picked up


their fifth win in six match­ es to send them soaring to second in the North West Count ies’ League First Division.


Unconcerned And while teams below


them have a chance of over­ taking them by winning their games in hand, Burgess remains uncon­


cerned. He added: “We have just


had three hard league games in the space of five days on the back of the Chippenham match. “ So to come away with


seven points out o f nine and go second in the league is a tremendous effort. “ I know some teams


below us can catch us by winning their games in hand but there is still plen­


ty to play for.


Clitheroe RUFC (v Chorlcy, away, meet 12-30) A. Morby, J. Dickinson, M.


SELECTED TEAMS Suturdny


Stott, I. Fielding, P. Parker, M. Homan, D. Watson, M. Dugdale, A. Thomber, II. Proctor, A. Nuttall, R. Postlcth- waitc, R. Rigby, R. Holmes, N. Carlton, subs-S. Dowson, J. Marsden, 0. Jones. Clitheroe 2nds (v Chorlcy, home,


meet 1-30 p.m.) C. Bosonnet, A. Burnll, P. Carberry, J. Carysforth, C. Dodding. T Dubowski, R. Edmondson, M. Evans, S. Greatorex, N. Green, S. Grct- ton, S. Hall. N. Hutchinson, P. Ishcr- wood, M. Jackson, K. Kenyon, J. McAlonan. V. Murray, M. Ncttlcton, P. Proctor, M. Rowley, D. Slinger, B.Stans- ficld, C. Stott, D. Tattersall, II. Wardle,


B. Wood.


H Claire Tomlinson of Burnley wins £10 for predicting that last week’s game at Stockport would end goal-less.


■ Predict Burnley’s first goalscorer in their clash against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, March 24th AND


guess the final scoreline and you could win a free £10 bet to be spent at any William Hill outlet in the area.


■ Send your answers to Place a Bet Competition


(Watford), Promotions Department, East Lancashire Newspapers, Bull Street, Burnley, BB111DP


by Thursday, March 22nd. If there is no winner, the prize will roll over to the following week..


. ‘One or two of them play


each other and we still have to play some of the sides up there so we are still in with a shout in the league.” A number of supporters


from Clitheroe are expected to make the journey down


to Taunton. And Burgess is appealing


for as many people as possi­ ble to make the trip. I-Ie said: “The fans who


travelled down to Chippen­ ham did themselves, the club, the players and the town proud and we hope for another large following this Saturday. “ It makes a huge differ­


ence to the players when you have that kind of sup­


port.” HliMI —-


the card from the Steve Hig- son-G. Thompson, John Reynolds-John Pawson, John Cartmell-Dave Hodson pair-


© V y t ton Fold GC member


Frank Hindle emerged a run­ away winner of the Profes­ sional's Winter Series Order of


Merit. He compiled 92 points to . . .


leave runner-up Mike Grant (48 points) and third-placed Dave Wetton (38 points) trailing in his wake. Jim Bridge compiled 39


stableford points and won the final weekly heat on the card from the aforementioned Kin­


dle and Paul Barrett. New captain Dennis


Leaver drives into office on Saturday and lady captain Margaret Gradwell does like ­


wise on Sunday. • Lady members of Clitheroe


GC contested the Give and Take nine-hole stableford. Winner Krystyna Taylor


compiled 19 points and Jean Anne Speak (17 points) claimed runners-up spot on the card from Pat Taylor and Helen Booth.


R IBB LE V AL LEY L A D IE S ’ DARTS LEAGU E


UF.SUI.TS Bay Horse 5, Low Moor 7;


Catholic SC 4, Royal British Legion 8; Billington BC 3, Craven A 9: Craven A 9, Conservative Club 3; Langho 8, Brown Cow 4; Starkies-l,


Kings Arms 8. High scores: L. Bannister 10- dart


finish , 152,133,104; L. Celestial 134; L. Hayton 134,100; E. Twist 134; K. Fishlock 128; P. Dewhurst 125,117; D. Townsend 123,100; P. Scholes 120; K. Johnson 120; J. Gal­ lagher 121; A Southwell 119; M. McDonnell 110 x 2; L. Brooks 114; 1. Seed 113; M. Bowman 100; J. Holden 105; E. Smith 102; M. Northover 100 x 2; C. O’Neill 101, 100; M. Livesey 100 x 2; B. Parker 100; L. Shoreman 101, 100; D. Stevenson 104,100; D. Heap 101; J. Cowpcrthwaite 100; D. Brown 100; P Looming 100; S. Dobson 100. Points and positions: 1, Craven A


123; 2, Langho 121; 3, Starkics 10G; 4, Craven B 100; 5, Bay Horse 9b; 0, Brown Cow and Lxw Moor 95; 7, Catholic SC 94; 8. Kings Arms 8G; 9, Royal British Legion 84; 10, Billington BC 78; 11, Black Bull 78; 12, Conservative Club 5G.


-------


M o tH e rS D as Sunday 25th March


On her you always can depend, she’s more than a Mum, she's your best friend


f e L L Her H°W Special. SHe iS ________ on nnnp 7


...by placing a message in this newspaper r


Thursday, March 15th, 2001


3 4


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