UNRIVALLED COVERAGE OF SPORT IN THE RIBBLE VALLEY Dot.Com


Cybercafe & Computer Training Centre CUTHEROE


For.- Computers - Fun 'n Games .


Internet - E-nxfl - Video C h a t . - vIbSSs . . Tuition - Gifts - Web-design FriencBy Advice - for AB Ages


Tel/Fax: 01200 427700 with ynur Advertiser and Times sports team


Former Blue’s huge favour


for the Rovers Bv SUZANNE GEE


ROVERS' destiny lies very much in their own hands after a critical week in the Premiership relegation


dog-fight. After giving themselves a chance


when Graeme Souness' 10 men bat­ tled to a draw at Bolton on Saturday, Rovers took it with both hands with a convincing win over Aston Villa at Ewood on Tuesday. And, with great irony, former


Rovers misfit Jason McAteer hand­ ed his old teammates a huge boost when he fired his first goal for Sun­ derland to see off Bolton - with whom McAteer made his name. At around 3-50 p.m. on Saturday,


Rovers were in big trouble. The red mist descended on Andy


Rod Wallace latched onto a poor back pass from Henning Berg, who was trying to mop up a probing ball from Youri Djorkaeff, and Wallace added to his goal at Ewood with the


ter defender. And to rub salt into the wound,


throw caution to the wind, went for broke in the second half, throwing Yordi and Damien Duff into the fray. And the ploy paid dividends as Matt Jansen conjured up a moment


opener. Souness, sensing Rovers had to


of magic to level matters. Rovers might well have snatched


all three points in a heroic perfor­ mance, but you felt then that Wan­ derers would be severely punished for not pressing home their numerical


advantage. And Tuesday could prove a red-


superiority, and it was a nail-biting second half for Rovers fans. However, they went home delight­


Cole after a crude challenge by Mike Whitlow, and the record signing was ordered off for an early bath for a petulant stamp on the former Leices­


Players left di


last-gasp cup exit Blues held by bottom side


dramatic Bv CRAIG SALMON


THE home dressing room at Shawbridge was a som­ bre place at tea-time on Saturday after Clitheroe were dumped out of the


■ FA Carlsberg Vase. I t probably was not the


defeat to Whitley Bay, but


: the mariner in which they exited from the competition which would have caused the


players the most pain. The Blues had battled


valiantly on a difficult pitch against a side who always held the initiative during the match after taking a third-minute


lead. Player-boss Lee Sculpher


had handed his side a lifeline with the equaliser nine min­ utes fromthe end.


But with extra time seconds


away, Bay grabbed an unlike­ ly winner with virtually the


last kick of the game. And Sculpher said: “We are


as disappointed as anybody. “The spectators, the mem­


bers of the club’s committee are all disappointed but they are no more disappointed than'


the players themselves. “We were looking to emu­


late last season’s feats but to get beat in those circum­ stances is extremely disap­


pointing. “I t’s very hard for the play­


ers to take. We are all devas­ tated to be honest. “From our point of view, we


did enough to have won the game clearly, not to have lost


it.


ter side on the day and that is shown in the fact that their goalkeeper was awarded the man of the match award. “They defended well but if


“I thought we were the bet­


you take away their two goals, the majority of the game was played in their half. “The pitch conditions were


difficult, but I felt we played it as well as we could have done. “I didn’t think we got the


rub of the green and a few ref­ ereeing decisions went against


us. “I thought Neil Spencer


was brought down in the sec­ ond half and it should have been a penalty.' “I also felt the referee pulled


play back when he had initial­ ly played an advantage when


both Chris'Whittingham and Richard Fogarty were'through


on goal.” The Blues’ boss also admit­


ted that they had contributed to their own demise when Mark Stewart conceded a needless free kick that led to the winning goal. Sculpher added: “I ’m not


wanting to make a play on it but Mark Stewart will be very disappointed with himself. “To give away a free-kick in


those circumstances, it was a needless free kick. “But Mark’s been playing


long enough to know arid does- n’t need anybody to keep reminding him of it.” It is not all doom and gloom


for the Blues as they still have the Lancashire Marsden Chal­


lenge Trophy semi-final tie away at Barrow to look for­ ward to next Tuesday along


with 18 league games. Sculpher added: “I t ’s now


up to myself and the players to pull themselves around, get stuck into the league games coming up and not let the sea­ son fizzle out. “We have a semi-final with


Barrow to look forward to next Tuesday. “We go into the game as


underdogs but we certainly won’t be going there to lie.


down.” Before that, however,


Clitheroe face Atherton Laburnum Rovers at home tonight, kick-off 7-45 p.m. and then travel to Winsford Unit­ ed on Saturday. An up to date North West


Counties League table can be found on page 19.


ed as Duff and Cole sealed the win with two goals in the last five min­ utes, Cole robbing former teammate Peter Schmeichel before hooking the


ball in. The game saw a return to action


for Tugay after completing his sus­ pension, lining up alongside skipper Garry Flitcroft in midfield, while compatriot Hakan Unsal made his


letter day in Rovers’ survival battle. Desperate for a good start against


a Villa side fighting to join Rovers in the UEFA Cup, they got just that when David Dunn slammed home a


lead in the first half, with J'Lloyd Samuel forced to hack the ball off his own line, while Cole hit a post. At this level, you are often pun­ ished for failing to capitalise on your


20-yarder after only seven minutes. They might have added to that


Vase dream dies as Blues crash to injury time goal


home debut after starting at Bolton. . Rovers are without a game on Sat­ urday, before another six-pointer, against Ipswich at Ewood on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Souness is to be


of next season, and the club aim to tie things up in the summer.


must-win clash with old foes


Clarets face a I By CHRIS BODEN


] down to a hugely disappointing 1-0 defeat a t struggling Walsall on


BURNLEY boss Stan Ternent boomed "Stockport is now a must- win game” after seeing his side go


| Tuesday night. The Clarets travel to Edgeley Park


I knowing they cannot rely on the sides around them slipping up again if they are to remain in play-off .con-


| tention. Defeats for Birmingham and Pre-


I ston, and Norwich and Crystal Palace's failure to win at home let Burnley off the hook as they fell to a second defeat in three games, and saw their miserable run extend to two


| wins in 12 games. Shot-shy Burnley failed to test


| Jimmy Walker in the Saddlers goal, despite starting both halves the bet­


I mugged for the opener, a nightmare | evening was on the cards. Frederick Biancalani and Marcelo


ter side. And when Marlon Beresford was


I impeded the keeper as he went to col­ lect Fitzroy Simpson's comer, Beres­ ford spilled the ball, Ian Roper fried goalwards and Marcelo poked the I ball home.


| goal to stand, and Burnley were sud- I denly chasing the game. " But again the Clarets lacked the


The inept Paul Alcock allowed the ,


[ penetration to trouble their hosts. Burnley's attacks were without


the happiest of hunting grounds for the Clarets, without the suspended Dean West. - That leaves Tement a dilemma as to whether he plays with a back


"That is a must-win game." Burnley go to Stockport, hardly


I purpose, as they again struggled to get in behind a team - settling instead for diagonal balls aimed at


three, as he ended the game a t the Bescot Stadium, or play a back four with the likes of Mitchell Thomas, Mark McGregor or even Paul Weller called upon at right full back. . Glen Little sits out the game after, |


| Gareth Taylor. . And after being outplayed by Nor-


being knocked unconcious against Norwich.


I wich on Saturday, hut managing to hold out for a 1-1 draw, it was anoth-


mandatory two-week period, but it is hoped he will return to face Preston


Under FA rules, he must sit out a . '


[ er depressing show. Ternent lambasted histside after


at Turf Moor a week on Sunday. However, it appears unlikely that


i the game in a short, and terse, press I conference: "We didn't have a player ! that was up to their usual standards. "The goal was a foul, but the refer-


I ee didn't give it. "But that’s not to take away the


| fact that we were very poor. "I make no excuses for that. It's


I my job to put it right, and I've got I nine games to do it in, starting at | Stockport on Saturday.


£10 bet won :


Tement’s bid to lure Paul Gascoigne to the club will succeed. / . ... Tement made an enquiry on Mon­


Stonyhurst rugby stars reach county final


day for the out-of-favour Everton midfielder, but, Walter Smith and Gascoigne have reached an agree­ ment that he will wait until the sum­ mer before plotting his next move. Burnley remain keen to bolster


their squad ahead of the transfer deadline.


■ THE all-conquenng Under 15s rugby team from Stonyhurst College has qualified for anoth­ er major final. They recently beat Merchant


Taylors from Crosby and will now play in the Lancashire Cup Final.


. No fewer than nine of the team have already, represented


■ the county this term in games . against Cardiff and Yorkshire.-.... ■ Although wearing the tradi­ tional colours of the Red Rose


■ county, the Stonyhurst boys made .up a mini league of


nations with boys from all over-. Lancashire as well.as from/ -Dubai, Madrid and London. ■. ■ -.The Stonyhurst players to have received county honours-- are pictured back row (left to ■ right), Thomas Hunt (Hurst/ . Green), Ryan Stokes (Preston),.


Luke Langford (Macclesfield), Ross Munro (London, cap­ tain), John Ashworth (Whal­ ley), front row, Paiil Beard (Dubai), Charles : Cuddy


-(Hurst:Green), John Notter (Madrid),- Iain Lindsay (Wind­ sor). .


More Ribble Valley Sport can be found on pages 41 and 19 this week B G. Doherty of Nelson wins a £10 bet for


correctly predicting that Burnley and Norwich v ; would draw 1-1 on Saturday


.? B To have a chance of winning a £10 bet fro ny


: William Hill, ail you have to do is correctly ; “ predict the score of Burnley’s clash with ,


Preston on Sunday, March 17th, and you could/ : .


; be a winner. - . - . . *


B Simply write your prediction and your name; and address and send it to: Football v


Competition (Preston), Promotions Department,,, '• East Lancashire Newspapers, Bull Street,^ ' Burnley, BB111 DP by first post onjhursday


Clitheroe......... .....1 Whitley Bay........... 2 CLITHEROE suffered


offered a new contract to stay at Ewood, regardless of whether Rovers are relegated. His current deal expires at the end


injury-time heartache as their Carlsberg. FA Vase dreams went up in a puff of smoke on Sat­ urday at Shawbridge. The Blues were sent


By CRAIG SALMON


minute after Bay had led for the best part of 80 minutes. ' Unfortunately, the


spiralling out of the pres­ tige non-league cup com­ petition a t the quarter­ final stage after Whitley Bay snatched the winner with virtually the last kick of the game. I t was certainly cruel-


luck on Lee Sculpher’s men after the player- manager himself had grabbed a deserved equaliser in the 81st


Blues, and in particular Mark Stewart, con­ tributed to their own downfall. The left-back lived up


away the free kick. Stewart escaped with


into the top comer. The pitch made life


a caution but Kevin Wal­ ton’s free-kick was swung over and Steve Locker saw his initial header brilliantly saved by Kris Richens. But the ball rebound­


to his “psycho” nick­ name by giving away a needless free-kick in the fifth minute of injury time. In fact, Stewart could


quite easily have seen red after lashing out at John Sunderland in the imme­ diate aftermath of giving


•


WADDINGTON A's dreams of a Clitheroe and District Snooker League and Cup double are in ta t te r s after a shock quarter-final defeat against Billing- ton A. The First Division


fourth-placed side, who now take on Whalley, 980-854 conquerors of Rimington B, in the last four.


side Rimington A 974- 966. In the league, Chat-


leaders went down 989- 784 on aggregate to the


beat Clitheroe Conserv­ ative B 866-853 to earn a semi-final showdown with Downham, who . saw off Second Division


Low Moor A narrowly


bum A closed the gap at the top of the First Divi­ sion to six points with a 12-2 win over Billington B. But Waddington A now have a game in hand. Slaidbum are the new


Second Division leaders after


Clitheroe Conservative A with a 10-4 win over their rivals. Talbot B are second


leapfrogging


after a 12-2-win over Chatburn B, who could


only raise two players. . RESULTS


First Division . Low Moor A10, Whalley4:


M. Holmes 91, A. Riley 34; C. Drinkwater 114, J. Cross 46; R Mercer 128, J. Sumner 47; D. Ireland 111, R. Smith 85; R Traynor 78, G. Taylor 88; S. Traynor 45, J. Timperley 103. Downham 10, RBL 4: D.


Heesom 107, S. Taylor 42; C. Aspinall 66, N. Schofield 88; S. Turner 94, B. Hargreaves 63; D. Hart 98, S. Blackburn 63; R. Gladwin 63, G. Blackburn 82; P. Marlow 60, no player 0.


Richens into a fine save


ed to him, and he gleeful­ ly hammered home. Earlier, Bay had got


themselves off to the best possible start with a goal after only three minutes. Skipper Gary Middle-


shot over the bar on six minutes while Jason Jones had Clitheroe’s first shot on target in the 22nd minute. Moments later good


difficult for both forward lines as it cut up badly and made controlling the ball a lottery. . Sunderland skied a


chance to equalise on the stroke of half-time but Caffrey made a superb double save from Martin Aspinwall and Cryer. In the second half,


at his near post. The Blues'had a great


ton delivered a cross from the left which found the unmarked Ian Chan­ dler six yards out, and he gave Richens no chance with a powerful header


link-up play between Lee Cryer and Neil Spencer gave Neil Reynolds a shooting opportunity but Caffrey was equal to the effort. Bay forward Andy Chay was causing


.Clitheroe’s' back-line problems and he forced


smart dive to his right to push Walton’s spot-kick away. And that save appeared to be crucial


Clitheroe were limited to long range efforts despite forcing the visitors back. The game erupted in


when the Blues finally found the breakthrough seven minutes later. Carl Greenwood’s cor­


the 74th minute when Bay were awarded a penalty. Andy Bowes cut through the home defence and was brought down by Richens, who was lucky to escape a red card. However, Richens redeemed himself with a


ner was flicked on at the near post by Stewart, and Cryer headed it goalwards where Sculpher was lurking to nod the ball home. But with extra-time


looming, Clitheroe fell to the ultimate sucker- punch in the final sec­ onds of the match.


Flixton.... .......... 1 C l i th e ro e .............1 CLITHEROE were- still feeling the after­ effects of the Vase defeat on Tuesday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom of the table Flixton. The Blues were unable


to capitalise after taking a first half lead and were pegged back in the sec­ ond half. Richard Fogarty and


Chris Whittingham were both given starts in place of the injured Lee Cryer and suspended Jason


Jones. In the early stages,


both sides were playing good football on a diffi­ cult pitch but both defences held firm. Flixton had the first


opportunity of the match to score but Hib- bert failed to control the ball when he only had keeper Kris Richens to beat. The Blues hit back


and Fogarty should have done better when he shot wide from close range. However, the deadlock


was broken in the 27 th minute when Whitting-, ham’s 20-yard effort could only be parried into the net by the goal­ keeper. Both sides continued


to create chances in a very attacking game. . Clitheroe received a


game. Flixton quickly took


blow early in the second half when influential midfielder Neil Reynolds was forcediout of the


advantage and grabbed an equaliser when follow­ ing a corner on the right, the ball fell’ to centre half Hibberfc who fired past the helpless Richens. In the closing minutes,


Richens protected his side’s point when he pulled off a terrific save, diving to his left to turn the ball around the upright.


-final defeat


B 8: T. Rydeheard 112, P. Hobson 84; P. Barker 72, R. Bolland 78; J. Gibson 54, P. Houghton 70; N. Harris 60, P. Winkley 73; D. Wilson 106, D. Seed 67; P. Conchie 47, A.


Billington A 6, Rimington


Hayhurst 69. Chatbum 12, Billington B


2. Second Division


Geldard 102, D. Johnson 68; T. Smith 57, I. Perry 85; I. White 95, S. Mercer 72; L. Sutcliffe 90, T. Richardson 75; D. Baxter 81, G. Tyler 106; no •player 0, D. Dean 60. Slaidburn 10, Glitheroe


A. Dickinson 60, no player 0; M. Garth 74, B. Dolan 96; D. Robinson 93, J. Read 89; C. Hayhurst 60, no player 0; S. Hayhurst 60, no player 0; O. Hayhurst 60, no player 0. Social 6, Low Moor 8: N.


Talbot B 12, Chatbum B 2:


»0: D. Calvert 89, T. Procter 68; C. Edmondson 71, S. Procter 61; G. Watson 94, S. Cookson 69; S. Petty 98, F. Whitaker 47; M. Rhodes jnr 110, J. Winder 81; M. Yates 120, P. Procter 103. Cup Quarter-Finals


Con. A 4; A. Rigby 91, D. Smith 45; N. Hey 93, K. Smith 86; G. Parker 70, M. Whittaker 59; E. Rigby 73,1. Charlton 67; B. Walker 68, R. Grant 88; J. Whitwell 75, A. Isherwood 103. • Rimington A 14, Talbot A


A 966; Low Moor A 866, Glitheroe Con. B 853; Billing­ ton A 989, Waddington A 784; Rimington B 854, Whalley 980.


Downham 974, Rimington


FIXTURES Tonight


First Division Rimington B v Low Moor


A; RBL v Clitheroe Con. B; Waddington A v Whalley; Billington B v Downham; Chatbum A and Billington A byes.


Second Division Low Moor B v Rimington


A; Chatburn B v Slaidburn; Social Club v Waddington B; Police v Talbot B; Clitheroe Con. A and Talbot A byes. DRAW .


; Cup Semi-Finals Low Moor A v Downham;


Whalley v Billington A. To be played March 13th and 20th: TABLES


First Division - ,, P W ,L P


Waddington A..... 14 11 3128 Chatburn A ......... 15 10 5122 Low Moor A........ 13 10 3114 Billington A ........ 15 Whalley Con____ 14 Clitheroe Con B .. 14 Rimington B— 14 Downham........... 13 RBLm...m...m»... 13 Billington B ........ 15


S e c o n d D iv is io n Slaidbum


Talbot B _______ 14 Clitheroe Con A .. 15 Rimington A......: 14 Talbot A ____...... 14 Chatburn B.. ....... 15 Police.........—...... 13 Low Moor B........ 14 Social Club___ .... 15 Waddington B..... .13


7 - 8110 6 8 98 8 6 92 5 9 92 6 7 90 6 7 84 1 14 50 .


p W L P 13 10 3118 7 7116 9 6114 7 7106 7 - 7100 7 8 98 7 6 90 6 8 86 5 10 78 5. 8 .72


('C1M!Ti'Ti:US r.r,/.


PHONE: 01282 424041 ■


www.p3computers.com


Thursday, March 7th, 2002


In association with


42; Independent Financial Advisers [ikfifaUm


47 - 51 Berry Lane * Longridge Tel: 01772 784531


V is i t www.Hfeniatters-ltd.co.uk


Jf, matter, 1, a Member of b , .h e Per,oral


>nd b"er<m«n.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44