UNRIVALLED COVERAGE OF SPORT IN THE RIBBLE VALLEY * I'V *1 t > A Thursday, October 9th, 2003 34


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Boss: ‘We never know when we are beaten’


By PHIL SIMPSON


"WE never know when we’re beaten” was the mes­ sage expressed by Blues boss Lee Sculpher after Tuesday’s massive victory. Clitheroe have already


racked up a number of late strikes this season, which have sent them soaring to the top of the table. ■ And it was another last- gasp effort - this time from Lee Cryer - against second- placed Woodley Sports, that sent them eight points clear at the summit. And Sculpher heralded his team’s fighting spirit:


"One thing I will say about this team, and it is a tribute to them, is that they never seem to know when they’re beaten. “We have improved a lot’


in our fitness recently, and done a lot of training over the past few months. “But they also have the


belief in themselves that they can get a goal, even if it does arrive in the la s t ' minute.


son: “Out of out 13 or so games this season, we must have been behind in eight or nine of them.


. “Right from the first


' game against Skelmersdale, where we won it in the 94th minute or something like that, we have kept going right until the end in every match.” Victory over Woodley


1 “They will always keep going right to the death,. and would never settle for a draw in any situation.” • And he echoed that view­ point from earlier in the sea­


means the Blues have over­ come three promotion rivals in a magnificent seven-day spell: “I ’m delighted with the result and with the per­ formances we have put in in the last three games. “I think we have definite­


ly deserved to win all three of them. ■ . ' “Woodley was a tight -


game, there wasn’t many chances, but I think over the course of the match we created the better ones. ' ' “And we had a couple of


good penalty appeals turned down,as well. “But that win now makes


a little bit of a gap at the top, even though they have games in hand.” The performance of new-


boy Stewart Parkinson has impressed Sculpher since his arrival from Fleetwood, Town. And with Chris Whit-


tingham also making a welT come reVurnvC.''from Rossendale United,’ things are looking bright: “Stewart had scored in his last two games, and has coped very well. He is very .quick, very committed and will cause a lot of problems for defences this season.' “And as for Whitty, the


crowd love him and it is pleasing to have him back from Rossendale. • “Those two lads are in


the same mould as each other, arid the pair of them playing together in the same team will give anyone a test.”


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Chris Whittingham Late goal seals top-of-table clash


Woodley Sports................. 1 A HIGHLY entertaining top of the table encounter went in the favour of the league leaders, courtesy of two superb second half goals. In a game th a t was only


Clitheroe ...........2


spoiled by some bizarre refer­ ring decisions, which did nei­ ther side any favours, the Blues demonstrated their battling qualities after once again con­ ceding the opening goal. The opening thirty minutes


hid the excitement th a t was t o . come later on.


A couple of long-range efforts


from the visitors, which were well held by Kris Richens, were the only real shots in anger. However it was a mistake


looked to pose no danger to Richens, but his fumble saw Clitheroe concede a corner from which Woodley took the lead. Clitheroe will have been even


were a fairly quiet affair, and more disappointed by the


from the Clitheroe number one that gave Woodley the lead just after the half hour mark. Another long-range effort


defending which saw a free header for Clive Brown give Woodley the opening goal. Having taken the lead, the


they were content to pass the ball around their bpck line, but were almost caught out by this risky tactic. While attempting to play


their way out of trouble in defence, Lee Cryer nipped in


visitors were happy to sit back and defend, and an immediate tactical switch saw them play­ ing with five defenders across the back. A confident passing side,


and broke towards goal. He appeared to be brought


down inside the area as Wood- ley attempted to atone the mis­ take, but the referee wasn’t interested in the penalty appeals. A superb move on 37 minutes


nearly saw Clitheroe equalise. Great vision from John Paul


well to bring the ball down on his chest and was unfortunate to see his shot hit the goalkeep­ er.


Fagan saw his pass reach Neil Spencer at the back post. The Clitheroe front man did


Spencer, but a defender man­ aged to clear his goal-bound second attempt. A fantastic second half dis­


The rebound broke again for


play saw Clitheroe begin to dominate the play, and they deservedly equalised on 55 min­ utes. A great run and cross from


The winning goal came cour­


tesy of Fagan’s ability from a dead ball situation. On 82 minutes the Blues were


awarded a free kick wide on the right 25 yards from goal. Fagan’s fiercely whipped in


winger Chris Whittingham was deflected, and then parried by the goalkeeper. The ball dropped kindly for


delivery was perfect for Cryer, whose thumping header gave Clitheroe all three points. Woodley pushed forward in


Stewart Parkinson, whose, sweet first-time strike put Clitheroe back on level terms.


the lastlO minutes as they looked to get something out of the game, but Clitheroe held firm to record their third suc­ cessive victory against one of their main promotion rivals.


Blues pick up another away day win


Warrington Town . . . . . . 2 Clitheroe ...........................3 TWO late second half goals eventually ensured tha t the Blues took all three points to record their second away win of the week: Following midweek victory


over Mossley, Clitheroe once again defeated another of their possible promotion rivals. The first half was a scrappy


affair. •Neither team really got into


top gear and goalscoring chances were. few and far between. It was Clitheroe who gained


the upper hand though, taking the lead after only five minutes. A free kick on the left from


John Paul Fagan was spilled by the Warrington goalkeeper, and in the goalmouth scramble that followed, Gary Jackson was able to poke the ball home from close range. Unfortunately for the


Clitheroe striker though, he limped out of the game 10 min­ utes later after being on the receiving end of a strong tack­ le.


Andy Cowking had a half


chance for Clitheroe with a header froin close range, and Warrington’s Chris Berming- ’ ham shot a free kick straight at Kris Richens, as neither team looked like adding to the score. The home side, trailing by a goal, never really threatened


the Clitheroe rearguard, and the Blues reached half time, with their lead intact. Chris Whittingham, back in


the starting line up following his brief spell at Rossendale, was a key figure in the second half, and played a part in both Clitheroe goals. On 75 minutes, the winger’s


tricky run found Lee Cryer, but Cryer saw his shot blocked by the Warrington defence. The rebound fell again to Cryer,


who fed a first time pass to Stewart' Parkinson, who delightfully chipped the ball over McCormack in the War­ rington goal to register his first goal for the club. • Five minutes later and Cryer


and Whittingham again linked up well to provide the killer third goal. ■A neat one-two between


them saw Whittingham surge into the penalty area. As he went past his man, he


appeared to be pulled back and the referee had no hesitation in awarding the spot kick. Just as he had at Mossley, Fagan showed real composure as he slotted home the penalty. Despite having periods of


possession throughout the sec­ ond half, Warrington seeriied to lack the killer punch, but did gain a consolation goal on full time, Bermingham shooting home from the edge of the penalty area.


Tarleton ...............................51 Clitheroe. .............................10 RUNAWAY leaders,Tarleton gave the locals a harsh lesson in rugby, bringing the winning sequence to a shuddering halt. The squad was stretched, and an


11th hour withdrawal meant skip­ per Matt Dugdale, already strug­ gling with a sore back, unselfishly put himself into the front row. With the inclusion of two back-


row players in the second row engine room, the pack looked vul­ nerable and decidedly lightweight. The omens were not encouraging


from the first scrummage, with the Clitheroe eight under big pressure. Scrum-half Owain Jones had to


with at best static or retreating ball, the threequarters were strug­ gling to break down a very well marshalled defence. ■ Although having a thin time of it at scrum time, the line-out area was more profitable, where the athleti­ cism of Ralph Rigby, combined with Edward Hacking’s height, gave some good returns. However


contend with scrappy possession, plus the attention of an advancing set of loose forwards. It was hardly surprising, faced


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Tarleton are not top for nothing, and Clitheroe had little answer to the strong running and top quality support play of the home pack. By the half-time interval the


match was as good as sewn up, with only a solitary penalty courtesy of stand off Nathan Peel. If the second half had continued


as the first, it could have been a massacre. But this Clitheroe team are made of sterner stuff. Although ultimately outclassed,


i ; ■. Greenwood out to put as


'


past experience to use go for glory


there was no desire to capitulate. After seeing the forlorn figure of


Dugdale, their talismanic captain trudging from the field, they redou­ bled their efforts and played some of the best rugby of the game. To not have crossed the line


would have been a travesty, and at the final whistle, from a close range lineout, Peel squirmed .eel-like through three defenders and fed the ever-faithful centre Ben Curfy to


crash over for a richly deserved try. ■With high flyers Lytham the vis­


itors to Littlemoor this Saturday, kick-off 3 p.m., the Maroon and Golds know now that they have to improve substantially to keep in the top half of the table.


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FORMER Stonyhurst College pupil Will Green­ wood is raring to go as England open their RFU Rugby World Cup cam­ paign on Sunday. Clive Greenwood’s men


- arguably the best side in the world - take on Geor­ gia in Perth, Australia. And Greenwood, who


joins fellow Stonyhurst old boys Kyran Bracken and Iain Balshaw in the Eng­ land squad, has hit back at critics of the side’s veteran pack. The 31-year-old NEC


Harlequins star is back in full training after England shook off the jetlag of last week’s 18-hour flight to Perth. The squad have spent


the last two days reaching full throttle at their train­ ing base at Hale School in the north of the city. But critics have suggest­


ENGLAND EXPECTS: From left, Iain Balshaw, Kyran Bracken and Will Greenwood .


ed England’s pack might run out of steam in the heat, and on the fast play­ ing surfaces in Australia. However, Greenwood insists the side are in great


• shape and ready to erase the memory of their quar­ ter-final exit to South Africa at the Stade de France in the 1999 tourna­ ment.


. centre said: “Four years ago we had a very disap­ pointing exit in the quar­ ter-final in Paris, and South Africa thoroughly deserved that victory. ."But.in the last year


The Blackburn-born


. THERE are vacancies for the last week of qualifying invithe' Bar-Be-Quick,. Floodlit Doubles at Rib- blesdale Wanderers Bowl­ ing Club.


we've put down some good markers and it’s a good changing room to be in at the moment. “Every side has got better in the last


few years, but we’ve learned a lot from some of our defeats in Grand,Slam deciders and we’ve put good perfor­ mances together.


. v “As a side we’ve matured - some would


say we’ve aged - but if you're good enough, you’re young enough, arid the likes of Jason Leonard are in great‘nick.’’ Greenwood believes the squad’s 12


weeks of build-up work in a hot English summer will help the players cope with temperatures in the high 20s. v He said: “We’ve only had a Couple of.


we’re not used to flying for 20 hours. “Now the clock’s adjusted and i t ’s


great to be back on the rugby field and to get into the sea to cool down. The boys loved that. “The English summer has been good


I England’s 30-man squad have each put their name to one of the RFU’s 28 county Constituent Bodies and given their back­ ing to the activities taking place during


light sessions in the first coupleof days;^ “When we have away trips in^uropef they’re only two or three, hour. fligKts!^^^


.. .. ■


, ' “I t ’s going to be tough, but we’ve .worked hard on our conditioning and we feel we’ll be ready.”


preparation for the conditions, as it was in the south of France.


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