'.f— •^ • Sport in a s so c ia t ion with
F o r 9 f l S g B S ® ® ^ « M a i l s in the
C l i t h e r o e ^ ^ ^ ^
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jcompuier.s.com
Thursday, September 2nd, 2004
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With your sports team pf Edward Lee, Chris Boden. Phil Simpson and Adrian Capstick backed to end drought by Chris Boden
r'^v AHEAD of a mouthwater ing double-header at Shaw- bridge. Blues boss Lee Sculpher has backed his strikers to end their goal drought.
Clitheroe have failed to
find the net in their last three games, following the 2-0_opening day success against Shepshed D3mamo. But with Tow Law Town
and Chorley on the horizon at the weekend, Sculpher feels
his.frontline will be
UNTOOND LEAGUE
Gresley Rovers___4 4 BriggTown...........4 3 Ilkeston Town....... 4 3 Mossley..............4 3
FIRST DIVISION TABLE P W D L P 0 0 12 1 0 10 1 0 10 0 1 9
WUIenhall Town . . .4 2 2 0 8 NorthFerribyUtd’.4 2 1 1 7 Ossett Albion ........4 2
1 1 7
Woodley Sports___3 2 0 1 6 Helper Town..........4 2 0 2 6 Kendal Town......... 4 2 , 0 2 6 AFC TeFord Utd . .4 1 2 1 5 KidsgroveAtb...... 3 1 2 0 5 Eastwood Town ...4 1 1 2 4 CLITHEROE . . . .4 1 1 2 4
Warrington Town . .4 1 1 2 4 Cborley •..............4 1
Sbcpsbed Dynamo . 4 1 0 3 3 Spalding...............4 1 0 CohvynBay ......... 4 0
2 2 2
Rossendale Utd__4 0 2 2 2 Rocester............... 4 0 2 2 2 StocksbridgePS ...4 0 1 3 1
back among the goals soon er rather than later: “We are getting there, although, to be honest, we maybe
that. “People will look and say
we have not scored in the last three games, but, that said, at Ossett last Wednes day, on another day we would have had four or five. “Saturday against Ilke
ston was a game of few chances, and it was always going to be a bit of luck that won it , and it went their way.
could have had a couple. “But it doesn’t concern
':;5»
me yet - we are getting down the other end and creating chances. “And I’m sure as we eo
“Against Colwyn Bay we
walking the ball in, we just need more quality balls into the forwards to give them every chance to score, because they are having to feed off scraps at the moment. “But we are working on
need more care in the final third. “We don’t need to be
0 3 3 3 3
bum, he’s 18, and we’ll be ta to g a long look at him. “Hopefully he can give
us something we’re lacking in midfield.
“But we’re lucky to get ■;iv
the likes of Chris and Gra ham, and we want to use them to our best advan tage.”
Clitheroe will again be
without Martin Aspinwall this weekend, while Barrie Hart is hoping to featme as the Blues face Tow Law Town on Saturday in the PA Cup preliminary round, ^ d Sculpher looked ahead: “They are a famous name, but every team from the Northern League is very difficult to play against - they tend to be physical,
m
IN CHARGE: Lee Sculpher takes on Colwyn Bay’s Marcus Orlik on Bank Holiday Monday
on in the next few weeks we
will sharpen up in the final third.” But he pointed to the
with the way we’ve per formed so far.
be as open and free scoring, and we are playing better, more organised opponents. “And we have to be more
patient on the attack, whereas in the past we got the ball to quick wingers
and got lots of crosses in the box. “At this level it’s not as
straightforward.” After the successive
“We know games won’t
against Ilkeston to a goal that you will probably never see the like of again in your career when Adam Gardner cleared the ball and it hit someone, who came in on his blindside, on the knee and flew in. “Overall I ’m pleased
late on, but we were chas ing the game then. “Then we conceded
defensive plus-points: “On the other hand, we have kept two clean sheets in four games, and in the game at Ossett we were the victims of a harsh referee ing decision that gave them a penalty to make it 1-0. “We conceded two more
defeats against Ossett Albion and Ilkeston, Sculpher was delighted to gain a well-deserved away draw in Wales on Bank Holiday Monday: “I was very pleased with a point at Colwyn Bay — you are
early pressure, and I felt for the last 15 minutes of the first half, and the second, we edged it.
first half, and with them not having won a game, they were eager to impress. “We got through some
bar, Lre Cryer had a head er, and there were three or four occasions after the break when Paul Stansfield broke from midfield and shot narrowly wide. “But they put a lot of
“Glyn Barker hit the
men behind the ball, even though they were the home team, and it was a compli ment to us.” Last week Sculpher was
also able to add to his squad with the signing of Graham Price: “Graham is another player who was released by Bristol Rovers in the summer, along with Chris Nestor. “He’s also from Black-
with any away point in tWs league. “We defended well in the
strong sides, and won’t give an inch. “We expect it to be tight,
that bit of luck. “But in the cup, the prize
money available to clubs like ourselves, if you can win three or four games, it can cover your wage bud get for the year, or go a long way to covering it and help the club no end. “That said, we can’t
throw everything in one pot and hope for a good cup run, because if you’re not at it on the day, you can come a cropper.” Three days later
Clitheroe host Chorley - who were in the Conference little over a decade ago - on a level footing in the league: “It’s an early sea son derby, and maybe a six- pointer even at this stage. Chorley are down near the bottom, having lost three games.
“It shows how far we
have come - we have closed the gap on clubs hke Chor ley, and credit goes to everyone at the club. “But one of the main
things is that everyone has got to enjoy playing against clubs like Chorley on a regular basis, and hopefully we will improve throughout the season. “Some of the lads have
never played at this level, while four or five have. “It’s up to the ones that
have to help get it across to the others what to expect.”
but if we play like we have been. I’m pretty convinced we will start winning games comfortably. “We maybe just need
Spares Ev:.-,
e • 1 r-';- II li'c ^ »«fc' / Jsa Rudgyard on^~^
Elizabeth takes first step on world ladder
by Phil Simpson
WHATEVER sport you’re in and whatever level you are at, one thing rans trae - everyone has to start somewhere. And local tennis starlet
Elizabeth Thomas could just have placed her first step on the ladder to greatness. After starting to com
pete in International Ten nis Federation events, she has picked up her first Women’s Tennis Associa tion ranking points.
ings include every player of the circuit, including American greats Venus and Serena Williams. Although the 19-year-
old is a long way off those names, currently lying 1,027th, the fact she has elevated herself among the best is ever3d;hing. Belgian sensation Jus
tine Henin-Hardenne cur rently leads the rankings with 4,950 points, while
Thomas has accumulated 3.75. I t wasn’t long since
Henin-Hardenne was in the same position, and anything she can do, maybe Thomas can match.
And the Langho teenag
er was overjoyed to have made it onto the WTA rankings board: “It’s fan tastic to have a world ranking, but I will be
Those same WTA rank
working to improve on that all the'time.
“I’ve really enjoyed it so
far, and it just goes to show what you can acheive. I ’m a full-time tennis
player now and I’ve taken a year out before universi ty, so I can fully concen trate on my teimis. “I ’m there now, I ’ve
done the hard bit by get ting a ranking, so I’ll hope fully go on from here.”
Thomas will soon be
gunning to become top Brit - a slot currently occupied by Anne Keothavong. She currently lies 154th in the WTA rankings on 219.25 points. But with Thomas in
blistering form at present, who knows what she may
acheive in the months ahead? The former Clitheroe
Royal Grammar School student grabbed a hat- trick of titles at the recent Lancashire County Cham pionships at Bolton Arena. The eight-day event,
saw her grab the Ladies’ Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles crowns. The Mixed Doubles
event - alongside partner Simon Roberts - saw her defend the title she won 12 months ago. But the other two events saw her strike top spot in her senior tour nament debut. After collecting the
Junior Singles crown on five occasions, she over
came Gail Atherton 6-2,6- 0 to take the seniors title. But Atherton became
her ally in the Ladies Dou bles, as the pair overcame Liverpool duo Gemma
Bisson and Jenna Webster 6-2,6-2. And the hat-trick of
titles was all the more remarkable by the fact she never dropped a set! Thomas, who trains four
hours a day at Bolton Arena, has also competed in ITF events in Egypt, Portugal and Ireland this
year, with more on the way. And she added: “I had
just received a place at Loughborough University for this year but I have deferred it until 2005 to concentrate on my tennis. “It was great to win
three titles at Bolton - I ,
never thought I would get that. “I don’t think anyone
else there won anything like what I did anywhere else in any age group, so I was delighted. “I ’ve got a few ITF ^
events coming up in Manchester and Jersey in the next few months, so ^ I’ll concentrate on those before I do anything else.”
9770963365096 9 / J65Q96 4
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