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Scully sets sights on league battle


By ADRIAN CAPSTICK


CLITHEROE manager Lee Sculpher has demanded a fighting spirit from his players in a clear message that row is the time to buckle down for the most important and toughest games of theseason. 'After Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against


this year, the points have already been dropped and it is just a case to get the two results needed and battle past Mossley. “The next two games are going to


them in the way that they defended.” And he thought the officials per­


be massive to our season.” Saturday’s cup exit to Bacup proved


Bacup Borough in the League Chal­ lenge Cup, Sculpher is fully focused on the league challenge at hand. And he admits it is going to bo something of a scrap in the race for the


1:1 r '*


• title. ■ It always gets harder, the nearer you got to the finishing line, and Sculpher said, ahead of Saturday’s home clash with potential rivals Con- gleton: “We’ve got 16 league games between now and the end of the sea­ son, and I’d like to see everyone play as well as they did against Bacup, as a lot of these games are going to be real battles where we’re going to have to go and outfight teams. “Wo know that we can play some


great football, but it has got to the business end of the season and it will now be a pure battle - the players are going to have to show their true colours and I’m sure that they will do. “I ’m quite hopeful that between


• always been chasing the top side, wait­ ing for points to be dropped, whereas


day’s clash with Congleton - 20 points behind the Blues with five games in hand - and then the big trip to Wood- ley Sports the week after, as mile­ stones, \vith the onus lying at the feet of his side. He said: “In the past we’ve


And Sculpher has earmarked Satur­ '


just such a battle and was nothing less than what the Clitheroe boss expected form a derby cup tic. And although he was happy with


formed well in what was a rugged con­ test: “I thought the referee did quite well, he tried not to book players, whereas another referee on another day may have had a book full, to be honest.


“With it being a local derby and a cup tie, there were a few tasty tack- ■


■ .


the commitment his side showed, he questioned the nature of how Bacup scored: “It was disappointing in the way that we conceded the goal, and in what led up to it, as we had a free kick in their half, they broke away, got a corner and scored from it. “And for someone to be unmarked


Ics.” On matters of a team nature, Rus­


sell Clarke made a welcome return to the Blues back line, and Sculpher believes he is very close to being back to his best: “Russell’s been out for the past two or three months. ■


in our six yard box has to be looked at, and questions have to be asked why, but on the other side of that, I thought we defended quite well as a team and really the game should have


finished 0-0.”


now and the end of the season we will have a good finish, as we want to give our home fans something to cheer about.”


and is the first to hold his hand up and admit that his side were beaten fair and square: “We had quite a lot of possession in the second half, with a few scrambles, but there weren’t a lot of clear-cut chances in the whole game. “We had perhaps two or three good


But Sculpher has no real complaints


ones in the second half - Chris Whit- tingham had one, Glen Ainsworth had another in the last minute.


“Maybe they should have held their ,


nerve a bit more, but in a cup tie that tends to be just what happens. “But it was always going to be a


tough physical battle, and whichever side wanted to win it the most would come out on top. “Sometimes you’ve just got to hold your hands up and say well played to


. ■


played a couple more games he will be back to what he was before he got injured. “He’s a quality player and I hope to


“He needed to play, and once he’s


see the best of him between now and the end of the season.” ; For the league campaign Clitheroe


ISXTURDAYMpfeat' TiagainstjiBacupJBor-;. ^ough now means there ^is onlyjonc trophy/icl t , 4to;play^for^fojf,tm Sson;^bui'the^66ciliew*s


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will have Glynn Barker back, a valu­ able addition to the team who has now scored four in four league games that he has played in, but Sculpher believes their main problem lies in goals conceded rather than goals scored. The side have conceded only two


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kW^Another'bVost'could!^^ yet be received from,the^, NorthfWesi’^o^iiin


less than the total shipped in the full league campaign last term, and Sculpher said: “For a team in our posi­ tion, we need a lot more clean sheets, which is something that we will be striving for, but we’ll tweak a few things in training.” And with the chance of Gary Jack-


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son making a return on Saturday, after recovering from a broken foot, depending on whether he gets the all clear from a scan tomorrow, Clitheroe could be back at full strength.


Glitheroe suffer shock cup exit Clilheroe........... .. Bacup Borouyh . . . . .0 .1.


CLITHEROE were knocked out of the League Cup at the quarter-final stage against a tough Bacup side, helped to vic­ tory by a weak referring performance. Just as manager Lee


unable to direct his header goal wards. Giggs then almost gave


Bacup the lead on 43 min­ utes when put clean through on goal, but Kris Richens forced him wide and made the save. From the resulting cor­


Sculpher had predicted, the visitors came with a game- plan of spoiling tactics, designed to prevent the Blues playing any sort of flowing football. And with the referee con­


tent for Bacup to continue their style " of play, Clitheroe were never allowed into their stride. The Blues did have


glory arrived just after the hour, as a Hart free kick took a wicked deflection off the wall, but Pelgate was ■ still able to claw the ball out for a corner. Clitheroe pushed for­


His final moment of


ner, Nicky Taylor’s first time show was going well wide until Lee Anderson reacted quickly and divert­ ed the ball home. With a half-time lead,


• the referee appeared to miss the majority of what was going on. In fact it wasn’t until


Bacup were happy to spoil the second half, but again


enough chances to win the game, but were met by a formidable barrier in veter­ an keeper David Felgate. Bacup had the first real


chance when Rhodri Giggs put through Darren Emmet, with Russell Clarke having to make a last-ditch tackle to clear the danger. . In a scrappy game,


Clitheroe had to wait until the 22nd minute for their first goal attempt. Good play from Stuart


Parkinson enabled Barrie Hart to send in a cross, but Chris Whittingham was


entries sought


THE competition season at Rushton Street Bowling Club kicks off on April 24th with the Harry Cow- burn Open Singles. More details of this event can be obtained from Pat Bonney


' (01254 886527). That is followed by the


Matthew Thompson Open Doubles on Saturday, May


' place, with further details from . Marion Cornall (01254 889405). September sees the ACL


• 22nd, contact Jean Keys (01254 889405). And omSaturday, June 26th, the Brenda Monk ■ Mixed Doubles will take :


: ; :' '15th and 22nd and Thurs- • days 16th and 23rd.


a: I ^4


^ return on Tuesday, the 28th, with second week. • winners on Wednesday the


First week winners will :


29th. The finals night will be


on Friday, October 1st. All ■


>, More details are avail- rable from George Rams-


■, the games are.6:p.m. prac- : tice with 6-30 p.m. start, r


■ jJ; ;;bottom (01254 602149). .


' ': taking place on Mondays : ■ 13th and 20th„TuesdayS; ' : 14th and 21st, Wednesdays '


Floodlit Doubles Competi­ tion, with the first round


arrived just after the ■restart, but from then on it was Felgate who took cen­ tre stage. A superb Adam Gardner


midway through the half that he produced his first yellow card - amazingly, it was Whittingham for dis­ sent! A fine save from Richens


cross was met by a perfect Lee Cryer header, but the keeper somehow flung him­ self to the ball and kept it


out.


released Whittingham on goal; but Felgate was equal to the task and saved well.


Moments later, Cryer


ward in the final quarter for a way back, with substi­ tute Neil Spencer coming closest to scoring following a goalmouth scramble. Another substitute, Glen


returning Neil Spencer scored from distance to complete the scoring. The previous week saw


Clitheroe move back into third place in the league with a 3-1 victory at Chadderton. M a tt Garner, Glen


Ainsworth, blasted over from close range and the Blues slowly ran out of time. So with the Blues now


Ainsworth and Danny Stanley all went close, but it wasn’t until the second half th a t Tom Ba rtlett broke the deadlock. Chris Heslop then


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SthougKwill be re'playeS,’ gso another.Mossleyiyicrj r^tpryjwould mean just|a;(j ^ftfee-piunt lo^^^ '-'^I0s:believcS Mossleyjj, ^■hayeji)^en'infpra 3 ?thiisTdecisionBbntUiie:« '^league arc'staymg quiet rti’asHhedcaguc^lcadcrs.f^


Bill in hotseat for mudplugging glory


By ADRIAN CAPSTICK


SKILLED sporting trials car com­ petitor Bill Rhodes drove to success on the arduous hills of Cumbria at the British Trials and Rally Drivers Association Championship when he took the silver star honour. The incline enthusiast, who won


the driver is often more important than the car. The event of sporting trials can be


the Cumbrian Championship two years ago, finished third overall in the event, out of a total of 55 competi­ tors - five of whom travelled over especially from Ireland. He took the first silver position in


•stars. Bill, who lives in Newton, has been


incline marked out by 12 poles or gates, starting at the highest at the base of the hill, working backwards to one at the summit. The skill is to complete each sec­


Drivers attempt to drive up an -


Penrith after finishing behind two of the Irish competitors, who finished ■ first and second to claim the two gold


involved with this extremely com­ petitive sport for the past 25 years and races a Northern Ireland-built 1500cc Crossle trials car that runs on gas. Both of the Irish competitors at


through three rounds - that's a total of 30 hills in one day! Mudplugging, as sporting trials are


best described as trials biking on four wheels and usually takes place on arduous terrain, mainly in woods and forests that feature steep inclines and sharp corners.


also known, is a winter sport, and a typical season runs from September through to May. Competitions are held across the


country by the BTRDA and other smaller associations, but at present no events are held in Lancashire, which is something Bill would like to see develop in the not-too-distant


tion without hitting any poles, stop­ ping or travelling outside the section boundaries, with the winner.beingi the team who lose the least marks - similar in respect to slalom skiing, but in reverse. - Each driver is also aided by a pas­


the Penrith event also raced Crossle’s, of which only 11 exist in England. The vehicles are purpose-made


out of all cup competitions, the sole aim is to focus on the push for the league title and UniBond football. Nelson R ese rv es ......... 0 Clilheroe Reserves . . .5 THE Blues’ second string recorded an emphatic win at their near neighbours in this Reserve Division Tro­ phy North group outing. Despite missing six regu­ lars, it was top scorer Matt


Garner broke the deadlock after fine work from Lee


Lysons. Garner soon added a sec­


ond, before Justin Water- house made it 3-0 shortly before the interval. Andy Preston slammed


extended the Blues’ advan­ tage before Chadderton pulled one back against the run of play. But the victory was


complete when Terry Nel­ son pounced on a mistake to square tor Matt Garner to finish matters. Manager Lee Boyer said:


^ rul^recen tly/ and ^ they^^ ^vhavSSfficially^ ^'dcVlucted three points.'^ ,;^?JPurther^news on Jhis IpossibTcS^ ^boost shoulcKic^be SrevealedioveritheicornTX:


“These are difficult places to come and they are the games th a t win champi onships it you get the right result. “Everyone knows that there is a lot to play for this


season, and it is important we carry on the good atti­ tude and commitment being shown.” • Clitheroe’s Reserve


home the fourth before the . poned. .


Division Trophy North group tie at Ashton Town on Saturday was post


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senger called a bouncer, who not only helps to navigate, but also acts as ballast to apportion extra weight to certain areas of the car in order to maintain traction through the sec­ tions. And in the BTRDA events that


two-seaters with rear wheel drive and standard road tyres - but the skill of


14 or 15 sites across the country th'at--, are used regularly in yearly rotation, but, as the competitions are held on private land, the association is limit­ ed to land owners who are willing to put aside sections of wooded land for


future. ' He said: “At the moment there are


use.“At the moment, in Lancashire :


there are no such sites.” Bill is next in action on February


Bill takes part in, the purpose of the driver and the passenger is to negoti­ ate the car up a series of 10 hills


presentation evening, where the Rib- ble Valley resident will be honoured


I t is also the association’s annual : ^ ^ with his awards.


Buccaneers set sail with tough Grasshoppers tests


PRESTON was ablaze with Clitheroe Buccaneers’ colours as two teams were fielded against:: the Grasshoppers on a crisp, but bright Sunday rnorn- ing. In their first proper


. more experienced sides. ■ The Under 12s team bat­ tled hard against an oppo­ sition which only the week before had won 42-0 at Waterloo.


match, both^ Clitheroe teams performed excep­ tionally well against much


■ After some strong ruck­ • ,


ing and driving from Clitheroe, Sam Thornber managed to avoid a strong Preston defence and bat­ tled toward the line for Clitheroe’s only try, as they lost by three tries. Meanwhile, the Under


10s team were over­ whelmed by the experience and size of the Preston side as the homesters proceeded to pile on four tries in the first quarter. But some superb


Louise leads locals home in By ADRIAN CAPSTICK


THE Rlbble Valley Modern Pen­ tathlon team were back in action again last weekend at the North of England Biathlon and Triathlon Championships in Pre­


ston. The cross country event took


place at,Moor Park in the city, while the air pistol shoot and swim­ ming elements to the event took place at West View Leisure Centre. Twelve clubs from across the


North of England took part, and Louise Highton was among the top performers with first place in both the biathlon and the triathlon, thanks to turning in the best 3,000 metres run on the day with a time of 12 minutes 29 seconds. Not tar behind was team-mate


■ Sarah Vandewalle who finished sec­ ond overall in the same open ladies’, category events after recording the best 200 metres swim of the after­ noon in two minutes 17 seconds. , : In the masters ladies’ section, staunch competitor Julie Pym won


; both the biathlon and the triathlon,


■: ■'And combined with Susan Shaw, A-...


with a best 100 metres swim time of one minute eight seconds, finishing just ahead of Susan Bums, who fin­ ished second in the biathlon. ; ■ .


regional multi-event^ Elizabeth makes ; national grade


who produced a best run time of 1,000 metres in a time of three min- . utes 42 seconds, the trio won the biathlon team event.


Sarah Crossley proved successful '


in the Under 15 girls’ events, finish­ ing first in the triathlon and second in the biathlon, while the Under 17 girls saw Sara Burns finish second in the biathlon. .


•ever in achieving first in the biathlon and second in the triathlon, before combining with Andrew Smith and Peter Wadding- ton to finish third in the triathlon: team event. Tony also won the 2,000 metres


dewalle emulated her older sister’s achievement by also recording sec­ ond in the biathlon and triathlon, after producing a best 1,000 metres, run time on the day of three min­ utes 53 seconds. . . . ■ In the masters men category Tony Bush proved as reliable as


Under 13s competitor Katy Van­


. iln the Under 17 boys’ category, Michael Smith produced a best run time of six'minutes 32 seconds in


• run in a time of seven minutes, one second.


’ Crossley and Chris Waddington to win both the biathlon and the


.the 2,000 metres run to see his way : to second in the biathlon.-'. ■ : • : • v ‘ He than joined forces with James


Transfer M K'S '■ i l2 !m diiey: . ,


triathlon team events.' : V : The Ribble Valley Modern Pen­


tathlon team are next in action at; the National Triathlon.Champi- : onships qualifying sessions,, to be , held again a t Preston on March:


14th. ■Anyone interested in joining the , ■


successful team; or who is just'inter-.; ested in learning more about the.; team, is askedito contact Martin ;■ Highton (01254 823983). ,, ; •;


Bowls meeting


CLITHEROE Royal Grammar School pupil Elizabeth Highton has met with yet more suc­ cess in a swimming competition in Liverpool. The 13-year-old finished second in the 200


'metres backstroke at the City of Liverpool Licence Distance Open Winter Meet, enough


' to qualify for the National Championships at • Sheffield’s Ponds Forge in August.


RIBBLESDALE Wanderers’bdwl-; ing section’s annual general meeting is held in the clubhouse on 'Tuesday, February 10th.The meeting starts, at 8 p.m. prompt,'and all members ■ are asked to attend.


■ .: Elizabeth swam her qualifying stroke in a ■Lime of two minutes 29.3 seconds, and now proudly sports two qualifying times for.the. Sheffield competition, after qualifying for the


;T00 metres backstroke at Stockport in Novem- i ber last yean She also shaved 13 seconds off her 200 metres freestyle time to finish third with a


; time of two minutes 18.86 seconds. ; ■ i ; , . . bi MaocMtontiifth .<


im^transfer window will ai|eii 'agalriJater'ln1lie‘sM^^ and.onc^agaln^waare.prlnt; rng‘ translef|mori'ei^^^^ week.soyou canibulld-the ,§ am | f > |g d r e a ^ ^


€ cu t out and,keep the money printed here^nh'merfloo)^^ o i ld r th e ^ t r a n r fM


look in on the Buccaneers’ line until the third part of the game. The Clitheroe young­


sters then really found their feet in the fourth, with great runs from Tom Walton, with two tries, and Spencer Ashton with another successful dive over the line. So an 11-3 try defeat for


Clitheroe defensive play in the second quarter meant that Preston didn’t get a


Q F


Clitheroe proved not to be a bad first attempt, but a great victory for all those who have devoted their time and energy to develop the Buccaneers over the


last couple of years. Everyone enjoyed the


post match hospitality, and the Buccaneers are looking forward to welcoming new players and parents alike. Clitheroe Buccaneers


run training sessions every Sunday during term time, starting at 11-15 a.m. sharp a t the Littlemoor Road ground. For more information, please contact Declan


O'Duffy in the evenings or at the weekend (01200 428292), or Vince Murray (01200 441142).


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8th, again at Penrith, where he will be competing in another round of the BTRDA.


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