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Pendle are the cricket


champs -PAGE 54


Blues are taking shape By Adrian Capstick~


CLITHEROE FC hope to sign on 10 players ahead of tonight’s train­ ing match against the Reserves. Manager Tommy Lawson has seen a large influx of players in action over the last few weeks, and he is begin­ ning to piece together a 15-to-18 man squad for the start of the 2005-06 UniBond First Division campaign. New arrivals from


Southport are defender Ian Kearney, tall centre forward Tony Evans and wing man Sean White. All three have featured


tor Southport Reserves at some time, and both Evans and Kearney were with Lawson last year at Prescot Cables. Joining them will be


former Burnley reserve keeper Andy Paxton, who was also at Prescot last season, plus right winger Darryl Dicken


ers are right back Jamie Nay and goalkeeper Mark Ford, who has had experience with Bolton, Bury and Manchester United. One time Burnley


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Reserve midfielder Chris Clark has already joined the eight players from last season, and Lawson hopes to have a cohesive side in place for the first few games of the season. He said: “I anticipate


a lot of players coming through early on, but it is going to take time for everyone to settle. “I t is still trial and


Tommj' Lawson


from Leek Town. Central midfielder


Ross Clegg, once of Mossley, who was at Stalybridge Celtic last season, is also in line for the squad, despite pick­ ing up an injury against Colne on Tuesday night. Former Leek and Wit-


ton Albion left back Ben Johnson, who bears a passing resemblance to one Barrie Hart, is also in the hat, having scored a stunning free kick against Buckley Town in the opening pre-season friendly. Other potential play­


error, and it will proba­ bly be like that right up to the start of the sea­ son. “We still have the likes


of Neil Reynolds and Russell Clark to figure on their return from hol­ iday, so everything is likely to change a lot before the season kicks off.” Last Saturday’s home


game against Conference North opponents Lan­


caster City brought a very promising perform­ ance that saw the Blues take the lead, only to narrowly lose 2-1. But by contrast, Tues­


day’s game at Colne proved an embarrass­ ment for the Blues, as they were beaten 3-0. But as Lawson says,


these things take time, and as the majority of the players featured on Saturday hadn’t played with one another before, the Blues boss is still learning about how his players will fit together. “To bring so many


players in obviously takes longer to organise than it would if- you had a squad of two years that just needs tinkering with, but with the play­ ers we have, we will have things in place for the start of the season.” After tonight’s game


against the reserves, which is open to the pub­ lic (kick-off 7-30 p.m. at Shawbridge), Clitheroe’s pre-season resumes at


Penrith on Saturday, fol­ lowed by Cammell Laird at home on Tuesday. There will be a coach,


provided by new pro­ gramme sponsors Hod- sons Coaches, to the Penrith game leaving at noon, priced at £6 for all supporters wishing to make the game. Meanwhile, the tradi­


tional Chairman’s BBQ that is usually held at the club after the first home game of the season will become the Meet the Manager BBQ this season. Tommy Lawson has


agreed to take charge of the charcoal and lighter fluid, allowing all sup­ porters in attendance the opportunity to talk to the new man face to face after the Brigg Town game on Saturday, August 20th. Meanwhile, - the


Reserves kick-off their season in the Lancashire League on Tuesday when they travel to Guiseley.


Perfect 10 for leaders Clitheroe


CLITHEROE made it a per­ fect 10 at the weekend to move top of the Veka Rib- blesdale Cricket League. The locals took their


sequence of successive victo­ ries into double figures against former leaders Settle Oswaldtwistle Immanuel. The Chatburn Road side


had lost to Settle twice this season before Saturday’s showdown at the Marshfield, but a half century from Naeem Ashraf and 49 from professional Shahid Nawaz made sure the Yorkshire side wouldn’t have it all their o^vn way. And this, coupled with


three excellent bowling per­ formances from Naeem Ashraf, Farouk Butt and Mark Hargreaves, who all took two wickets apiece, ensured the five points. Clitheroe lost the toss and


■.a


were put in to bat, and Nawaz and captain Neil Bolton put on 64 for the first wicket. It was a steady start, noth­


ing electric, but as the innings progressed. Settle’s decision to use seam bowlers


backfired on them. The wet, yet hard, pitch


made the ball swing about uncontrollably, with a good few balls going wide, leading to 26 extras being added. Settle’s Stuart Hornby still


managed to take 4-92 though, and professional Mohammad Hafeez wasn’t far behind with 3-58. Bolton exited the field first


when he was trapped leg before to Hornby for 13, and Nawaz was caught by Wor­ thington, again off Hornby, for 49, but replacement Simon Coulter (28) and Ashraf hung around for a good while, as by the 40th over only two wickets had fallen down. Ashraf hit 53 off 65 balls,


featuring five fours and a six before he was caught by Hornby off the bowling of paid man Hafeez. Farouk Butt also added 26


runs in just 15 balls as the ex- Blackburn Northern man smashed a four and two sixes before being caught out by Hafeez off Hornby. After Butt’s dismissal and Mark Bolton’s exit for three.


the runs and the overs came to an end as Daniel Glover was removed without score and Paul Gaskell was run out, leaving last man Chris Musson (0 not out) with the score at 198-8. In reply. Settle got off to a


flyer and after 10 overs they had reached 50 - which was of great concern to the Clitheroe captain. The Marshfield side


smashed 18 off Naeem Ashraf’s first two overs, but all credit to the Clitheroe man as he turned it around to restrict the side to just 39 off the following 20. This slow in pace was seen


in the fact that it took Keith Hornby 156 balls to reach 55 runs, as the Settle man got into a rut that he just coud- n’t get out off, eventually fal­ tering to a catch by Nawaz off Ashraf. And with him gone and


Hafeez caught behind by Simon Coulter off Harg­ reaves for 36, the rest of the order fell without much resistance as Ashraf enjoyed his best spell in ages with the ball.


Tim Green, who was


removed by Hargreaves, and Stuart Hornby, dismissed by Nawaz off Butt, both made 17, but despite 23 in extras, Settle came up short. The following day at home


to Oswaldtwistle proved to be the cherry on the cake, as not only did they secure vic­ tory, but they scraped two valuable bonus points with the penultimate ball. Clitheroe won the toss and


put Oswaldtwistle in to bat first.


The visiting order had lit­


tle to offer, with only Oliver Clare, scoring 33, Mark Roberts with a late 37 and Andrew Metcalf hitting 29, having any real success with the bat. This was because Farouk


Butt was in exceptional form, producing admirable figures of 5-34, four of which had Oswaldtwistle struggling at 37-7 after just 22 overs. A further 3-40 from


Naeem Ashraf and 2-20 by Mark Hargreaves well and truly finished off the New Lane side, but it was the two outstanding catches by Paul


Gaskell at short leg that removed Gerard Metcalf (1) and Anthony Dignan (1) that caught the eye over the course of the afternoon. Stephen Sipocz was the


last and most important dis­ missal with the penultimate ball of the game, as Ashraf had the tail ender caught behind by Simon Coulter to lift the side two points clear of Settle at the head of the league. Victories now over Read,


Settle and Barnoldswick have undoubtedly boosted the locals’ confidence, and captain Neil Bolton believes that if they can keep that form going into this Satur­ day’s home game against third placed Great Harwood (wickets pitched 2 p.m.), then the title is theirs to lose. After the Great Harwood


game, the locals will have played all of the top teams, whereas the likes of Settle, Great Harwood and Barnoldswick still have games against one another, which could mean dropped points and an opportunity for Clitheroe to break clear.


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BARBOUR a JOULES SUMMER ST: = 4 Nev/ Market Si, Clitheroe


38 Castle St, Clilhc; VISIT US THIS WE EKEND! !!


Dolphins in action NINE members of the Clitheroe Dolphins


from across the North West, but the Dol­ phins were undaunted with Luke Tasker (sil­ ver), Jacob Abrahams (bronze) and Hayleigh Jones (bronze) picking up medals in the 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly respectively.


The team were accompanied by coach


Jonathan Preston, who said: “This is our first time at this meet, and not only did v.e pick up three medals, but we had many top- sbc finishes, and all of our swimmers recorded at least one personal best. “We will return next year having set our­


selves a high standard.” Club swimmer Elizabeth Highton is sot to


take on the country's top swimmers when she competes in the National Youth Champi­ onships and Commonwealth Games Trials in Sheffield, which start today. Elizabeth has qualified in three events, the 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke.


Dog’s friendly win


DOG Inn continued their pre-season propa- ^ rations with a 2-1 win over Brierfieki WMC.


The Pendle side who took the lead


against the run of play 10 minutes before'd half-time, Seb Parkinson given little chance ^ by a close range finish.


But Dog rallied after the interval and


were level within 10 minutes of the restart. Nathan John latched onto an Elliott


Wood through ball and chipped the hall into the far top corner from an acute angle. Their thoroughly-deserved winning goal


came from Liam Porter, who finjshed confi­ dently from close range midway through the second half.


9770963365102 91177096 1365102 €)


team travelled to Broughton Pool at the weekend to take part in the City of Salford ' ■ Graded Meet. The competition attracted a strong field


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