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Skipper Renno aiming to maintain home rule


By Adrian Capstick CLITHEROE captain Neil


' Reynolds wants to establish Shawbridge as a fortress this season. The UniBond First Divi­


sion side are unbeaten at home this term, having won six and drawn one. The side recorded back to


back wins last week for the first time this season and are now fourth in the table - their highest position in 128 years of non-league football. Now the Blues skipper


wants to see that form con­ tinue in this Saturday’s FA Challenge Trophy First Qualifying Round fixture against Spalding United. A cup run is also long


overdue, and with this sea­ son being the 10th anniver­ sary of Clitheroe’s trip to Wembley for the FA Vase Final, Reynolds wants to give the fans something spe­ cial to cheer about: “We haven’t had a cup run in a while. It would be some­ thing special for the fans, and a massive boost for us to do well. “We want to make Shaw-


UNIBOND


FOOTBALLLEAGUE Flrsl Division


Mossley..............13 7 3 3 24 FleetwoodTn ....1 3


ColwjTiBay....... 13 7 CLITHEROE ...13


Bridlington Tn ...1 3 KidsgroveAth. ...1 3


GresleyRovers ...1 2 G 5


V w I) L I’ 7 3 3 a 7 2 4 23 4 19


3 24 2 22


Kendal T n .......... 13 5 3 5 IS Brigg Tn ............14 StocksbridgePS ..11 Ossett.Albion ....1 1


Eastwood T n ....... 10 2 G 2 12 Shepshed Dp am o 11 3 3 5 12 Goole...................9 3 3 3 11 Rossendale Utd ...11 2 5 4 11 Bishop .Auckland .10 2 2 6 8 BelperTn .......... 10 Spalding u t d ........ 14


Bamber Bridge. . .14 3 Woodley Sp o rts ...11 Warrin^onTn ...11 Chorley..............11


1 1


3 4 15


3 6 2 15 2 5 14


5 3 0 IS 6 4 IS


0 2 17 5 5 17 4 IG


At just 28, Reynolds is


surprisingly the oldest mem­ ber of Clitheroe’s young squad, and the most experi­ enced, having played at Darwen, Bamber Bridge, Kendal and Rossendale. He’s spent five years on


and off with the Blues, fought back from serious cruciate knee ligament dam­ age, and scored the winner at Nantwich that saw Clitheroe crowned the 2004 North West Counties cham­ pions. But he has not enjoyed his


0 7 9 7


bridge a fortress this season. We want teams to fear us, and if we can continue to perform at home and improve on our away form, then we’re in tor a good sea­ son.


“We’ve already beaten


Spalding at home in the league. We had seven or eight good chances in that game and a repeat of that will do us fine.”


football as much as he is doing now, thanks to the new managerial team of Tommy Lawson and Benny Phillips: “Tommy deals with the team and makes the selections, and Benny chips in with his knowledge and expertise in training. “They compliment one


another really well, and I’ve not known anything as good as a player. ‘"rhe training set up is


exceptional. Benny has us doing ladders, hurdles and viper belts, which improve speed and agility and are used at professional clubs. “■\Ve are the fittest we’ve


been in a long time - they work really hard to make us all feel really special. “Benny’s always research­


ing and spends a lot of time on his training strategy. He’s managed at a higher level, but I can’t believe he’s not coached at a professional standard, as it is quality stuff.” He added: “Without


knocking the work Paul Byron and Martin Eatough did last year. Tommy and Benny have been able to give a lot more time to us, and their vast experience has been evident. Every sin­ gle player at the club is enjoying themselves and regularly turn up to train­ ing. “In the past, players have


dropped out from time to time after the first few weeks of a season, but everyone wants to be involved all the time.” He is also extremely


proud to have been handed the captain’s arm band this season: “It’s been a massive boost to be made captain. Byron handed me the arm- band in Adam Gardner’s absence last season, but to


have it outright is special and something that I ’ve always dreamed of. “I ’m getting a lot of


respect off the younger lads, and I appreciate the support I get off the likes of Stanno (Paul Stansfield) and Jacko (Gary Jackson), who I’ve played with for years. “I’ve got to give a spKial


mention to my midfield partner Stanno, who has been immense all season and we’ve worked well off one another. “Ryan Parr has been out­


standing as well - without Ryan in defence we would not be where we are now, and Jacko is a pleasure to play with. “Not taking anything


away from the rest of the lads, but to have those three behind, in front and to the side of me this season has been a dream. “You know your job’s


going to be that bit easier when they’re around, as they’re a bit special.” Reynolds also believes


that too much work has gone into the side for the Blues to slip up: “To be where we are now is excep­


tional. I t ’s not a fluke because we’ve shown that we can beat all the top sides. “And due to the work


done by Tommy and the lads in the summer, there is camaraderie in the side. “We all socialise together,


and it is a really good place to be at the moment. We’re not about to rest as we want to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.” Meanwhile Lawson, like


everyone else at the club, is looking forward to Satur­ day’s game, in what is a big competition. The FA Trophy is the nation’s premier non-league football accolade, and £1,300 is up for grabs for Saturday’s game alone, which rises to £50,000 for the winner of the final, which was played at Villa Park last season. The Blues boss will be


without Ross Clegg, who has had a bad reaction after returning to training, and Chris Nestor, who has taken time out with an ankle injury.


‘Count’ demolishes latest opponent! By Adrian Capstick


CLITHEROE’S Ultimate Fight­ ing Champion has demolished another opponent to retain one of his British titles. And his record now stands at


nine bouts unbeaten on the pro­ fessional circuit. Michael “The Count” Bisping


showed just why he is the UK’s leading light-heavyweight cage fighter when he defended his covet­ ed Cagewarriors Fighting Champi-r


(,■: onship title at Coventry’s Skydome Arena recently. He took on his toughest oppo­


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nent yet in Norwegian ex-profes­ sional boxer Jakob Lobstad, and pummelled the “Striking Viking” into submission in just one minute and 10 seconds. Bisping’s next fight, his 10th in 18 months, is on Saturday,


, , November 26th, again at the Coventry Skydome, where he will be out to retain the same belt for a


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light-heavyweight title holder, and his nine tights so far have seen seven of his opponents knocked out, and two forced into submis­ sion. He is highly regarded on the


national scene for the speed, strength and clinical technique he has displayed in dismissing a good tew of his opponents in under a minute. This success has also brought a


lot of interest from Japan and America, where cage fighting orig­ inated from, and he is currently discussing contracts to realise his dream of fighting the world’s best. Bisping said: “When I started out.


second time. Billed as Cagewarriors Strike


Force 4 - The Night of Champi­ ons, Bisping will be battling it out against another worthy opponent inside a 32-foot octagon in five five-minute rounds. Bisping is also the current FX 3


I’d quit my job to pursue this dream, and at first I wonda«l if I was kidding myself about whether it was going to happen. It has gone better than I could have hoped, and now that dream is becoming a reality 1 ” However, he was controversial­


ly stripped of his third British title recently, due to management reasons.


The organanizers of the Cage


Rage competitions, at which Bisping took his third belt, fell out with the Wolfslair gym that the Clitheroe fighter trains under, and as a result he had his belt taken from him. But Bisping’s not concerned as


it had run it’s course, given him the kudos he craved: “Wolfslair are no longer doing business with Cage Rage. It served its purpose for me in this country and proved that I can step up to the interna­ tional scene. That is where the money is. “Tve done the belts, marketed


myself and got the interest, and once I start fighting abroad, I wouldn’t have been able to defend it anyway.” Aside from his own fights he


has also seen success in three fighters, who he trains at Clitheroe’s Trinity Centre on a Thursday night. Mick Sinclair and Craig Eng­ lish both won their semi-profes­


sional bouts at Cage Warriors Quest, and Becky McGee knocked her opponent out in nine seconds at a K1 Kickboxing match, held at the Battle in Brigg fight night. Bisping would like to thank his


sponsors EAS Nutrition and Mark Greenwood from Liberty Homes for their continued sup­ port. Anyone interested in taking up


mixed martial arts and kickbox­ ing, or fancies their chances at learning how to become an ulti­ mate fighter, should make enquires at the Trinity Centre about Bisping’s Thursday night classes (427886). And for those who have a less


hands on approach to profession­ al fighting, there will be a coach going to Bisping’s next title defence at Coventry’s Sky Dome. Anyone interested in tickets and transport should ring


0781644969'7 for further informa­ tion.


Race ace battles


back from horror injury


BOLTON-by-Bow- land biker Frank Baines shrugged off injury to finish sec­ ond in this years Pre­ ston and District Motorcycle Club championships. The 49-year-old


racer, competing on a new Yamaha FZR 400, endured a bad ^ start to the season ® having crashed out in April with a suspect­ ed fractured his neck. A Fortunately, it only


turned out to be a ^ severe whiplash ^ injury and thanks to some intense treat­ ment from chartered therapist Denise Park, who has been Frank's main sponsor for the last three years, he was back on his bike to race the rest of the season. It all came good for


Baines in .‘Anglesey as he had six victories and two second place positions - his best day since he started racing four years ago. He then finished


fourth and fifth at the Three Sisters Race­ course in Wigan to scoop second place - his highest overall ^


position so far. Frank would like to g


say a big thank you ^ to Denise Park, Bill and Pam Redmayne, ^ Dave and Kath ^ Walker, Jane and ^ Graham Proctor, Pete 9 and Linda Baines and Chrissie, his wife, who have all supported him throughout the


racing season.


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