^ 78 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, February 24th, 2005,2005
www.ciitheroetoday.co.uk
Blues beaten by lone goal - again
Belper T ow n ...............1 Clilheroe......................0 NARROW 1-0 defeats are something of a speciality for Clitheroe FC this sea son. I t was to be expected
that this would be a close league where games would hang by the slimmest of margins but this is now their eighth 1-0 defeat in 30 games, meaning tha t over a quarter of their UniBond games so far this
(tjf. season have been lost when they could so easily have been won or drawn. Yet again we saw the
same well-documented frailties th a t have con tributed to the Blues undoing all season, plus two gilt-edged chances th a t should really have
Anna excels
. ANNA Griffiths exceeded her own expectations at the North of England Under 20s Championships at Sheffield recently. The local athlete com
peted in the 400m and despite a lack of training excelled in her heat to fin ish third in a time of 61.6, good enough to qualify for the final. Then an hour and a half
later she raced a superb final and finished a very creditable fourth in 60.63. This was a very competi- tive race where the first five were all within half a second of each other, which, considering she did n't think see would reach the final, was an excellent performance. Anna was also sixth in
wear made her achilles sore so she couldn't run. She did however win the best female soldier of the course award and her section also won the section award - so the pain was worth it.
(*
Cavaliers cut loose to score huge win
athlete was due to run the 400m last weekend at the AAAs Championship held a t the NIA in Birming ham, but she had aggra vated her achilles the week before while on work expe- rience at Blandford army. The boots she had to
B - aC q
NEXT MATCH Clitheroe v
AFC Telford United
Saturday, February 26tli Kick-off 3 p.m.
seen the locals return to Shawbridge three points better off. New rnidfield man
George Curwin had the best opportunity of the game when the hall came to his feet in the six yard box. The former Bamber Bridge player got his shot away but an instinctive low dive from Lee Wilson in the Belper goal denied the locals what looked a certain goal. Paul Stansfield then went close when he made
an impressive mazy run from the halfway line, beating the keeper only to be denied by the last man back on the goal line. These were golden
opportunities but Belper were not without prime first half opportunities of their own. On 15 minutes the Blues
were caught put at the back when a ball played over the top was picked up by Ben Walker who rifled his shot against the Clitheroe woodwork. Then towards the end of
the half Chris Nestor turned goal mouth saviour as he cleared the line after Kris Richens had been beaten by head of Rudi Coleano. And from the resulting corner Adam
Gardner had to be equal to a similar clearance to ensure the game remained all square. However not long into
the second half Belper's Jason Maxwell scored, gifted by the vacuous amounts of space left by the Blues down the prob lem left-hand side. The Belper striker had
free rein in the box thanks to Clitheroe's 3-5-2 forma tion so when troublesome right winger Sean Gum- mer got away from John Paul Fagan he had no problems in finding Maxwell's head vrith a pre cision cross th a t beat a faultless Richens. This totally over shad
owed Clitheroe's gilt edged chances of the opening
a'’ U
Ciitheroe 422324 (Editoriai), 422323 (Advertising), Burniey 422331 (Ciassified) - f Blues Eye View [1ft? . •11 1?'
LAST season’s league success was never going to be repeated this season, a fact that most fans would have agreed with at the start of this season. But although being dragged closer to the relegation
zone on a weekly basis is still a concern, I still think we will be playing UniBond football next season.
Watching Saturday’s defeat at Belper Town though
threw up a couple of interesting comparisons to last year’s league success. Once again the fact that we have no left-back shone
Chris Neslor
half and the fact th a t manager Paul Byron was n't at the game didn't help Clitheroe's cause as Mar tin Eatough experimented with a 3-5-2 formation. However, all told, this
was a much improved per formance from the unimaginative display wit nessed at Spalding. But just like that game,
the Blues had no fight when they went a goal down. And if Paul Byron is to
meet his target of three wins then resilience and a never- say-die attitude is what they will need - the kind of per formance and enthusiasm that saw them win the North West Counties Championship last year. ADRIAN CAPSTICK
CLITHEROE A and Clitheroe B in the final of the indoor cricket competition at Longridge Sports Centre. (T170205/1)
out a mile. Due to us having no-one to adequately fill this position we were forced to adopt a 3-5-2 formation, with the strangest part of this being full back Adam Gardner in the middle of the back three. Time and again Belper used the right wing to their
advantage, and it was no surprise that a cross from the right led to the winning goal. Weekly changes to the back line can’t be helping,
and last season’s stability seems a vague memory. To be fair, our first half performance was promising,
although of course our deficiencies in front of goal are well documented. For me, though, the big difference between last sea
son and this is an apparent lack of belief and flght in the team.
- Numerous games were won last season with late goals, and the team had a never-say-die attitude. Obviously success breeds confidence and this, no
doubt, was a factor as we snatched the league title. . On Saturday though, once we went behind, no one
looked like wanting to get us back into the game. Heads seemed to go down, and not one player was
willing to take on any responsibility to attempt to raise the performance of their team-mates. Players need to pull together when we fall behind
and someone on the pitch needs to take control. In fairness to Paul Byron and his predecessor Lee
Sculpher, they have given last season’s squad the chance to prove themselves at a higher level, and if they haven’t got the commitment to do so, then it could be a busy summer for the manager. Passion and commitment are all that the supporters
want to see, and if we do fall to defeat, let’s make sure we go down giving 100%.
/T-’v A
the shot with a throw of 9.70m. Meanwhile the Clitheroe
N ew indoor cricket event is a big success
YOUNGSTERS from all of the Ribble Valley's leading cricket teams took part in an inter-club indoor six-a-side cricket competition at Longridge Sports Centre last week. Organised by the Ribble Valley cricket
forum, three competitions were held in all for three different age groups and in the Under 11s contest Clitheroe finished first and second as their A and B teams excelled against Longridge and Ribbles- dale Wanderers. The two Chatburn Road teams then
faced one another in a final play-off on Wednesday and the A team beat the B
Clilheroe Cavaliers . . ..72 North Ribblesdale........ 10 THE Cavaliers cut loose in style in Settle scoring a dozen tries to North Rib- blesdale's one. At every opportunity the Littlemoor outfit ran with
side by 64 runs to 45 to be overall cham pions. Meanwhile the Under 15s tournament
between Longridge, Read and Ribbles- dale Wanderers played out a total of 15 games and proved to be a little more com plicated. The result of the league proved to be a
close affair ending in a three way tie, but in the play-off finals on Sunday Lon gridge beat both teams to be crowned champions. And Read beat Ribblesdale Wanderers to achieve runners-up spot. The final of the Under 13s competition will be held on Sunday, April 3rd.
ball in hand breaking the gain line which saw forwards and backs combining to pro duce fluent attacking rugby. Wave upon wave of pres
sure resulted in a first half of tries from number eight Steve Taylor with three.
pTop Curphy bagged a brace before James McLoon, Brian Wood and the ever impressive yoimgster Chris Waddington all grabbed one apiece to leave the half-time score at 46-0. Despite the up hill battle
Clilheroe RUFC .........15 Garalantj......................26 ANYONE who had turned up a t Clitheroe Rugby Club's picturesque Little- moor ground about 10 min utes after the prescribed kick-off time would have witnessed a tight, close game of rugby. Unfortunately for the
Early tries lead to defeat for the Maroon and Golds
Nonetheless, this was
faithful home support the damage had already been done, Garstang scoring two quickfire tries early doors, effectively scuppering the home sides chance of revers ing the early seasons defeat, right from the outset. Some changes in the line
up due to work commit ments interrupted the con tinuity of the team, the threequarters especially. Pete Smith and James Podyven recalled to the colours at centre and wing respectively. Will Tatter- sall moving into the out- half berth. A settled look ing pack was slightly ham pered with two front row ers dragged off their sick beds to play.
North Ribblesdale created early pressure while Clitheroe became compla cent, conceding a try, con version and a penalty. The last ditch tackling on
the try line by Waddington was excellent, preventing
hardly an excuse for the abysmal first quarter. Clitheroe seemed to lack the fire and hunger to start with and yet again got bogged down in their own 22, seemingly incapable or unwilling to play the terri torial game, paying the penalty every time. Fortunately when they
did wake up, they were able to play some quite attractive attacking rugby. Podyven touching down in the corner after the back row of Ollie McEntyre, Andy Rigby and Roger Holmes did the approach work The second half was a
much more even affair and Clitheroe seemed to grow stronger as the game pro gressed. A strong run from wing-
man Simon Coulter down the left was well supported and when the ball was recycled and spun away, full back Russell Shiels cut. through at a clever angle
any further points against. This roused the Maroon and Golds into action with fur ther tries coming from hook er Dan Jefferson, Bill Thatcher and Steve Taylor. And the icing on the cake arose with the last foray of
for his score.
. With their tails up Clitheroe pressed again and again, only sometimes to leave themselves open at the back, conceding a couple of soft tries. Once again the harsh
lessons are taking their time to sink in. Running the ball from deep is fine for an early season friend- . ly, but on a greasy after noon in winter, often a probing kick is the best way of moving the team up field; that is if you can ^ kick - as one red faced forward will say after his ^ bizzarre sliced clearance ' effort! Notwithstanding this,
the town team at least had ^ the final say with centre Nathan Peel waltzing ^ through a tiring defence to claim the score. Away at Carnforth on
Saturday, Clitheroe will be looking to repeat their early season home win over their close rivals in the league
the day with captain Mick Roley going under the sticks. With a victory like this
Clitheroe relish their forth coming fixture against Skip- ton at Littlemoor on Satur- day.___________________
- f t
Knuzden Y o u th ___ 0 Wolves Under 13s . .12 WOLVES again netted 12 goals to move within three points of the title. The first-half saw the
Wolves 6-0 to the good. A h a t- tr ick from
Charlie Collenge, a brace apiece for 'Thomas Grimes, George Pere grine and Ben White saw the side well on the way to victory. FHirther goals from Joe
Nightingale, Liam Bibby and Charlie Jack- son showed their oppo nents why they sit top of the table. The boys now have
three games to achieve the necessary points for their first title. Wolves Rangers U12s 5 Borrowdale Utd . . . .4 A HAT-TRICK from Davies and two more from captain Storey and Bradshaw earned Wolves Rangers their first win of 2005. Wolves made the early
running in this pulsating game when an early chance fell to Davies, only for his shot to slip just past the post. But Wolves scored in
their next attack when the tricky Davies switched the ball to Bradshaw, whose shot beat the keeper from close range. However, Borrowdale
hit back with three goals in 20 minutes. Davies then hit the
first of his three goals when racing clear to fire home a shot th a t gave the keeper no chance. Trailing 3-2, with the
wind behind them, Davies scored his second direct from a corner and he completed his hat- trick with a 20-yard drive which flew into the net. The best goal was
saved for Wolves’ fifth when a clearance from the Borrowdale keeper fell to captain Storey, whose 35-yard volley thundered into an empty net. A goal in the second
minute of injury time saw Borrowdale grab one back, leading to a grand stand finish, but Wolves held their nerve to take all three points. Wolves Under 9s . . . .3
Rishlon ............... .0 A BEAUTIFUL crisp day saw Wolves record a fine victory over Rish- ton. Goalkeepers James
Barsby and Harry Paige didn’t have much to do, as the solid defence of Oliver James, David Spouce and Sam Buchanan kept Rishton out. James scored the first
goal, before Sean Duck worth added a brace, lobbing the ball over the keeper’s head for his first, and then convert ing a Luke Noran cross for his second. In the second half
Wolves were very unlucky when Christian Barsby and Robbie Read saw chances go over the bar, but three goals proved more than enough.
Rosie shines in United win
READSTONE United Football Club only had two teams in action over the weekend, but they both enjoyed excellent results. .The Under 12 Girls remain top of the table after
beating Penwortham Green 4-0 thanks to goals from Sophie Hindle and Gabby Preuschat topped off with a brace from player-of-the-match Rosie Robinson. Elsewhere in the Accrington League the Under 13s
had another convincing victory by beating Oswaldtwistle 8-1 to remain second in the league. A hat-trick from Andy Ledgar was the highlight
of the encounter with further goals from Thomas Halliwell (2), Tony Haworth, Kieran Demaine and Thomas Wadsworth. Lucien Laviscount was named
man-of-the-match". KISlllW'iiliKF Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 12-GOAL Minute’s
silence precedes
Burnley Boys’ Club . .0
R im in g lo n ................... 4 A MINUTE'S silence in remembrance of former manager Geoff Braith- waite was followed by a solid team performance against bottom of table Burnley.
the The home side tried to
get everyone back behind the ball to try and frus trate Rimington, but the visitors kept the ball well, passing around the back four, content to wait for a scoring opportunity. Tom O'Neill was the
first to go close. His jink ing run took him into the box, but his shot flashed wide. Terry Nelson had the
next chance, but couldn't find the power to worry the keeper. Bartlett and Mankowski had shots from range, but i t was O'Neill who opened the scoring, beating three men before unleashing a dip ping right-footer which gave the keeper no chance. Bartlett was then sent
through, and as he was about to shoot from only 10 yards, he was brought down by a tackle from behind, but astonishingly the referee gave nothing. But the Rimington
player grabbed the second when he poked the ball home from close range, fol lowing in on the keeper's parried save. New signing Dave
Whalley and Ben Walker came on to liven up pro ceedings as Rimington sat back on their lead, and this had immediate effect as a Walker cross was almost finished by Whal ley.
Terry Braithwaite
joined the fray, and when he went down in the box, the referee atoned for his earlier error by awarding Rimington a penalty, which was coolly slotted home by Whalley. He also added the
fourth when latching onto a Braithwaite header from a Nelson through ball, beating the keeper with ease. Braithwaite was pleased
with his side’s effort and commitment, but warned that more is required from now until the end of the season, and with Coulter and Heald to return, places in the side will be at a premium. Player manager Terry
Braithwaite said after the match: “ My dad would have been pleased with the way we tried to play, and if we keep improving from now on, he may be smiling on us at the end of the sea son.”
www.clitheroetoday.co.uk Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, February 24th, 2005 79 Lions extend long
big win winning seauence ...and WFC stay unbeaten
JL
CLITHEROE Lions regis tered their Nth successive league win on Saturday with a narrow 3-2 victory over Cononley Reserves. But the Lions’ resolve
was severely tested as they went 1-0 down minutes into the game. It was the s ta r t Clitheroe dreaded, but the movement by the Cononley forwards was superb, as it was through out the first half. Manager Avci led by
example soon after with a fine chip over the keeper. He followed a great through ball and beat the on-rushing keeper with a deft lob within minutes to draw level. Left winger Conti
notched another soon after with a good finish to give the Lions a deserved lead. I t was another move
orchestrated by man of the match midfielder Steve Gaughan and lively striker Pinard. Holden and Callaghan
were also lively, and despite a sloppy first 20 minutes, the whole team
Embsay Reserves . . . .0 WFC Cl i lh e ro e ............2 WFC CLITHEROE claimed all the spoils at Embsay’s Shires Lane to continue their season-long unbeaten league run. Embsay had the better
of the early exchanges with Scorah and Haworth busy at the heart of the WFC defence to see the scoreline remain 0-0 at half-time.
provided good fluent foot ball, combined with tena cious physical play. Day and Bank were con
stantly asked questions in the centre of defence, and Cononley were awarded a penalty following a good spell of pressure. Keeper Mashiter pro
duced two fantastic point blank saves, followed by a crashing shot against the upright within a couple of seconds. The ball rebound ed to one of the Cononley
Chipping’s big victory
C h ip p in g ........................................ 4 Hoole U n ited ..................................2 CHIPPING returned to winning ways in style with victory over a poor Hoole side in the Preston and District League Second Division. The villagers have played well
tions to 4-3-1-2 and welcomed back veteran centre half Critchley who added confidence in defence. Other changes saw Jon Fletcher at
right back, Rick Ireland in goal and Dan Austin in the hole behind the front two - all three had solid games. The changes worked well, particu
larly in the first half which Chipping dominated by scoring four goals with out reply. Mick Garth opened the scoring
midway through the half when he thundered a free kick into the bottom comer. Continued pressure paid dividends
when good work from 'Tom Bridge set up Oliver Hayhurst. Not to be out done, Bridge then poached two for himself. The elusive Mark Fordham was
unlucky to see an acrobatic header rebound off the crossbar to safety, and Austin had an influential game, although he struggled on a sticky pitch to find the back of the net with a couple of half chances. Inevitably Hoole improved after
half-time and applied some pressure with two goals in the first 10 minutes - the second from the penalty spot after a blatant push at a Hoole comer by left back Gibson. On Saturday Chipping face Tar- leton at home, kick-off 2-30 p.m.
enough in recent weeks to have guar anteed another season in this division. Manager Hester switched forma
Kicking down the slope
in the second half, WFC dominated the game and it came as no surprise when they took the lead thanks to a Haslam penal ty after G. Hickling was bowled over in the penalty area. G. Hickling and Stell
then went close before Hargreaves scored WFC's second after good work by S. Hickling.
forwards who was felled in the area, and consequently awarded the spot kick. Keeper Mashiter guessed the correct way for the penalty and was very unlucky not to get better contact on the ball as it trickled into the net. Clitheroe re-arranged
things in defence as Pickup swapped flanks and cap tain Clegg moved into the centre. This proved deci sive as the Lions weren’t troubled again throughout
In ta k e ..........................................2 Waddington...............................4 WADDINGTON maintained their good form in the Craven and District League at the weekend with a win at Intake. Cane kicked off the scoring
with a well-taken goal from the edge of the box after skipping past his defender. Chances fell to Intake, but they
were unable to convert them, with fine goalkeeping from Willacy. Full-backs Cunliffe and Booth-
man kept the Intake wingers at bay to prevent any further chances in the first half, before Harrison put the away side 2-0 up a f te r slotting home from just inside the box. An easy goal for Dean took
Waddington into the break with a commanding 3-0 advantage. A delay at half-time appeared
to disrupt Waddington's concen tration, and Intake fought back to claim two goals. Their first came following a cor
ner which appeared to be handled on the line by a Waddington defender, but amid shouts for a penalty, the Intake forward put the ball over the line. Intake’s second and final goal of
the match was a long range effort which just dipped under the bar to beat Willacy. Strong defence from Wadding-
ton’s centre backs Spencer and Hindle saw Intake create no more chances, and Fagan finished the game off in style with a lob over the Intake keeper to end the game a t 4-2. Waddington’s next game is at
home to Cowling on Saturday. Players to meet at Twitter Lane for 1 p.m.
Embsay then forced
Procter out of retirement, hit a post and had a penal ty claim turned down. Best on the day for a
professional WFC outfit were Scorah, Kemp and Brown. Next up for Clitheroe is
a trip to Hellifield on Saturday. Players are asked to
meet at the Waggon and Horses for 12-30 p.m.
the game. Conti soon got his sec
ond of the match despite being hacked down in the area. He kept his balance brilliantly and tapped the ball into the net. Chances were few and
far between in the second half as the Lions played out time to proceed to yet another win with their dream of a 100% record becoming more and more realistic.
Chatburn’s cup progress
Chatburn United........................... 2 Nelson Reserves............................ 1 CHATBURN progressed in the Bob Little Cup on Saturday with a com fortable victory over fellow East Lancashire League side Nelson Reserves. Defending in blustery conditions,
the locals soaked up pressure from Nelson as they pushed for an early goal. But United’s defensive quartet of
Ward, Holgate, Haythornthwaite and Hodgkinson were on top of their game. They were organised and more than matched Nelson’s challenges. United also had chances to score in
the first half, but both sides squan dered their chances to take the lead. Chatburn seemed to get stronger
as the game went on, with Baron and Barnes winning all the battles in midfield only to see it remain goal less at half-time. After the interval United started
to apply pressure. Patiently they kept the ball with some precise pass ing, although sometimes the defence had to clear the ball long due to the bobbly pitch. The dead-lock was finally broken
when Waterhouse used his pace on the wing, ran to the by-line and pro duced an inch-perfect cross for Baron to nod home. With only 15 minutes to go. Chat-
bum doubled their lead. After anoth- .er pacey run down the wing by Waterhouse, he cut into the box and pulled it back for O’Toole to tap in. Nelson did get a consolation goal
with about a minute to go, when Newton’s mis-timed challenge led to a penalty which was converted.
9)
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