■'XT


BLUES’ BACK TO BACK


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WINS -PAGE 70


^Thursday,April 6th, 2006 with ypur sports team of Edward Lee,


[BANANA NEWS iSUPPORTS iTHE BLUES


Boden, Phil Simpsb and Adrian Capstick Count Michael in for Ultimate Fighter competition! By Adrian Capstick


CLITHEROE cage fighter Michael Bisping will make history tomorrow night in Bravo’s Ultimate Fighter Three competition. The 12-week American


reality show will feature two British fighters for the first time, of which “The Count”, as he is known for the speed at which he dis­ patches his opponents, will be one. Ultimate Fighter has


h


taken the States by storm, as the twice Emmy nomi­ nated show has accrued 10 . million viewers, spawned a glut of professional champi­ on fighters and propelled ultimate fighting to its cur­ rent position as the fastest growing spectator sport in America. The show, to be shown in


the UK on satellite televi­ sion, follows the fortunes of 16 of the best up-and-com-


Bisping’s ultimate goal. The local light-heavy­


weight fighter had to train twice a day for a six week period, running the risk each week of going up against one of his fellow competitors - the loser of which left the competition. And for extra entertain-


. ment, in the hope that the fighters would come to blows, they were forced to live together in a Big Brother-style house for the full duration. ■ Bisping won’ t say


MAKING HISTORY: Michael Bisping


ing mixed martial artists from around the world as they fight it out in a bid to be crowned Ultimate Fight-


er - an accolade that comes with a contract to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship - which is


Blues upbeat By Adrian Capstick \i ’ h ■


CLITHEROE aim to take the vim and vigour they have shown in their last two games and run with it to the end of the season. Wins over Spalding on Saturday


It;' U'


and Colwyn Bay on Tuesday prove that the Blues can beat teams at either end of the table. And with new faces Danny Gor­


ton, Darryl Avery, Andy Sunley and Chris Coupe freshening the squad up, manager Mark Smitheringale is a happy man at the moment: “ I was very pleased after both results. They have swept away the frustration I had from the . few games before where things did­


n’t go our way. “Danny Gorton came on and did


exceptionally well. I didn’t put him on to start on Tuesday as it is his first step at this level, and I’d just signed Chris Coupe from Harrogate Town for his extra experience. “Chrk wasn’t available for Satur­


day so Danny got his chance, but I wanted to see him play on Tuesday. “Danny can create a massive


impact in the later stages of the game, which he’s shown twice now, as he can take real advantage of tired defenders.” And he had equal praise for


Avery and Sunley: “Both of them did particularly well and helped to freshen things up in attack. l also thought Andy Taylor and Chris


Coupe did well too.” Clitheroe face a re-arranged fix­


ture at Warrington Town tonight and then a home game against East wood 'Town on Saturday. And Smitheringale added: “Many times I’ve said there’s not a


great difference at the top and the bottom. There’s a lot of wins by the odd goal in this league and anyone can beat any one.” Full-back Scott Priestley looks


doubtful for tonight’s trip as he has a swollen ankle. Neil Reynolds picked up a slight hamstring twinge but should feature, and Gorton was struggling with work commitments. But the striker is unavailable on Saturday, with holiday commit­


ments. Alan Coar is back in the reckon­


ing tonight, and John Paul Fagan is available alongside Wayne Mad-


dock. The transfer window has now


closed but Smitheringale was able to sign Chris Coupe from Confer­ ence North side Harrogate Town before the deadline. The young striker has been on


loan at UniBond Premier League side North Ferriby United and was only released by Sheffield United last year. Meanwhile, work continues


behind the scenes on the FC Unit­ ed friendly lined up for Saturday, April 15th, but acting chairman Carl Gamer was a httle disappoint­ ed at Tuesday night’s attendance of 153 as league gate receipts are the club’s bread and butter. He said: “A small group are work­


ing harder than ever behind the scenes and Tuesday’s attendance was a little dent in our enthusiasm. I know there are other things that take people’s attention away at this time of the season but we can’t take the club forward on gates of 150. We need to resurrect it if. we are to get to the end of the season in a good financial state.”


whether he made it through to the final four as he is con­ tractually obliged not to, but having been undefeated in all competitions before going into the house, it is fair to say he makes it past the first week! The live final is set to be


held in Las Vegas on Sun­ day, June 29th. The semi-finalists will


fight in a live television broadcast from The Hard


Dwyer’s highest


tour finish


CLITHEROE golfer Paul Dwyer claimed his highest European Tour finish of the season when he tied for 53rd place in the Portuguese Open at the weekend. Consistent rounds of 70, 72, 73


and 72 saw him finish one-under-par. But early in the competition it


looked like it could be a very differ­ ent story. On Thursday morning he reached


five-under-par after 11 holes and was fifth in the event, which was won by Ryder Cup player Paul Broadhuret. Three dropped shots in the closing


stages saw Dwyer finish in a tie for 25th spot after the first round, and a level-par 72 in the second saw him tied for 41st to'comfortably beat the cut.


Dwyer's only over-par round saw


him shoot 73 in the third round, in which he played with fellow Lan­ cashire player Nick Dougherty, to slip back to 56th place. And then another level par round


followed to close on one-under. But now Dwyer could be left kick­


ing his heels for three weeks. The eyes of the golfing world will


be focussed on Augusta for the Mas­ ters this week. And then the next two weeks see


events co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour in Beijing and Shanghai. As things stand, that leaves the


Clitheroe player without any golf to look forward to until the European Tour return to mainland Europe for the Spanish and Italian Opens at the end of the month.


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Our Fine Art Gallery Is home to 19th - 20th Century Oils &


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skilfully framed In house Framing aerviee available


Car hooters! Clearing estates j generates large ’ stocks of Bric-a-Brac


burpius Heavy duty


galvanized steel racking with :


adjustable shelves multi use


73 Blackburn Rd. Aocrington opp Town Hall


Rock Hotel and Casino. One light-heavyweight


and one middleweight will be crowned the new Ulti­ mate Fighter, but you’ ll have to follow the show to find out if it will be Bisping. The 27year-old former


upholsterer and part time D J endured a gruelling daily regime of ju-jitsu, judo, Muay Thai, karate, boxing and wrestling before retiring to the Ultimate Fighter House, knowing that any day they could be forced to fight each other in the UFC Octagon in a glad­ iatorial show down. And unsurprisingly it


was a mental and physical slog for the light-heavy weight, but it had its obvi­ ous trappings, he said: “There was some glitzy stuff over in America. “We really got to see how


the other half live, there was good times and bad times., “Special treats were good


but punishments were bad. “ It was hard physically


and mentally. “We were doing two and


a half hour sessions which really took it out of your body and mind and I could­ n’t wait to get home. “Now I ’m back, I can


say it. was a very surreal experience, but no matter how hard I try to explain it to people, words don’t do it justice. You’ll have to see the show to see what we did.” And Bisping is hoping


this is a step closer to the big league for him: “The winner of the show gets a contract in UFC and if you win it you’re going to be doing alright. “This is the start of big


things potentially, very big things if all goes to plan.” Hosted by UFC Presi­


dent Dana White, Ultimate Fighter divides the sixteen fighters into two camps coached by UFC legends


•KSSs


- and bitter rivals Ken Sham­ rock “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” and Tito Ortiz. In each episode, oppo­


nents from each team are selected to square off in battle, officially weighed in and then, in front of their teammates, coaches, and the sanctioning Nevada Athletic Commission, the two combatants face off in two five-minute roimds. The series starts tomor­


row, so to catch the Count, tune in to Bravo at 10 p.m. Bisping would like to


thank local sponsors Mark Greenwood of Liberty Properties and EAF Nutri­ tion, as well as Hicks Gym.


977096336511914 m


! ■ Take this voucher to Clitheroe's game against I ; Eastwood Town on Saturday and admission will ; ; be cut to £4 with concessions at £2.50


I


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