48 Clitheroe A d ve r t is e r & T im e s , Th u rsd a y , Ja n u a ry 4th


BLUES REVIEW OF BUSY 2006


-PAGE 46 Thursday^ January Capstickr-: .


CLITHEROE are expected to liave three or four new faces in the squad for the home game agmnst Bradford Park Avenue on Saturday. The proven goalscorer that


New faces set to cSa?[re"o1 boost the Blues!


If the deal goes through,


25-year-old Ward comes to the Blues with a wealth of experienca Spotted in the West Lan­


joint-manager Neil Reynolds has promised to replace James Dean is former Lan­ caster City and Kendal Town striker Chris Ward. The Mossley player was in


• talks with the club yesterday but had not signed as the Clitheroe Advertiser went to press. Reynolds and fellow boss


Peter Smith were very hope­ ful though, as they also are about tying uptheservicesof a 6ft Sins centre half from fel- low UniBond First Division


■ '


side Chorley, but due to the seven-day notice rule, Reynolds was unable to con- frm either of these signing However, Darryl Dicken


rvill give options on the right of midfield, and on the left, the club has lined up Ryan Fisher from Radcliffe Bor­ ough, who, like Dean, was playing at Great Harwood last season.


2


cashire League by Lancaster City, he quickly became a prolific striker for the Confer­ ence North side, and in the spring of 2001, moved for a five-figure sum to Birming­ ham City, then in the First Division. Although he failed to break


into the first team at St Andrews, he spent two spells on loan in the Conference at Forest Green Rovers and Southport. In August 2002, he joined


Barrow, but quickly moved back to the Conference rath Leigh RMI, and spent the remainder of the season at Third Division Lincoln City. Since then he has enjoyed


spells with Northwich Victo­ ria, Bamber Bridge, Kendal Town and Mossley. Understandably Reynolds


is excited about Ward and the rest of the quartet adding to a new-look team sheet, as old hands Simon Garner, Jason


International races to


Valley victory


GREAT Britain international runner Stuart Stokes of Sale Harriers won the Ribble Valley 10k Road Race on New Year’s Eve. The last big domestic event


of 2006 saw the runner hold off Inter (bounties 10,000m track champion Ben Fish of Black­ burn Harriers in an exciting finish ahead of a field of almost 1,000 starters a t Roefield. The leaders went through


the first mile in 4.29 minutes in a group of five which included Stokes, Fish, Matt Barnes of Altrincham, Andi Jones of Sal­ ford and Steve Hepples of Newham and Essex Beagles. Fish took the lead from two


to four miles, until Stokes and Barnes pushed on n e ar the Whalley junction. Soon Barnes an d Jones


dropped off the pace as Fish tucked in behind Stokes, who then drew away for a five-sec­ ond win a t the Edisford Bridge


1


Jones and Will Exton also return. It's all starting to come


into place for the new man­ agement team. Reynolds said: “Simon


Gamer is back to strengthen the defence, Darryl Dicken joins full back John Osbourne do\vn the right side, and we've got Will Exton back to fea­ ture up front." "We promised big changes,


new faces, and now's the time to freshen things up." The Blues boss was grateful


last Saturday's game was called off, as it has given the team extra time to try and do what would normally take six weeks in pre-season, in six days. The Colwyn Bay game was


cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch, and there was no mid­ week game, allowing the man­ agement precious time to bring in the "quality" they've talkSl about, and get the side up and running for Saturday’s home game Reynolds said: "It was a


blessing that it \vas off. When you've lost the last four games,


confidence begins to suffer, and we didn't need the trip. "That won't be the case on


Saturday, we'll have a stronger side with players in we prom­ ised. I want to stress that's not a slur on the players that have been on duty in the last four games, results just haven't gone for us. "I've got to say Pete’s been


working tirelessly in the Pre­ ston area to get players on board, and we've also got the bonus of Paul Lamb coming back to train ivith us following a spell out." Anthony Daniels will also


feature as his suspension does­ n't come into play until the Blues’ following game against Woodley Sports. Reynolds added: "Ant


Daniels \vill be a massive loss as he has been the best player at the club in the short time since we took over, and deserves the contract he's been awarded. "Bradford are a good side


and it will be tough. Even if we'd done what we're doing over a six-week pre-season for this game it would be a hard task. We've just got to be


patient, but \ve will definitely improve Mth this squad." And on behalf of the club,


the player-manager congratu­ lated James Dean on his step up to the Natiomvide Confer­ ence and professional football: "It's a fantastic news for James as it is everyone's dream to play football as a professional and no one would deny any­ one that chance. "What he's done at


Clitheroe has been unbeliev­ able. To go from Blackburn Combination football and North West Counties stan­ dard with Great Harwood, to us and then Northwich in seven months is quite an achievement. "What’s more, it's very rare


for a Conference club to pay a substantial amount of money to a club like Clitheroe and it was good vision by the club to give him a contract in Novem­ ber. "It's also opened up valu­


able contacts ™th Northwich, who have agreed to play us in a friendly sometime in the future" “James won’t forget his roots at Clitheroe’’


Hurst Green.................. 1 Silsden ............................ 0 HURST Green s ta r t the New Year \vith a four-point lead at the top of the East Lancashire Football League. They signed off 2006


with a dominant display against a young Silsden side. And they produced a


really good standard of football despite playing in dreadful conditions where heavy rain and strong wind made life difficult for both sides. Hurst Green, who were


dominant throughout the game, suffered a first half setback when right back Nicky Wilkinson dislocated a knee and had to be taken to hospital. His place in defence was


taken by Dave Young who along with Phil Walker, Tony Coupe and Tom Bam­ ber, kept things tight at the back throughout. Despite the midfield


probing of the again out­ standing Andy Whaites along with Ian Simpson, Alan Coar and Oliver Bolton, chances remained at a premium throughout the first half and in the opening exchanges after the break. As the second half pro­


B©


finish in a time of 30.13 min­ utes, with Fish following close behind in 30.18. And Ma rk Buckingham


(7th) of Holmfirth led his team to victory, just edging out Sean Dirrane of Leeds. The bad weather held off,


but the race had blustery con­ ditions which just prevented another international Helen


Clitheroe of Preston Harriers b re aking her own women’s course record, a f te r going through the first fast mile in under five mins ., She won in 32.32 to go fifth


m


in the UK 2006 rankings, beat­ ing Jenny Blizard of Rotheram Harriers (34.08) and Vicky Gill of Chorley Harriers (34.14) with ease. I t was her third con­


m


secutive win in the race. Blackburn Harriers senior


men took second in the team race with Ben Fish, Brian Cole and Scott Monk, while Pauline Powell, Rachel Searson and Rachel Wood took the women's team title. Runners are pictured a t the


s ta r t of the Clitheroe 10k run on Sunday morning. . ('T311206/3b)


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MASSAGE Brilch Complimenlory ________ ___ ____________ Medidne Assoc -S B .v |


dylii>e THERAPIES W 01


gressed, Mark Young and Ian Barton continued to ask questions of the Silsden defence and with 20 min­ utes to go Young shot wide when fed through in the inside-right channel. Five minutes later substi­


tu te Craig Dewhurst threaded a similar pass through the Silsden defence and Young finished neatly to set up victory and send the loyal fans into raptures. Barton had the chance to


double the advantage five minutes from time when put through by Young, but the Silsden keeper denied him with a good save. Manager Andy Holden


was delighted and thrilled with the performance and result. ■ And he knows th a t if


they can continue to pro­ duce football of this calibre, Hurst Green will be diffi­ cult to catch in their pursuit of the title. The locals are at home


again on Saturday when they entertain Enfield (kick-off 2-15 p.m.).


^


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Clitheroe 422324 (Ed ito r ia l) , 422323 (Adve r tis in g) , B u rn le y 422331 (Classified)


GET THEIR REWARD!


-PAGE47


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