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72 Clitheroe Advertisers Times, Thursday, February 8th, 2007 I f l P '


BLUES HEART FELT PLEA


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Solidarity can breed success for the Blues


By Adrian Capstick


NEIL Reynolds believes his current squad can run and run, build solidarity and breed success. The Clitheroe co-man­


ager has been pleased by the progress made in little over a month, the side has now gone two games unbeaten and produced promising performances. He knows from experi­


ence that a tightly knit squad is what won Clitheroe promotion to the UniBond League three years ago when he played under manager Lee Sculpher - and he wants that army mentality in his side too. He and fellow manager


Pete Smith feel they have the personnel, now it is up to the players to “break through the brick walls”. ■ Reynolds said: "Going


back to what we said four weeks ago, the results have started to come for us but we haven't done anything yet. “There have been many


positives seen in the last four weeks, people told us


■ how great the perform­ ance was on Saturday, but Pete and myself saw areas of improvement that we’re striving for. “There’s more to do as


these lads are just getting to know each other, it


Clilheroe........................ 1 Alsager Town................0 CLITHEROE shone through the murky mist at Shawbridge on Satur­ day to vapourise their vis­ itors with a single Ryan Fisher strike. Ju s t one goal and the


rolling fog separated the two sides in the end, but it wasn't for a lack of oppor­ tunities th a t the Blues didn't score more. Alsager goalkeeper Phil


McGing denied the locals several good chances in either halt as the low cloud did little to halt the locals search for goals and hunt for points. The winner finally came


takes time to gel together fully. I ’ve mentioned Lee Sculpher’s time at the club before, it took three years for his team to reach their peak and we would run through a brick wall together if that was what we had to do. “That’s what we want


for this team, we want them to Stick together, work for one another and bond together. ” And the Blues boss is


relishing the responsibili­ ty, he added: “I ’m enjoy- ing.it, really enjoying it, everyday something is dif­ ferent. The sportsman’s dinner on Friday is just one example and you could see by how well it


early in the second half from what looked at first to be the most unlikely of places - the head of Gregg Anderson. The tall central defend­


er has been egged on by Blues fans at every corner and free kick the side has taken for the last four or five months in the hope that he would finally con­ nect with a successful effort. And it looked as though


his moment had finally arrived in the 53rd minute, only Fisher wasn't about to tempt fate. Craig Sargeson's left-


wing free kick was nodded goalwards towards an


was supported by the players that it can only be a good thing for the team.' “The more the players


are together the more like­ ly they will go that extra yard for each other, it was good to see and it can only help.” Saturday’s 1-0 home


win over Alsager Town saw a strong team display, but one player in particu­ lar has instilled confidence with his return to the cen­ tre of defence, contribut­ ing to the management duo’s first clean sheet. "Kris Matthews is a


player whose done well, a player I couldn't wait to get back as his attitude is spot on,” said Reynolds.


empty net by Anderson, and probably would-have crossed the line, but it wasn't the strongest of headers and the well posi­ tioned Fisher made sure by heading it over the line. Earlier attempts had


seen Kris Matthew's strike the top of the Alsager bar following a corner ju s t before the injured Chris Ward made way for a lively Will Exton. The striker proved a


handful for the Alsager defence as he ran them down, forced the keeper's hand, and even had a headed effort cleared oft the line.


"He's got a good friend­


ship off the pitch with Gregg Anderson and I think that helps. No disre­ spect to Simon Garner, but as natural centre halves they'have a bond with each other and that shows in training, you could see how pleased Gregg was to see him back." On Saturday a strong


bench brought strength in numbers, which Reynolds will probably use again at home to Warrington Town this week as the Blues look to leap them in the league. “I t 's a point we've


stressed with the players, th a t it's going to be a squad game with 16 to 17


Likewise Joel Byrom


rattled the keeper's bones with a few stinging shots of his own, before man-ot- the-match Anderson went close again with a poked shot at the back post that the keeper somehow forced out tor a corner. Substitutes Lennie Reid


and Anthony Daniels then got in on the action as the former was denied a t the near post by the keeper, and the latter was twice denied by McGing. The midfielder weaved


his way between Alsager's centre backs only to be denied one on one with the keeper, and in a move that started with Byrom, he


players. When it's not working on the pitch they can come on and do a good job, and -vice a versa. “Anthony Daniels and


Lennie Reid did that on Saturday, Pete and I chose to protect them by start­ ing them on the bench after the recent niggles they’ve had and they did us proud.” “Chris Ward is suspend­


ed but he’s also cracked a rib so he could be out for a few weeks, which is a kick in the teeth, but we’ve got a clean bill of health apart from that. There’s Chris Heslop, Dave Dempsey,' Pete or myself, one of us will be on the bench for him.”


Dog create ^ i’ -: Chris Ward


was thwarted again by the shot stopper minutes before the whistle. Perhaps the most credit


should go to Matthews, though, as his return to the centre of defence has reinforced the back four no end. He and Anderson dealt


with Alsager's dangerous long throw-ins, and, pick­ ing up the bond the two formed earlier in the sea­ son, the latter looks more confident in front of either goal. Whether he nets or not,


the rest of Clitheroe's sea­ son looks to rest with how well these two play together.


Then on Tuesday the


Blues make a return to midweek fixtures with a stiff trip to play-off candi­ dates Cammell Laird “It’s a daunting place to


go to but if you took away the narrow Brigg defeat we would be going into the next two games with what I look on as a four game unbeaten run,” said Reynolds. . “Cammell Laird’s not a


nice place or an easy place to go. I t ’s a different proposition to when the two teams met a t Shaw­ bridge earlier in the season and I can’t promise that we’ll get a result, but we will certainly put in a per­ formance.”


Weekend to remember as Rovers ladies lift the cup


IT was a weekend to remember for Blackburn Rovers Ladies as the team lifted the Lancashire Cup for the fourth year running, before gaining three valu­ able points in the Women’s Premier League. Adam Lakeland’s side


retained their county crown with a stunning 6-1 win over Curzon Ashton. Rovers did a 6-1 double


over their Oldham oppo­ nents in last season’s North­ ern Division and a hat-trick of.victories never looked in doubt after Lynda Shep­ herd fired home the opener


from Jayne Eadie’s corner on 12 minutes. Eadie was the provider


for Rovers’ second three minutes before the break, with Andrea Bell finishing off a fine attacking move with a low strike into the bottom left-hand corner. A minute later and Shep­


herd grabbed her second of the game with a well-direct­ ed looping header from Sarah McCrea’s corner from the right. Bell doubled her tally


with a cool finish five min­ utes into the second half, before captain Emma


Gaynon pulled one back from the spot tor the under­ dogs after Anisha Bateman had handled inside her own box. With five minutes


remaining, 15-year-oId sub­ stitute Hannah Forster scored the pick of the day’s goals with a 30-yard scream­ er that flew into the top left- hand corner of the net, before leading scorer Katie Anderton completed the rout with a right-foot curler from just outside the box. Less than 48 hours later


and Rovers were wracking up another victory - their


seventh in nine games - at home to Doncaster Rovers Belles. Two goals from Katie


Anderton in the space of five second-half minutes were enough to see Rovers reach a record-high seventh in the National Division table. Rovers are back in action


at Shawbridge on Sunday when Leeds United are the visitors in the quarter-finals of the FA Women’s Cup (kick-off 1 p.m.) Leeds are last season’s


beaten finalists and man­ ager Adam Lakeland is con­


i- W m ■^^.0 ^■* 9 11I P P ■ ■ IM i a i S R I I I MlB S B B ® IPm


fident his side can cause an upset: “Before the draw was made, we fancied anybody at home. We were not expected to get this far and we are massive underdogs in this weekend’s tie. “We respect Leeds, but


we don’t fear them. We are confident we can cause an upset, especially after Cardiff’s performance against them in the last round. “We are in confident


mood on the back of three straight wins, so we will have a real go because we’re only two victories away


from a-great day out at Nottingham Forest tor the final.” England striker Amanda


Barr, who joined Leeds last month, will return to Shaw­ bridge for the first time since she was sent off in a Premier League Cup match against Chelsea in October, whilst former United defender Mel Cook, who took over the Rovers’ captaincy following Barr’s departure, started for Leeds in last season’s FA Cup final.


club history Dog I n n ..........................7 Globe Bullough........... 2 DOG Inn reached their first Terry Cattermole Trophy semi-final with'a 7-2 rout of Globe Bul­ lough. Although the Ather-


tons'-sponsored Whalley side made the brighter start, they found them­ selves a goal down after 10 minutes. However, within seven


minutes they had a 3-1 lead; Liam Hill's close range finish was swiftly followed by fine goals from Jamie Enefer and Nick Fielding. Enefer had a chance to


increase the lead from the penalty spot, but saw his spot kick saved by the Globe keeper.


• A second Fielding goal gave Dog a three-goal advantage at the interval. Globe refused to surrender and pulled a goal back from the penalty spot on the hour. However, Dog respond­


ed by moving up a gear and, from yet another penalty, Ollie Holgate fired home for his first goal of the season. Two further clinical fin­


ishes from Fielding gave him a four-goal salvo and, more importantly, his side a place in the semi-final


. for the very first time. Tonight's draw will see


Dog drawn against either First Division rivals Dog and Otter or Griffin's Head, or Second Division Welly Clayton. Manager Simon Kerins


was delighted to see his side reach their first semi­ final: "I know I seem to be saying this every week, but some of our football was of the very highest order. "There are always


things on which we can improve, but th e main thing was, to beat Globe and secure a place in the last four." Sunday sees Dog Inn


take on Globe'Bullough once again, this time in the league.


9770963365225 77096 365225 ( 06 I www.clitheroetoday.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)


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