+ * 48 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, April 12th, 2007


HAVE ANEW SPONSOR


- P A G E 4 8 ■ m Blues < r . By Adrian Capstick


CLITHEROE co-manager Neil Reynolds and his team would play through the summer if they could, after the run of results they’ve had over the Easter break. Victory at Rossendale United, a


draw against league-leaders Bux­ ton and then a resounding 3-1 win at Shepshed Dynamo has instilled a buzz in the Blues, just as the sea­ son comes to a close. Four games remain fo r the


Shawbridge side, starting with the successive home games against Brigg Town on Saturday and then Ossett Albion on Tuesday, but Reynolds would welcome more. He said: "I think the season is


going to end too soon for us. “ Coming o f f the win at


Rossendale, what I heard from Pete and the lads about Buxton, and then Monday at Shepshed Dynamo, we don't want the sea­ son to end. "Apparently they acquitted


themselves well against Buxton and deserved a point, while Shep­ shed was qu ite an em otion a l return, and was the one place I really wanted to put on a perform­ ance after what happened last year. "It meant so much for me, Craig


Sargeson and Simon Garner to get those three points, and it featured heavily in my pre-match talk to the lads." He added: "We've g o t three


home games in our last four fix­ tures. We doubted whether we'd reach 50 points when we took over at Christmas, but here we are, and what with us now being five unbeaten at home, we'd be expect­ ed to win all three." Availability for those games


sees Garner still out with a knee injury, although he would he sus­ pended if he wasn't injured. There is a doubt over both John (ankle) and Paul Osbourne (knee), and Chris Ward also suffered a knock on Monday. Will Exton picked up a red card


'U L - . .


Clitheroe lose ‘pub team’ tag


.Shepshed Dynamo..................................................1 Clilheroe....................................................................3 GOALS from Gregg Anderson, Will Exton and Kris Matthews marked a poignant return to Butt Hole Lane with victory for Clitheroe on Monday. Last season’s trip saw the Blues in dire straits,


Neil Reynolds


at Buxton but his suspension isn't expected to come into play until next season. Reynolds can't praise the young striker enough, and he can't wait for the prospect of see­ ing him and Gary Jackson team up next season. Reynolds said: "Jacko won't


play this season, but he is making progress and will I'm sure be back firing in pre-season. Special-praise goes to Will though, his work rate, endeavour and ability has been fantastic, and you could see how made up the lads were for him when he scored on Monday. "He's still only 19-years-old and


can only get better. To see him and Jacko play together next sea­ son is going to be something else!" But it is the all-round defensive,


goal scoring and motivational skills of Gregg Anderson and Kris Matthews that have blown away the manager. Reynolds added: "I honestly


barely able to raise a team, and dubbed a pub side by their hosts, after a mass player exodus less than 12 hours earlier left the club clammering for players. A year later, and how things have changed. Neil


Reynolds, one of the three players still at the club who played that day, is now co-manager, and the team he took full charge of for the day was unrecog­ nisable to the one that was ripped apart 5-0 last year. From a Joel Byrom corner captain Anderson


claimed Clitherpe's first goal three minutes from the break, when the central defender bundled the ball over the line. And goal number two came shortly after, when the


threatening Exton broke tree and found the back of the net after rounding the keeper. It should have been more as Byrom had a curling


free kick denied by an excellent save from Shepshed keeper Dale Bedford. A 60-yard move that started with a crosstield pass


from Matthews to Sargeson, ended with the winger putting Exton through on goal only to see the striker pull the ball back for Byrom to have his shot saved. And Sargeson mis-cued an effort on the volley


after a defensive mistake gave the winger clear sight of goal with only the keeper to beat. Clitberoe's third strike also came from a set piece


like the first. Byrom swung his dead ball cross in to the area where it was met on the half volley by Matthews who rifled his strike across the face of goal. Some of the gloss was lost, however, when a high


bouncing ball originating from the right wing eluded the Blues defence, and the leaping Anderson, to fall at the feet of Richard Saunders, who made no mis­ take at the back post.


Win earns promotion


Clilheroe 2nds................5 Brookfields......................2 CLITHEROE Hockey Club seconds came from two goals down to get the point they needed to scoop runners-up spot and secure promotion to the Second Division. Clitheroe had chances to


score early on, but were unable to capitalise on any of their moves, and Brook- fields, who are a dangerous and quick team on the attack, broke through the locals' resolve to score the first goal of the match on 10 minutes. This was a big wake up


call for Clitheroe, but despite some counter pres­ sure from Clitheroe, Brook- fields’ pacey forward again broke through the home defence and scored a sec­ ond. At 2-0 down Clitheroe


didn’ t let their heads go down, as they knew they could fight their way back into the game if they just concentrated on playing good hockey. Eventually persistence


paid off, and Jacqui .Ashley scored the first of her two goals with a clever last- ditch touch to a great ball passed in by Helen Brunt. With half-time fast


approaching, Clitheroe needed to keep the momen­ tum and pressure up on Brookfields. Some excellent passing


Clilheroe FC .........................2 Buxlon....................................2 IF you could bot tle what Clitheroe had on Good Friday it would sell twice as well as anything from Buxton. The cup runneth over as the


Blues sparkled crystal clear against their spa town visitors to earn a point from an eventful game. The meeting of the Der­


byshire league leaders and the resurgent locals had everything. Dismissals, own goals, uncon­ scious players, underhand tac­ tics and injury-time equalising penalties. The visitors were intent on


victory by any means, the Blues were out to entertain and win with style. A bumper crowd of 443


turned out for the enthralling encounter. Upwards of 100 travelling fans made the trip tp see their side spring the first three points of the six they need to be crowned champions - only Anthony Daniels and Kris Matthews had other ideas.


Matthews led the way when


he put Clitheroe ahead in the 15th minute with a bullet head­ er, the central defender power­ ing home his 10-yard effort from a Joel Byrom free kick. And Daniels stepped up deep


into injury-time to thump in the Blues’ equaliser, despite the best efforts of the Buxton defence to dig up the penalty spot From the off the champions


elect were nothing but contro­ versial. Dan McPherson did well to


stay on the pitch in the first half as Will Exton proved too tricky for him to handle. Both he and fellow central defender Terry Bowker could not stop the striker, other than hauling him to the floor each, time; he got the better of them) What’s more they got away


with it too, until captain Bo’wk- er went too far. Buxton had already equalised from a long throw-in.


and Lennie Reid had gone close to restoring the Blues’ lead when he a headed an inch-per­ fect Craig Sargeson cross against the bar. McPherson had just been


booked, but the Buxton skipper just couldn’t help himself, as when Exton turned his man tor the umpteenth time, Bowker hauled him to the floor and then proceeded to put the boot into his side as he rose to get up. Understandably Exton react­


ed to such an attack, and a melee broke out, before both players were issued red cards and the game took another twist. Buxton’s route one tactics


also meant their forwards were frustrated in front of goal, due to the Clitheroe back four of Gregg Anderson, Matthews, Russ McKenna and Alastair Brown. However, keeper James


Mann had to still be alert to deny strikers Paul Walker and Mark Reed, and when the lat­ ter got in around him, he had


the assurance of captain Ander­ son to clear the danger. Disaster struck in the second


half, though, when a weak Bux­ ton comer saw Sargeson slice his attempted clearance past Mann at his near post to give the visi­ tors an unwarranted lead. The winger almost made up


for his mistake on the restart as his mazy run into the Buxton box saw him evade all the heavy-footed challengers only to be thwarted one-on-one with the keeper who made an excel­ lent close range save. Substitute Sam Heap and


Sargeson then combined moments later and beat the keeper, only to see Buxton’s Chris Young clear the line. And at the other end, Mann


was called into action twice by one of the visitors’ substitutes when Lewis Allen forced a cou­ ple of full stretch saves out of the shot stopper. But with time ticking down,


Clitheroe increased pressure to rescue what was deservedly theirs.


Co-manager Smith subbed


himself and John Osbourne on, and Anderson was all out at every corner and set piece to put his head in where it hurts to make the difference. Unfortunately this resulted


in the skipper being knocked unconscious tor three to four minutes in one such heavy chal­ lenge in the Buxton box. Laid out cold, Anderson was


stretchered off, and with just nine men on the pitch the game had well and truly passed the 90 minute mark. But when a Byrom corner


was beaten away by the desper­ ate hand of Buxton’s Michael Towey, the referee had no hesi­ tation in awarding the Blues a lifeline. McPherson and goalkeeper


Scott Hartley did their best to disrupt the turf around the spot while the Blues deliberated over who would take it, but Daniels was unfazed by it all and plant­ ed his shot firmly past the out­ spoken Hartley to the joy of the crowd.


down the left side between mother and daughter Fran and Anna Griffiths fol­ lowed, and the latter scored the first’of her goals just before the break to go in level. After a stern talk,


Clitheroe knew they had to cut out the marking and passing errors that had been evident in the first half. Ashley put the locals


ahead with her second goal of the afternoon, and Anna Griffiths came back on after being substituted to use her fantastic turn of pace and run half the length of the pitch to score her second goal of the day. Brookfields didn't give up


chasing the game, but this and Clitheroe's fifth and final goal put the result beyond any doubt. Player-of-the-match was


Gay Preston. 9770963365225 9 770963 365225 1 5 i VTOW.clitheroetoday.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) --------------LANGHO , - P A G E 4 7


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