H - 64 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, April 19th, 2007 www.clitheroetoday.co.uk


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I*hlOSimpBbri''a^^^ lues boss sets By Adrian Capstick


SIXTY points is Neil Reynolds' target for the remainder of. the season. Play-off hopes have long


gone, and league restructur­ ing means no one \vill be rel­ egated from the UniBond First Division, but the


‘i ? Clitheroe co-manager insists his team hasn't fin­ ished yet. Victory over Brigg Town and Ossett Albion this week


■ pushed the Blues up to 57 points, and 14th spot in the table. On first glance that may


look like mid-table obscuri­ ty, but after the work that the new management team has put in since Christmas, it is nearly as good as a play-off spot to them. And if. Clitheroe can


remain above 16th place, this year will have been the side's best finish in three


■,Vl- seasons of UniBond League football.


Considering the side only


won 53 points to finish 16th last season, the Blues are well on their way. Reynolds said: "If we go


back to what the chairman said when we took over at Christmas, he wanted 46 points, then Pete and I said


50, now people are talking about 60 points, and it would be fantastic if the lads could achieve it. "It's down to them that


we've done so well. We can forget about the play-offs and relegation, but our sea­ son is tar from over. It's hingeing on us making 60 points." • And the Shawbridge side


bridge need to win to get into a play-off spot, and we've got to go down there and give them a game. Last year we played them last game of the season, we were carrying a few injuries and players didn't really want to be there - that won't be the case this year." And if Reynolds' team


has to grind out a result like they did against Ossett, then they will do. "I wasn't too impressed


with the performance on Tuesday night, but if we can not play as well and still pick up the points, then that's what it's all about. "I heard a few moans


from the crowd as everyone expects high performance


have two games to reach their total, starting with a tough trip to Sheffield's Stockbridge Park Steels on Saturday. Reynolds added: "Stocks- .


levels from us now, but sometimes we're going to have to grind out results. "That's why we made the


substitutions, put Ali Brown on and Pete Smith as a third attacker, as 4-4-2 wasn't working. "And you can't forget


that a win would have taken Ossett into the play­ offs, and we've taken six points from them." Availability for Saturday


sees Pete Smith absent due to work commitments, and


.Will Exton start the first game of a four-match ban which will run into next sea­ son. But Simon Garner is no


closer to making a return as his knee injury requires a scan. The team coach to


Stocksbridge Park Steels leaves Shawbridge at 11-30 a.m. on Saturday. ClUheroe..................... 3 Brigg Town ................. 1 THREE goals in 10 min­ utes saw Clitheroe secure their first victory over Brigg Town in 11 years on Saturday. Whenever these two


teams meet. Blues tans think of the day they played the North Lin­ colnshire side in the 1996 FA Vase Final at Wembley,


but it was darlier that same season that the team last beat Brigg, in the FA Cup. When the two UniBond


sides have met in the league the last three seasons, this fixture has ended in a draw or seen the Zebras win. However, goals from Joel


Byrom, Lennie Reid and Chris Ward midway through the first half ended this fixture as a contest and established a rather pedes­ trian second halt, that was only punctuated by a stun­ ning consolation strike Dead ball expert Byrom


was tripped on the edge of the area for Clitheroe's first which saw his quickly-taken free kick stun the Brigg defence by his lack of a run up.


Five minutes later and Reid jinked in from the left wing and. created enough space to fox the Brigg cen­ tre halves and curl his 18- yard effort around the keep­ er inside the far post. And to wrap up the game


and pronounce job done after 25 minutes, a Craig Sargeson corner was met by Chris Ward to see Clitheroe's third goal of the afternoon bobble in at the back post. Efforts from either side in the second halt proved


sparse, as Brigg did well to get near the Clitheroe goal, while the Blues seemed con­ tent to settle for what they'd got. However, Sargeson went


close to adding a couple more. First he put a volley over the bar to end a five- player passing move from the Blues' own box. And then, with just the


keeper to beat having been put clean through, the winger struck his effort at the feet of stopper Scott Drury. Brigg were not going to


leave Shawbridge without leaving some sort of mark, though, and in the 89th minute substitute Paul Grimes launched home a stunning strike that swerved in off the bar, beat- ing Blues stopper James Mann all ends up. CIHheroeFC ...............1 Ossell Albion...............0 CLITHEROE completed the double over play-off hopefuls Ossett Albion on Tuesday night, thanks to a


•Joel Byrom strike and an early red card. The Yorkshire visitors


were reduced to 10 men as early as the 15th minute when goalkeeper Neil Ben­ nett pulled Will Exton down as last man outside


the area. But it took an age for the


Blues to make the extra man count, as Ossett's stand-in keeper and resilient defence hung on until late in the second half. Crmg Sargeson had a few


runs on goal snuffed out by the keeper, Ryan Fisher narrowly poked one wide, and Byfom rattled the crossbar with another quickly-taken free kick, before the ball finally found the back of the net. Apart from these limited chances, the Ossett keeper hadn't really been tested until a ball into the six-yard box eluded Byrom only for Lennie Reid to pull the ball back from the bye-line for the central midfielder to tap home. From th a t ' moment,


Clitheroe went close to adding a second as Reid had a goal-bound shot deflected at the last moment for a corner, and Fisher struck the crossbar from an acute angle. The only downer on the


night was the raft of yellow cards the team picked up from a card-happy referee. Kris Matthews, Exton,


Chris Ward and Peter Smith were all brandished a card.


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all week through our web­ site to see Clitheroe’s ulti­ mate fighter live in action, but there is still time to get your entry in before noon today. Bisping faces Australian


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By Adrian Capstick


THE 2007 Veka Ribbles- dale Cricket League season gets underway on Saturday, and the four teams from the Ribble Valley have been busy readying themselves. It's all change at treble


winners Clitheroe, with a new captain and new profes­ sional, while paid man Joe Scuderi has stepped up to captain Ribblesdale Wan­ derers. Whalley welcome back


■ A


big-hitting Bradman Ediri- weera, and Read have named Will Driver as cap­ tain after the fantastic sea­ son he had last year with bat and ball. The new Clitheroe cap­


tain, Simon Coulter, believes good old fashioned team spirit will be the key ingredient for the Chatburn Road side. After scooping every gong


I t o


going last season with unprecedented success in .


.the league, Ramsbottom Cup and Twenty/20 Cup,


the champions have shed a couple of players in light of record run maker Shahid Nawaz retiring from the league to return to Pak­ istan. Naeem Ashraf and Farouk Butt have both rejoined Blackburn North­ ern. Coulter said: "It \vill be


difficult this year, but team spirit will wn us places, and there should be no back bit­ ing as we're all Clitheroe lads together. "People said they (Ashraf


and Butt) only came because we had the best pro in the league, and I suppose they were proven right. Now they've left, the dressing room is more harmonious." Coulter added: "We


haven't really replaced them, but we still have lead­ ing wicket taker Josh Mar- quet, and young Jack Dewhurst, who plays for the - North of England, moves up from the seconds to the firsts. "I'll be looking to Danny


Turner and Peter Dibb to contribute more, as they


showed at the end of last season that they are very capable. "And I'm sure Mark Har­


greaves will step back in to a prominent place in the bowl­ ing line up and make the dif­ ference. "He wasn't given the


chance last year as Butt and Ashraff had his overs, and he didn't get the break­ throughs he had in 2005." And of course he expects


New Zealand professional Michael Papps to fill the void left by Nawaz. "I just hope Michael con­


tinues the form he's shown in New Zealand," he cpon- cluded. However, the club Mil be


without their paid man for between four and six games in July, though, as Papps has been selected for the New Zealand A team to play in a triangular series. Clitheroe travel to Read


for their opening game of the season. At Whalley Road, Driver


is looking to extend the indi­ vidual success he had at


Read last season to the team, as he takes up the captaincy this term. The new skipper became


the first English-born ama­ teur to make over 1,000 runs in the league's history. ■ He not only set a new


amateur batting record for the Whalley Road club, but also claimed the unique dou­ ble of the league's player of the year and young player of the year. But he would happily give


up all that for a team trophy this time out: "I fully expect us to be up there with Padi- ham, Baxenden and Clitheroe. "To finish 10 th last season


was disappointing without a doubt, but we'll start afresh with a stronger squad and a better mentality. "Clitheroe at home on


Saturday is the perfect start. We've a squad confident of beating anyone at any ground, and the prepara­ tions we've made Mil ensure we have a good start." Joining the new skipper Mil be the returning "Black


Botham" Kenyan Thomas Odoyo, fresh from the World Cup, and together the pair aim to push the side to the right end of the table. Warren Eastham will aid


Driver as vice-captain, and the side has been boosted by the inclusion of Mcketkeep- er Dave Swarbrick from Colne, Chris Astin from Lowerhouse and Sagawat Hussain from Accrington. Plus there is also the


added bonus of Lancashire's Oliver Newby pitching in at Whalley Road when he can. Rihblesdale Wanderers


professional and skipper Scuderi will be hoping to stave off injury and rally his troops this season. Returning tor a second


season as paid man, the Italian national team coach and captain is hoping to get more out of the Church Meadow side this term. Pre-season has gone well,


and Sunday's victory over Lancashire League outfit Nelson, albeit without a professional, bodes well. Scuderi said: "No-one has


left, and we've got the same nucleus of players, but I will be looking for a bit more from them, better consisten­ cy.


"I missed one or two


games last season, but when you get to my age after play­ ing cricket for 20 years non­ stop, it's to be expected. "I'll be missing a few


games this season in May as I'm away with the Italian team."


Scuderi added: "There are


some good players in the league this season with strong aggressive profession­ als. Settle are a good team, and Baxenden and Great Harwood will be tough games. "Every team we played


last year we made an impression against, we just need more consistent per­ formances.” Ribblesdale Wanderers


start the season at home to Blackburn Northern. Whalley welcome back


professional Prince Brad­ man Ediriweera for 2007, after he consistently hit the


mark last season with 1,182 runs. The third best batsman in


the averages will be joined by all-rounder Neil Cording- ley from Darwen, who cap­ tain Martin Davies hails as a very good addition to his side. And the Station Road


skipper believes Ediriweera can only get better this sea­ son: "Bradman Mil be a bet­ ter player for the year of experience he's had, because last season was a bit of a shock. . "He wasn't used to the


grounds and soft squares in the Ribblesdale League at first, but now he knows what to expect." Whalley are at Earby on


Saturday. All Ribblesdale League games see wickets pitched at 1-30 p.m.


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