^ 54 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, August 30th, 2007


Richard stars


with bat and ball


RICHARD Shovelton’s man-of-the-match'dis- play with both bat and ball wasn’t enough to inspire Chatburn to vic­ tory a t home to Den- holme. Shovelton took 4-38


off 14 overs as the visi­ tors closed on 163-6 after their 45 overs, with Andrew Cartledge and Andrew Booth also chip­ ping in with a wicket apiece. But despite Shovelton


top-scoring with 59 in reply, Chatburn ended up an agonising 13 runs short, bowled out for 150 with 4.2 overs to spare. Shovelton, coming in


at number seven with the score on 55, helped take the score to 138 with 12 fours, before he was sev­ enth man out. But the la s t three


wickets fell, with the locals unable to add the winning runs. Opener David Price


(32) and Booth (20) also made notable contribu­ tions.


Dog are all set


DOG Inn will be looking to build on the achieve­ ments of last season when they kick-off the new Harry Dewhurst Memor­ ial League season on Sun­ day. The Athertons'-spon-


sored Whalley side, who secured a top-three finish and reached the cup semi-finals last season, kick off away to Stanley Street Clarets a t Wil­ son's. Manager Simon


Kerins is confident that his side will prove immune to second-sea- son syndrome and, instead, launch a con­ certed bid for both League and Cup hon ours. • "Although the weather this summer has caused havoc with our training, we have managed to play - and comfortably win - three friendlies,” said Kerins. “We have signed two


quality players in Tom B a r tle tt and Ollie McLean, and I am hope­ ful th a t we can make another good start, i “Now we have become


quite a big scalp and other teams are going to look to raise their game against us." • Clitheroe Wolves


AGM is to be held on Monday, September 3rd a t Clitheroe FC's Shaw- bridge club house, start­ ing a t 8 p.m.


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Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) Whalley win thriller


WHALLEY won the Rib- blesdale League Twenty20 Cup Final in an excellent spectacle against Blackburn Northern at Station Road on Bank Holiday Monday. In front of a large parti­


san crowd, captain Martin Davies struck the winning runs in the final over follow­ ing a closely-contested affair that was in doubt right until the end, as Whalley needed nine off the final over. Northern won the toss


and elected to bat, and lost Asif Bhojani to the third ball, caught behind by John Rain off Neil Cordingley. That soon became 18-2 when Mark Fallon leapt


like a salmon to bag a tremendous catch that sent Rob Crawshaw back for nine off David O'Neill. Visiting professional


Devendrasingh Bundela held his side’s innings together, as a tight spell from youngster Declan Fitzhenry forced batters to have a go from the other end as wickets tumbled. Only Abdul Bisoodwal


with 18 made double fig­ ures, as Whalley's Prince Bradman Ediriweera took 4-23 in his four-over spell. The tail almost managed


to use up the full allotment of overs, as Bundela fin­ ished on 50 not out, while


Whalley turned in an excel­ lent performance in the field to compliment the tight bowling from all five bowlers. A ste ady s ta r t to the


reply was seen from Fallon and Richard Palmer, who put on 25 for the first wick­ et, before Fallon was bowled for 10 by Bundela. Ediriweera


joined Palmer, and they looked


. like seeing Whalley home as they pushed along nicely, and weren’t in any trouble until the Sri Lankan was caught by Farooq Butt in the deep with 68 on the scoreboard. As seems to be the case


Derby display


CLITHEROE’S Michael Papps produced the goods with both bat and ball to beat Whalley in Sun­ day’s derby game. The Chatburn Road professional


made 56 with the bat before reaping 5-26 against the visitors, to help seal a nine-run victory. Papps ripped through the Whal­


ley tail of Alex Whelan (1), Declan Fitzhenry (0) and David O’Neill (0) for almost nothing to secure the game after the moderate scoring of the upper order. Whalley professional Bradman


Ediriweera top-scored with 38 runs before he was trapped leg before by Mark Hargreaves. Richard Palmer grabbed 26


before going to a catch by Andrew Pearce off Papps, and opener Mar­ tin Davies was next best with 24 and he too went to Papps leg before wicket. John Rain (19), Neil Cordingley'


(18) and Mark Fallon (16) were the villagers’ other main run-makers as Papps, Hargreaves and Josh Mar- quet stopped the side short on 150. In the opening innings, Papps


proved the mainstay of Clitheroe’s order, with Pearce next best with 22 runs. Moderate scores were seen from the rest of the order with Neil Bolton (16), Peter Dibb (15), Dan Glover (15) and Simon Coulter (14) all managing double figures as the side finished on 159-7. Fallon (3-26) and Fitzhenry (2-


36) were Whalley’s main wicket takers.


The previous day, a much-


changed Chatburn Road side suf­ fered a seven-wicket defeat away at new league leaders Blackburn Northern. Neil Bolton (43) and Dan Glover


(45) were the team’s chief run-mak­ ers for their 139 all out score, as apart from their efforts, only pro­ fessional Papps made double fig­ ures and he was bowled by former Clitheroe player Farooq Butt for 12.


The rest of the order fell cheaply


with ducks for Chris Musson, cap­ tain Coulter, Pearce, Neil Bibby and Josh Holgate. Butt claimed 3-38, and another


Chatburn Road old boy Naeem Ashraf reaped 3-9. Further wickets were taken by


Mohammed Jamil and Abdul Bisoodwal; with two wickets apiece. In reply, Ashraf (66 not out)


proved the mainstay of Blackburn’s winning innings, while Papps grabbed 3-51, bowling Assif Bho­ jani for 7, removing the professional Devendrasingh Bundela via a Josh Holgate catch for 19, and trapping Hasan Bhojani leg before for 20. But Ashraf and Abdul Bisoodwal


(29 not out) finished off the neces­ sary at 144-3. On Saturday, Clitheroe are away


at Edenfield and Whalley are a t home to Cherry Tree, wickets pitched at 1-30 p.m.


when two batters seem set to go on, Palmer followed one run later, bowled by Bisoodwal for 22. Rain joined Cordingley


and took the score to 84, before he holed out in the deep to Butt. Alex Whelan was next in


as the run rate crept up to the eight an over mark, and perished after adding six, run out on 103. As Whalley stepped up


the tempo, Cordingley fell on the same score in the penultimate over for a vital 19, to leave nine needed off the last over. Lee Kearsley took two off the first ball, followed by a


four, and you could sense the relief all around. A bye of a wide meant


the scores were level with three deliveries to come, and it was captain Davies who had the pleasure of hit­ ting the next ball for four to the merriment of the vast majority of the crowd. It was a richly-deserved


victory and just reward for everyone involved a t Sta­ tion Road, that has seen the club transformed in recent seasons both on and off the field. Hopefully this can be


used as a stepping stone as the club aims to keep the steady progress going.


Young stars offer hope for future


READ put in a promising display for next season against Great Har­ wood on Sunday. And, despite losing both games


over the weekend, have a good young side to build on as they look to 2008. The Whalley Road club lost by


74 runs at Cliffe Park, despite put­ ting in a team effort with the bat in the absence of injured captain Will Driver. The Lancashire Under 19s cap­


tain fell awkwardly on his shoulder in the first innings while fielding, dropping to last man and deciding not to feature. But to hit 155 runs without him,


thanks to Chris Holt (58), Kyle O’Connor (20), professional Hanif- ur-Rehman (23) and double figures from three other players, shows what the side could have done with him at the crease. Great Harwood’s innings also saw


a bright prospect in the form of 15- year-old Read bowler Elliot Lowes, as the schoolboy took 3-51. And if he hadn’t been limited on


the number of overs he can bowl, he could have taken more. His first spell saw him take 1-22,


with the wicket of Great Harwood professional Jermaine Lawson for just four runs, but in the 39th over he returned to take the big wickets of Allan Armer (94) and Paul Houldsworth (43).


Unfortunately, the bulk of Great


Harwood’s 229-5 had been scored by this point, and Read did well to keep the home side down to that score as Peter Sleep (24 not out) and Matthew Howarth (four not out) saw out the rest of the innings. In reply, Read’s team effort was


mostly affected by home profession­ al Lawson, as he took 4-41 from his 15 overs, aided by 3-29 from Sleep and 2-57 by Paul Newton as Read were reduced to 155-9. The day before a t home to


Oswaldtwistle also ended in defeat, as the visitors won the toss, put Read in to bat and had them all out for 167. Holt again top scored for the


locals with 44 runs, closely followed by 34 from O’Connor, 32 by Driver and 31 by Rehman as Read played some good cricket. Oswaldtwistle professional


Ahmer Saeed was chief wicket taker with 5-39. In reply, the locals soldiered on,


but wickets were hard to come by as Rehman (1-28) and Driver (1-28) took just one apiece as Oliver Clare (42), Anthony Dignan (36), Saeed (53 not out) and Daniel Metcalf (24 not out) saw the visitors to victory by eight wickets. On Saturday Read travel to


Bamoldswick, wickets pitched a t 1- 30 p.m.


Scuderi hat-trick completes starring role


JOE Scuderi put in a star performance on Sunday as Ribblesdale Wanderers recorded a nine-run win over Settle at the Marsh­ field. The Church Meadow


paid man first struck 81 not out, and then claimed five wickets in the Settle reply, finishing with a hat- trick. Raj Amunugama (8), A.


Gowland (0) and James Metcalfe (0) all fell in the paid man’s final over. Settle’s top-scoring paid


man Jeevantha Kulatunga (46) was removed by Barry Spencer, while Matthew Hutchinson (41) was


bowled by John Braith- waite, aided by a Martin Briggs catch. And apart from 26 runs


by Andrew Davidson and 13 from Tim Green, the rest of the Settle order fell for single figures Ribblesdale posted 152


all out, but had Settle back in the hut for 143. Earlier, Scuderi struck


the boundary ropes seven times for his undefeated knock, with his best part­ nership coming alongside Stephen Kerr (27), who proved to be one of five wickets taken by Settle professional Kulatunga (5- 28).


The only other Ribbles­


dale man to make double figures was Ryan Gladwin (15), who also fell to the paid man. The day before, at home


to Cherry Tree, proved less successful, as Scuderi’s men lost by 50 runs. The Blackburn side


posted 226-6 in the opeing innings, as David Howard took 4-75 and John Braith- waite reaped 2-43. The top three of Cherry


Tree’s order all scored high­ ly, led by opener Ahmer Mirza’s 86 in a partnership with Scott Friend (63) that produced 134 runs for the first wicket.


And when Howard had


bowled Friend, there was still professional Zahoor Elahi to come, and he took up where his team-mate had left off to smash a half- century. Howard eventually


claimed the scalps of all three, trapping Mirza leg before and having Elahi caught by Kerr. But by the time the paid


man had gone, the target had been all but set. In reply, opener Alistair


Marsh proved top-scorer for the locals as he struck 43, first alongside Scuderi (20) and then Craig Hall


(7). But Cherry Tree ’s


bowlers were to get the bet­ ter of the Ribblesdale side, as after the Australian pro­ fessional was bowled by Andreas Sudnik, Elahi removed Marsh for the first of his six wickets. The visiting professional


finished on 6-67, while Sud­ nik removed all the rest bar Spencer (23 not out) and Terry Braithwaite (8) with his 3-28 as Ribblesdale fin­ ished on 176-9. On Saturday Ribblesdale


Wanderers are at home to league t i t le challengers Baxenden, wickets pitched at 1-30 p.m.


Bradman Ediriweera


Flying start to Whalley weekend


WHALLEY got their weekend off to a fine start and rekindled their hopes of a top-five finish with a com­ prehensive demolition of Padiham on Saturday. Thanks to a solid per­


formance with the ball and a rapid unbeaten half cen­ tu ry from professional Bradman Ediriweera, the Station Road hosts took victory by eight wickets Captain Martin Davies


elected to field, and his deci­ sion was soon bearing fruit as Neil Cordingley had vis­ iting professional Kashif Siddique caught for just two by Richard Palmer, which was soon followed up by the clean bowling of both Philip Metcalfe and Umar Saddique to have' Padiham reeling at 7-3. A spot of enterprising


fielding from Alex Whelan followed to run out Kevin Hitchon at 21-4. Anthony Hall was joined


by Naeem Ashraf, and they took the total to 54 before the latter was clean bowled by Ediriweera. And a similar fate await­


ed Tom Mustoe who made just two. Evergreen David O’Neill


snapped up Peter Usher and Duncan Hall to finish with 16 overs, of which half were maidens, at 2-23. Anthony Hall persevered


at the other end to make a splendid 53 but proved to be las t man when a smart catch by Declan Fitzhenry off Cordingley saw the Whalley man deservedly returned 4-30 off his 10.5 overs. Whalley must have fan­


cied an early finish as Mark Fallon opened with Davies, it wasn’t to be as Padiham put up a bit of a fight. Fallon went for 18, hav­


ing hit a four and a six,with 33 on the board, leaving ju s t 57 for victory when Ediriweera entered the fray. Davies sent a skier to Sad­


dique when on 18 that made it 65-2, but all the visitors had done was delay the inevitable as the little Sri Lankan wasn't hanging about, and he soon wound up maximum points for his side with 50 not out to end the game. I t took him just 35 balls


and featured 10 fours, with shots to all corners of the ground. On Saturday Whalley are


a t home to Cherry Tree, wickets pitched at 1-30 p.m.


A I


1 ■


1 i 1I ■iA


Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified)


www.clitheraeadvertiser.co.uk


Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, August 30th, 2007 55 Scott’s dream shot at Whalley! By Edward Lee


WHALLEY junior golfer Scott Byrom achieved every golfer's dream on Fri­ day, a hole-in-one. Fourteen-year-old Scott


was playing with dad, David, also a Whalley member, and two friends, and scored his ace over the pond a t Whalley's pictur­ esque 18th hole. Scott, in his first year of


competitive golf, saw the ball roll into the cup, and said later: "I was amazed and delighted. Now my dad wants me to join the hole- in-one club so he can wear the club tie!” Scott followed up his suc­


M Scott Byrom


cess with a fine performance in the Junior Open, winning his division with a net 67. Whalley juniors made


local knowledge count in that event. Whalley's Luke Tid-


marsh, with an excellent 80- 14-66, proudly took the honours. Boys from around the


Favourites beaten EarbyTown4,Chalburn6


CHATBURN kicked off the 2007 season with an win at pre-season promotion favourites Earby Town. After a even start, the villagers were kindly gifted an


o


early goal thanks to the Earby keeper fumbling and the ball falling to the feet of Mark Sullivan, who slotted home to settle his side’s nerves. The lead was to be short lived, though, as Chatburn


failed to clear their lines and gifted Earby an equaliser. However, Chatburn bounced back. Chris Scott


pounced to put the locals ahead, and then produced a sparkling display of wing play to put a pin-point cross onto Sullivan's head to make it 3-1 at the break. The second half saw Chatburn extend their lead with


a brace from last season’s top scorer Ross Preston. Earby rallied, and a mixture of fine dead ball play and


sloppy defending gave the West Craven side a lifeline as they pulled it back to 5-4. However, man-of-the-match Scott dazzled the crowd


with a run from inside his own half, and, thanks to a sparkling finish, he sealed a fine win.


Battling point Chipping 1, CCA 1


CHIPPING came from behind to earn a good draw at home to CCA, and were unlucky not to take all three points after a spirited second half showing. CCA started the game slightly the better and had a


lot of possession in the early stages, but the Chipping back four absorbed the pressure well. The first half seemed to be passing without incident,


i


but, as it seemed like half-time would come without a goal, CCA struck from a well-worked corner. The.visi- tors took the comer short and played a clever near post ball to meet the run of the midfielder, and he glanced a header past the despairing right hand of Ireland in the Chipping goal. The villagers began the second half in confident


mood, and it wasn’t long before they drew level with a finely worked goal. An excellent ball in from the left was met at the back


post by Danny Austin, who nodded back across goal, where the ball was met by a brave stooping header by Oily Hayhurst for his second in two games. This boosted the home side and they now looked the


better team, stretching the CCA back line on numerous occasions. Danny Walmsley and man-of-the-match Ryan


o G Q


McMurray dealt with everything CCA had to offer, and this allowed the attacking players greater licence to go forward, leading to chances for Mark Fordham, Austin and Grant Heywood, who all went close, but they could not find the elusive winner, meaning the spoils were shared. Chipping have adjusted well to life in the First Division,


but will be tested on Saturday as they travel to Preston Sports Arena to play Royal Garrison (kick-off 2-30 p.m.).


county found the condition of the course and benign weather to their liking as many low scores were recorded. Division One winner, and


winner of the best gross with 78-11-67 was Jake Foley of Clitheroe GC, run­ ner-up was Harry Lambert, also Clitheroe, with 80-12- 68.


Division Two had to be


settled by a four-way card play-off, local boy James Galling with 90-21-69 edg­ ing out Jake Ansbro (Accrington, 93-24-69). Division Three saw


Whalley's Scott Byrom, of hole-in-one fame, win with 91-24-67, and runner-up was Lewis Rothwell of Clitheroe with 95-26-69. The Mytton Fold Club


Championship went ahead at the second time of asking at the weekend following it’s postponement last month due to the bad weather. Over two days of hard-


fought gross competition, Ray Standring emerged the winner of the premier com­


petition in the calendar with a combined total of 157 over the 36 holes. His victory was, in the


end, clear cut, with a win­ ning margin of eight shots over previous champion Chris Chadwick a measure of how well Standring played. The overall n e tt prize


was a much closer affair with a sparking second round of 63 by Mark Slater edging out Gordon Lucas for victory by a single shot with a combined 137 score. There were also individ­


ual daily prizes awarded. On Saturday, captain


Tony Cross maintained his good recent form with a n e tt 69 with divisional prizes being won by Mark Green (71), Gary Ashton (69) and Gary Keogh (74). On Sunday, Lee Owens


took the daily honours with Jim Hindle, Howard Taylor and Frank Eccles winning their respective divisions. Hard luck stories were following


plentiful Clitheroe’s Senior Open. Five pairs topped the


Ieaderboard with 42 points, Clitheroe’s John Whowell and F. Seed (Charnock Richard) taking first place from Greenmount pairing S. Whitehead and A. Goodale by the narrowest of margins. Captain-elect Andrew


Walmsley helped Ashton and Lea’s A. Diamond into third spot, while Don Part­ ington from the home club entertained B. Lamb from Bury and they were reward­ ed with the gross prize. Past captain of ELGA


Tony Flanagan showed his mettle in the weekly medal with a 69-4-65 return to win first prize. A two-shot margin left


the impressive Dave Thorn­ hill in second ahead of the consistent John Whowell with a nett 68 and Denis Greenup’s 74 proved to be the best gross of the day. Nigel Schofield is in top


form this year and proved it again with a nett 66 to take the Division Two honours. Dave Kitson and Alex


Rigby both returned nett 70s, the former getting the nod after cards. Julian Troup took time


out to win the Midweek Medal and Tradesman’s Trophy qualifier. His n e tt 70 gave him a


one-shot margin over Peter Boddie and improving youngster Jacob Foley, cards relegating the latter into third. The top three, plus


Graeme Edmondson, will contest the Tradesman’s Trophy Final on Saturday. The annual Open Mixed


Greensomes attracted cou­ ples from far and wide and Clitheroe prizewinners were thin on the ground. Visitors took the top four


spots, but Clitheroe’s Bert Hemmingway teamed-up with Settle’s M. Gooch to take fifth spot. The Men’s Open was held


on Sunday at Stonyhurst Park and from a full field the victors were Graham Monk and Russell Davies with 46 points. Second place went to


Keith Wiggins and P. Byron (45) who finished one clear of Tom Hibbert and Neil Winkley. The Maureen Ormerod


Trophy was contested at Stonyhurst on Saturday with ladies restricted to three clubs and a putter. Val Fairless (106-36-70)


finished a shot clear of Frances Lee (105-34-71) with Linda Ashworth (89- 12-77) in third place. Joyce Andrew h i t top


form to win the LGU Medal at Whalley when she carded 86-20-66. That saw her finish three


clear of Julie Stephenson (89-10-69) with Jean Dear- den (92-21-71) in third place. Ross Dent was top junior


at Clitheroe as his massive 50 points gave him an 11- point win over Chris Bailey and Harry Lambert in the Singles Stableford. The weekend medal saw


Ross produce a nett 72 for third place behind Chris Parkinson (65) and Will Kenyon.


Champions’ horrendous start


Hurst Green.................1 Goodshaw United........3 HURST Green made a hor­ ror start to the defence of their East Lancashire Foot­ ball League crown as they were defeated at home by a resilient Goodshaw side. Without a number of reg­


ulars, including last season’s top scorer Mark Young, the champions leapt out of the blocks and should have been two goals up within the first 15 minutes. Danny Walker smashed a


close range shot against the bar with the goal gaping after a well-worked move down Green’s left flank, and then Walker again turned well in the box and was clumsily clattered by a Goodshaw centre half, but to everyone’s amazement a penalty was not given. This seemed to unnerve


the home side, who contin­ ually lost possession, enabling the visitors to come into the game, and they duly went ahead after Jason Davis’ cross-cum- shot looped over keeper Addicott into the far comer. Goodshaw then enjoyed


periods of possession and doubled their lead as Davis’ shot seemed to surprise Addicott in the home goal and somehow squirm under his body and trickle over the line. The home side rallied to


some degree, with the makeshift forward pairing of Walker and Waites work­ ing hard to create a chance of worthy note. Green were rewarded


with a goal on the half hour mark. Waites’ header can­ noned off the crossbar, Bamber nodded the ball back into the area and Waites finished from close


range with more than a sus­ picion of off-side. A defensive re-arrange­


ment by the home side seemed to give them more balance, and the second half started off much the same as the first, with Tipton and Taylor roving down both flanks. Alex Young drove a


decent chance wide as Green started to turn the screw, but their efforts were in vain as another contro­ versial refereeing decision cost the home side, with Piper being penalised for a handball, Danny Hartree calmly slotting the penalty away. Green were then amaz­


ingly awarded a penalty of their own two minutes later as the Goodshaw defence were accused of pushing when it seemed like a home shirt had offended, but it was all in vain as Young smashed the kick against the crossbar and to safety. Green toiled towards the


end to find some sort of reply, Bamber’s cross hit­ ting the bar for a fourth time late on. The champions travel to


Witton Park on Saturday and Langho on Tuesday.


Riming ton Reserves ...7 Kelbrook Reserves........0 GARY Brunskill netted four goals as Rimington Reserves opened their account with a perfect per­ formance. They had to wait 30 min­


utes before grinding down a stern Kelbrook outfit, with the opener coming from an in-swinging corner by Jack Dearden for Brunskill to head home from two yards. In the second half Rim­ ington came out all guns


blazing, scoring six unan­ swered goals. Brunskill doubled his


tally with another well- taken header from the edge of the box, and the third came a minute later as Mark Leach pounced on some sloppy defending and mis-kicked into the bottom corner. That demoralised the vis­


itors, and Brunskill contin­ ued the goal feast with his hat-trick goal. Moments later he turned


provider by heading across goal for debutant Joe McTear to tap in. With 15 minutes to go


Brunskill wasn't finished. Oli McClean supplied an inch-perfect through-ball for Brunskill to calmly slot home into the bottom cor­ ner.


Mark Leach finished the


scoring, finishing well with a shot into the roof of the net.


Carlelon .....................2 Grindlelon...................8 GRINDLETON got their Craven League First Divi­ sion campaign off to a fly­ ing start as Martin Cowey hit four goals in a compre­ hensive thrashing of newly- relegated Carleton. Carleton took the lead,


slotting home a penalty after centre half Ryan Faw­ cett was adjudged to have restrained a forward. But Grindleton soon


drew level through Cowey, who found the back of the net at the second attempt, before Carleton regained the lead with a free header from a corner kick. Cowey then brought the


visitors level for the second time, this time from the penalty spot, beating the


keeper with ease. The game remained level


until half-time, however, six unanswered goals from Grindleton in the second half ensured all three points. The second half started


in bizarre fashion with the first of three own goals from Carleton giving the visitors the lead. Cowey claimed his hat-


trick goal with a delightful free kick from the edge of the box to make it 4-2. • The fifth goal again was


an own goal from Carleton, with the defence a t sixes and sevens. Cowey then claimed his


fourth with a neat finish to make it six. Steve Walker deservedly


claimed his first of the sea­ son, and Grindleton’s sev­ enth, of the game with a well-taken goal. The rout was then com­


plete with Carleton’s hat- trick of own goals, after being put under great pres­ sure by midfielder Rick Barrow. Captain Darren Barrow


was named man-of-the- match for his unselfish work in midfield. Grindleton’s next game is


a t home to Rolls-Royce, where the club will unveil their new kit, kindly spon­ sored by the Buck Inn, Grindleton.


Hellifield ......................1 Clitheroe Lions............3 ZAK Holgate hit a hat- trick as Clitheroe Lions started the season with vic­ tory from a potentially tricky match at Hellifield. The Lions began their


Craven League Premier Division campaign in blis­ tering style, scoring within


30 seconds of the kick-off. Holgate latched onto a


through ball after a wonder­ ful five man move, drilling the ball into the bottom corner for the first of his three. The Lions started with


five across the midfield, including tireless workers James Clegg and Stephen Gaughan, but soon adapted the system, pushing left winger Conti into a more advanced and threatening role. Conti had much of the


ball in the first half, and he put the defence under pres­ sure time after time. Pickup and Fagan did


very well down the flanks, supporting the attack as much as they could, while the defensive partnership of Avci and Paul Clegg was immense and looked prom­ ising for the rest of the sea­ son. Keeper Michael


Mashiter quickly regained his form of last season, fol­ lowing a lay off with injury, producing three one on one saves. And a quick Mashiter


release produced the second goal, with a succession of passes ending in Holgate rounding the keeper. The second half was end


to end, and a rare lapse of concentration from the Lions’ back four enabled the Hellifield striker to pounce and rifle a shot over the helpless Mashiter. Shortly after, a corner


whipped in produced chaos in the area, and an athletic diving header off the line from captain James Clegg. This proved to be just the


spur the Lions needed, as Ilolgate bundled in his hat- trick to cap a fine victory.


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