IT’S been a positive week for Clitheroe as the Blues come towards the end of their pre-season prepara­ tions. On Saturday, Neil


Reynolds and Peter Smith ’s charges play' their final warm-up game when they entertain Uni- Bond Premier Division Buxton a t Shawbridge (kick-off 3 p.m.). ■ . And ahead of the big kick-off a t -home to


■'Mossley a week on Satur­ day, there have been sev-! eral plus-points in the,


,camp.^:,' While th e Blues still-


search for their first clean. sheet to go into the new campaign, the perform-; ance on Saturday in a ' narrow 1-0’defeat at homie to UniBond Pre-- mier Division promotion hopefuls Bradford Park Avenue gave great encouragement. And the return of sev­


<■<-


eral key players to fitness and form is a further boost. ; ■ ; ■ • Against Bradford, th e ,


side heeded Smith’s call; las t week to tighten up: and the back and make themselves h a rd e r ' to break down.


- V : : , y-. Clitheroe more than;:


held th e ir own against; Avenue’s expensively-' assembled side;-who have , been tipped to win the


unit, and we looked a lot better. “At the back, Ian Flan­


nery and Jonathan Smith did well, and look to have got a good partnership going, which is a massive plus.” • •


. .


, Then on ^Tuesday night, striker Anthony


Peter Smith


Premier Division title a t the firs t a t tem p t after promotion - despite the Blues missing a number of players for various rea­ sons.' And Smith said: “We


were superb, especially in , the first half. We could have been four or five up, and defended well with ■that. -'''; :■ ' '


: “The pleasing'part was ■ .times.’’. ; :


that we kept things tight, but stni created chances ag ains t a top Prerhler Division side. ;“We tore them apart at :■ .


Bradford won"'the


game w ith a Darreii: Hockenhull goal from 20 yards in the second half. '


- A n d 'Sm i th added: “ In th e second' half, they put more pressure on us, but T think they opened us up only once,


■and th e winner was a. -bit of a fluke from the- fiiil back. “But I was hoping to see us perform better as a


, Johnson got 70 minutes for the reserves a t home to Burnley United,- in a game where several of Lee Boyer and.Martiri Aspinwall’s young charges caught the eye. - Former Ramsbottom


United frontman John­ son, who finished la;st, season with four goals in three games, was forced off early in the 2-1-win oyer Emley three weeks ago with a back problem, and had not featured since. ' ^However, Smith was


-


delighted with his come­ back: “He got'fO minutes and looked sharp, which is faritetic news for us. .“He had been to see a specialist,;and.he has a


, bulging disc; which will need a bit of physio, but' it isn’t a major problem; ; . “He is a big player for


us and it was great to see him back..'We have four very, good 'strikers a t the club, and strikers -win you games.”


’


■ And of the budding first team players in the second string,’ Smith spoke in glowing terms:


“Some of the young kids certainly caught my eye, big time. “They are all aged


between 17 and 20, and hopefully wehvill be able; to grab one or two and bring them through year on year, which would be a . big.help to us.’! Howeyer, i t 'h a s not


been all good, as left back Barry Shuttleworth had a recurrence of a hamstring problem on Tuesday, and flying winger Dave Han- kin will also miss Satur­ day’s game with Buxton; with a hairline fracture of his arm - although he is expected to be fit to face Mossley.


~ , Smith said: “Baz broke


down in the reserves -with a tight hamstring, and . tha t is a blow^because I rate him as one of the best left backs'in theleague. “And Dave got a knock


on his arm three weeks ago, which turns out is a hairline,'but he will be right for the first game. . ;“We will rest.him on


SatuMay as a precaiution. We had thought i t was . only badly bruised after an x-ray, and he played thrre games with it,- but-we foundoutheh^ahairline,' and it’s hot worth risking ' him against Buxton.’’ ': ..; - ; Buxton are expected to ''


field former Clitheroe; vice-captain Gregg Anderson on Saturday.


Wanderers miss out on Ramsbcyttom C ud title


MAN- of-the-match Peter Usher took 4-18 as Padi- ham won the P.M. & M, Ramsbottoni Cup for the first time since 1973 at Barnoldswick on Sunday, . ■ Usher’s haul arid an out- ■ standing slip catch helped dismiss underdogs Ribbles-' dale Wanderers for 94.. ■ And the total proved too.


difficult to defend as Pa!di- . ham cantered to a seven- : ivicket victory. . •. -


: Wanderers, champions


iri 1999,,made.the worst; possible start.


; PaidirianJoeScuderi,-


so crucial to'their'chances, ; made just five before being caught by, Usher off Umar Saddique. And skipper Gary Hunt


went without scoring, ■ caught by Kurt Robinson off the same bowler, to ' leave Ribblesdale strug- gling'at 13-2, ’ Dave Howard and Alas- tair Marsh threatened a


revival ivith a stand of 43. . However, Howard went


in Usher's first over, Mar­ tin Peel quickly followed and when Marsh was dis­ missed, Wanderers were 61-5.:; _ The remaining five wickets went for just 33 to leave the Arbories outfit within sight of the silver- ware.


- .Umar Saddique took 3-


24,-professiorial Kashif; Siddique 2-12 arid Naveed; Ashraf ll24 to provide excellent L?:suppdrt , to destroyer-in-chief. Usher. Padiham-^needed 41


overs to'knock-off the required runs.. And has been so often


the case for the men from' the Arbories this season, it, took just one of the three top bafsthen to do th e ; damage.


; ''Ia n Britcliffe removed


professional Kashif Sid-, dique for a run-a-b'all 3 l '


9 770963 365331 FANTASTIC OFFERS^;


. ' , SILVERDALE 80/20 WOOL TWIST £10 49sqyd £l2,54sqm AVAILABLE IN 7 COLOURS ' : ■


SUMATRA I00%,WOOL LOPP PILE £8.00sqyd £9 56sqm ^ |PENpLETWIST'80/20'45oz WOOL TWIST £ll.50sqyd £l3.75sqm


Esllmatlng Service: - Free Local Delivery . -'- Expert Fitllns Available ..1*11 . 4;'Primr6 se :


S - SPECIALISING IN W H |i|im p , P f iiC T O R A C A S M S iA i i i iw


and Umar Saddique (5). But teenager Abdul


Saddique finished unbeat­ en on 36, his patient 99- ball innings featuring six trips over the boundary ropes. - Lee Anderson (17) almost saw Padiham to victory before being out leg-before to Barry Spencer. And that left Nesir Mehmood (4 not out) to help Saddique over the winning line. 'Britcliffe finished with


2-9 while Marcus Pratt bowled 10 overs of slow left arm for just 16 runs, but


' nothing could prevent the Wanderers from slipping to defeat.


' CARPETS OF CLITHEROE #fPnmro'se.Road, Clitheroe, BB7 IBT ; T: 01200 4 29066


F: 01200 420804.;, E::clitheroe@pnmrosemillcarpets.c'o.ult Thursday 9am to 7pm


4pm ;.i Sunday 11am till 4pm;


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23