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TOP TEAM Joii. Schofield


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Focus on the Kibble Valley


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Schofield on the podium


OLYMPIC hopeful Jon Schofield enhanced his London 2012 ambitions with two podium finishes at the Great Britain Selection Regatta in Nottingham for the start of the Sprint Racing season. The canoeist, from Sawley, a former pupil of Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, came first in the K2 200m event with partner Liam Heath,


ahead of current world champion Ed McKcever,


who had teamed up with Andy Daniels. The top three British 200m athletes then battled it


out for individual selection. Having been beaten by Heath on Saturday,


McKeever took to the water with nothing but focus in his eyes and led the race from the start, winning with a comfortable gap. Heath took second with local lad Schofield finishing third.


The regatta, coupled with a progressive winter’s


training in Australia and Spain, sets up the trio well for this year’s international season with World Cup Races in Poznan, Poland, held between May 6th and May 8th, and Racice in the Czech Republic. They will miss the third World Cup at


Duisburg, Germany, to prepare for the European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in June, and the World Championships at Szeged, in Hungary. Schofield already has a wealth of experience on the


world stage, securing gold medals in the K2 200m events at Szeged and Duisburg in 2010, as well as a second-place finish in the K1200m relay.


THE Blues have surpassed their highest points total in the non-league pyramid, but that’s the last thing on manager Carl Garner’s mind. Clitheroe’s stalemate against


play-off bound Curzon Ashton on Monday evening saw the Shawbridge side rack up their 63rd point of the season, one more than last campaign with three games still to play. Prior to that fixture, the


Blues recorded a 3-1 victory against Witton Albion on home soil, their first in the Ribble Valley in eight outings. Nathan Taylor scored in


each half,, and Ashley Parillon notched his 18th of the season to cement the three points. Speaking after the 0-5 draw,


with Curzon, Gamer said: “It’s another great result for us. “ I t wasn’ t a b r i l l ia n t


performance from ourselves but we are still unbeaten. “And Saturday was fantastic


as well and I had chance to try out a few other players. “We’ve got yet another clean


Garner on a rol ________by Dan B lack


sheet which makes it three out of the last four games. The disappointing thing was that we didn’t play any good football against Curzon, but our defending was absolutely magnificent. “We didn’t really use the ball


well but two games in the space of 48 hours can take its toll. I’m delighted with the result.” Since Garner officially


undertook the managerial capacity, which brought a 2-2 draw with Warrington Town, the Blues have accumulated 11 points from a possible 15, remain unbeaten and have kept four clean sheets in those five matches. However, Garner is too


modest to be contemplating a Manager of the Month award for April just yet. He said: “I haven’t given it


any thought to be honest. “I just keep thinking how great an achievement it would


be to stay unbeaten because of the mn in we’ve had. “I ’m realistic so I know a


defeat will come eventually but it would be phenomenal to carry it through to the end of the season. _


“Every time I set the bar the


players keep jumping over it. “Some of the performances


have been colossal. Defensively they’ve been absolutely spot on compared to three weeks ago, ’ when we were leaking goals like a sieve.


turnaround -


“ I t ’ s a r em a r k a b l e it’s like watching


another team.” One player expected to sign


on contract terms this week at Shawbridge is centre-half Steve Mercer, who has impressed since joining the club from Sunday League level. “I can’t speak highly enough


of the players,” Garner said. “Some of them have already


earned their places for next season.


“Steve has been outstanding in every game and it’s amazing


how well he’s handled the step up.


“He’s got strength and


athleticism and he wins his battles every week.


. “He’s a gem to manage.” The B lu es continue to


improve week on week under Garner’s reign, but he admits that this period is only a stepping stone for next season as he looks to drive Clitheroe towards the Evo-Stik First Division North play-offs. “I hope to get a few more


points on the board yet,” said Garner.


“I ’m ju s t treating these


games like a mini season. “These players are being


given an opportunity, we’re changing it all the time, yet we are still able to grind out results.”


He added: “For next year we’ve got to be looking at the


play-offs, that’s got to be the goal. “That creates pressure in


itself for me but that’s fine. “I ’m not here just to turn


up, I want to win matches. I ’ve installed this new mentality into these players and we will continue to work with that.” The Blues boss is optimistic


with what he’s seen in the Clitheroe camp so far. But he had planned three


scouting trips prior to the tough away f ixture with Chorley in the hope of adding further strength and depth to his growing squad of players. He said: “There will be at


least eight or nine players of this current crop who will be


worthy of that. “But I ’m looking to add


members of the squad for next season. “They’ve proved themselves


3 5 5 1 3 6 5 4 6 5 >


some strong left-sided players, an athletic midfielder with a decent range of passing and like every other manager in England, a goal scorer. “We wilj be competitive and


nobody will enjoy playing us because of our work ethic. “We have got a good togetherness and strength


The Clitheroe Advertiser and Times is published by East Lancashire Newspapers Limited at Bull Street,- Burnley, B B l l IDP (Tel: 01282 426161, classified 01282 422331), and printed by Broughton Printers Ltd. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Reproduction of the contents of this newspaper in any manner is not permitted without prior consent o f the Publisher. East Lancashire Newspapers Ltd.


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and it’s there to see.” Ahead o f tomorrow’s away fixture against Chorley (kick-off at 3 p.ra.), Garner praised his side’s loyal supporters who have followed the Blues home and away. Clitheroe will then face


their penultimate game of the 2010/11 season at home to Lancaster City on Monday (kick-off also at 3 p.m.).


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