Mytton Fold up and


running Page 54


O O IU E I i-'


SPORT .1 rp5ll^;l ■‘3S '- eyes on By Chris Boden


competing for one of two women’s places available in the Great Britain Modern P en ta th lo n team for London 2012, and has started the year


with a bang, winning the Hungarian Indoor


.Budapest in February, before, last weekend, eanung a sixth-place finish


C h am p io n sh ip s in


at the opening World Cup of the year in Charlotte, North Carolina.


my rh y thm , u s in g meditation, breathing exercises and imagery 7 sp o r ts psychology is a massive p ar t o f p e r f o rm a n c e , a n d competing at this level you have to have yout mind ready and right.’’ The flesh is willing,, and the spirit is strong as


jot of psychology, which is important in competition, p a r ticu la r ly to help improve my shooting, to focus on myself, and not get distracted by what’s going on around me. “It’s all about keeping


30 hours a week and the pressure of my final year was not going to happen, so I cut it by half. “But I’ve also done a


made lifestyle changes, in that I study French and Politics part-time now at . Bath University for my degree - I’ve just been training and sleeping and it wasn’t possible to combine everything, so I’ve split my final year. “I just know training


h a s im p l em e n te d successful changes to her preparations for the sport - which takes in pistol shooting, epee fencing, ■ 200m freestyle swimming, showjumping and a 3 km cross country run. And she explained: “I’ve


T h e 2 2 -y e a r -o ld ^ 'J


and soul in her quest to win a place at the Olympics. TTie Clitheroe athlete is


SAMANTELA Murray is giving mind, body


WIN; Lee Sculpher and Dave Burgess s a lu te th e Blues’ fans, (s) m at deserved win By Dan Black


co nsidered 29 applications for the hot seat, b u t af ter detailed discussion, C l i t h e r o e P C ’ s executive committee, comprising chairman Anne Barker, Andrew Jackson, Colin Wilson and Chris Musson, a decision was made to I vest full control of team


■ Britain’s most successful at Olympic level.


World Cup in Rio, only Russia and Britain had four women in the final, and since the sport for women was introduced to the Olympics at Sydney 2000, Britain’s women have won four Olympic medals - or 66% of the medals available to them. S tep h C o o k won gold and Kate Allenby


bronze at-Sydney 2000, with Georgina Harland winning bronze at Athens in 2004 and Heather Fell ■winning Olympic silver at


know that, while all eyes are on a home games,'the OlyiMics is the Olympics, and if she has to wait until Rio de Janeiro in four years’ time, so be it: “It’s ,


the Beijing 2008 Games. Samantha is realistic to


For this weekend’s an event which is one of


pinnacle, but with it being on home soil, th e re ’s added pressure. This is my


girls consistently now. “The Olympics is the


you’re not in the top two British girls; you won’t make it.


“I don’t think people


appreciate how tough it is, we train as a team, but


are individual athletes, and you have to have your


job, and you can be in the top 20 in the world, but if


medal at the World Cups and move yourself up the World rankings, and hopefully get a place at the. World Championships in Rome in May. “I’ve just got to beat the


very difficult with the competition for two places on the team, and Freyja Prentice already has the qualifying standard from the Euro’s last year. “So it’s about trying to


best poker face on and get on with your job.”


tends to be in your 40s as th e re is so much skill involved, and with experience you can only get better.


up with training and competing, you can go on for a long time, but I’m looking at 2016 in Rio, I’ll be 26 then and it will probably be time to movie on and let the younger athletes come through.” ■. Samanthai is back in action this weekend at the Budapest Cup.................


“If the body can keep


achieved the qualifying standard for Beijing, but only two could compete, and Samantha feels time is on her side: “You tend to hit your peak at 25, but running and shooting is towards the late 20s. “Fencing and shooting


Four British women


j -affairs to Sculpher and Dave Burgess until the season’s culmination. And the former Blues


defender admitted that he’d be delighted to play a role at the Ribble Valley club once a permanent appointment is made. “I’m delighted I’m here until the end of the season.,” said Sculpher.


“There’s nothing


more than I’d like to do than be a manager.


they appoint in the future. If they want me to become assistant or remain at the club in some capacity then that offer’s there. We. will


discussions with Anne Barker about it but unfortuhately I can’t dedicate the time to it. I’d love to do it as everyone knows I love the club. That’s no secret.” He added: “Whoever


“I ’ve had fu r th e r


DESPITE dampening down talk of filling the managerial vacancy at Shawbridgc; interim Blues boss Lee Sculpher has admitted that he’d love to remain at the club in some capacity. T h e c lu b h a s


just have to see who gets the job.”


. danger zone.- “We are delighted


his re p u ta t io n and popularity no harm after, alongside Lancashire FA chief executive Burgess, guiding the Blues to successive victories. The p air followed up a I-O victory away at Salford City with a 2-0 triumph over Warrington Town on hoihe soil on Saturday, with an Oliver Devenney double helping to propel the Blues away from the


S c u l p h e r d i d


with the win and I thought the perfonnance merited it as well,” Sculpher said. “I t’s down to the players. We’ve given


added: “I think i t ’s lifted confidence and morale. They all seem


really cheerful and bright and they’ve taken that in to the game. We were playing a side that had lost once since


Christmas. That shows how well we played to get the result. It shows the ability of the players


and shows they are capable.”


are an absolute bonus. We’ve been really well organised and defended well as a unit. Everyone has done stuck to their task and worked hard. The temporary boss


looking all rosy in the garden. “The two clean sheets


the instructions and they’ve taken everything on board and done everything we’ve asked. In tliat respect, i t ’s


points from the First Division North relegation zone with 34 points.


The Blues are now nine


dissimilar posifion to us in the league table,” he said.


“I ’m confident that we can go there and get a result


make sure. While it’s still mathematically possible we’ve still got to go out there and get the points.


I ’m targeting the 40-point mark. We want to win games and make sure.” -----_______ ■ See Page 53 for a full match report


“There’s six games left so


80p ISSN 1355-3658 977135536547223


especially considering our last hvo results. We want to keep this mini revival going and stay unbeaten for as long as we can. Historically it’s a difficult place to go and'l don’t expect it to be any different this weekend. We believe in ourselves now though.” He added: “WeVe got to


resting on his laurels and is eager to hit the 40-point mark as soon as possible, starting with a trip to 19th place Prescot Cables on Saturday. “They are in a not too


But Sculpher won’t be .X ’


Micky^s sights are % on Euro


title tilt Page 54


\


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