Will on h i^ after landing Rovers


scholarship Page 61


MMA ace 11 Bisping I set for title


eliminator , Page 63


signs rli- Clitheroe 1, Mossley 1 - Sculpher sets


survival target by Dan Black


to the weekend just eight points clear of relegation-threatened opponents Wakefield.


Y —


■ more wins. And we want them as soon aspossible.” Carl Garner’s outfit failed to distance


the way that the season has'gone, but I think we should be okay with four


think that 40 points should be more than adequate,” said Sculpher. “That’s easier said than done with


FOUR more wins - that’s the target Blues assistant boss Lee Sculpher has set his ' players in their battle for survival. With one v^in in five, Clitheroe go in


the Ribble .Valley side sitting far more comfortably in the First Division North. “We’ve analysed the table and we


But victory at College Grove would see


' Into this fixture looking to arrest r e c e n t fo rm and get back to winning ways following back- to-back league defeats. However,


1 -h a r d - f o u g h t clash. T h e


themselves from the division’s stragglers withal-lstalemateathometoMossley. - The Blues benefitted from a Keil O’Brien own goal in the 18th minut,e but Nathan Neequaye


_' levelled proceedings with a second-half strike. “Conditions didn’t help either side at all,” Sculpher said. “It wasn’t the best game of football


points to move away from the teams lower down. But we look at that as a point gained, though the result against Mossley will be put in' to context after the weekend’s game against Wakefield. “We want a minimum of four points from the two


opening half-hour but we probably had the best three openings of the game but didn’t take them.” : He added: “Both sides were in need of the three


but all things considered we were relatively pleased withapoink ; “They created plenty of decent chances in the.


gamK. The positive is Mossley didn’t gain anything on us.” Wakefield beat Clitheroe on the opening game of the


• to get beat. We can’t even contemplate that. A draw probably ■ won’t be enough for us given the magnitude of the fixture. Nothing less than three points will do for us. “I don’t detect any pressure among the lads.: “Some of them have never experienced being in this situation


:


competitions, which includes eight consecutive league defeats. Sculpher said: “It’s a massive game for us and we can’t afford


season, but the Blues will hope to avenge that by compounding ■ their opponent’s miserly form. Ronnie Glavin’s men are on a 21-game winless run in all


Matthew Carr and the injured Ashley Parillon among those to give way. Former Clitheroe


C a l v e r t a n d debutant Duncan Watraore were drafted in, with


s tr ik e r vNathan ^ Taylor took his place on th e Mossley bench. The visitors


; stages w i th , ‘ C l i th e r o e g o a lk e e p e r ,


were on top in the opening


I ZachHibbert - making two vital saves


before five minutes” h a d : ; elapsed. He ■ saved-


first from Mark ; Haslam, who -


and it’s a learning curve for them. I believe they will all come out ofthis as a better group of players.


.“You always believe you’re going to get out of it. Carl and I will : do everytbing in our power to prevent us being dragged down.” /


ASSISTANT BOSS: Lee Sculpher


esv 4


^: at the keeper^' ' when handily' p la c e d in


Ajagbe, Ross Dent, Marcus


f rom la s t w e e k e n d ’s home defeat to Bamber Bridge. Damilola


four changes


f o r th e second time in just over a month, they had to isettle for a share of the spoils a f t e r a


B l u e s ’ s ta r t in g l in e - u p s p o r t e d


CLITHEROE and Mossley both came


, - in Clitheroe’s side before and proved a tricky customer for the home defence all afternoon, which is probably why he played for Huddersfield Town in the past.


.


and carved out a couple more presentable chances, but while they looked liyely in the final third, they did appear less assured at the back. T h e re was c e r ta in ly


Mossley continued to probe


en c o u rag em en t for -the Blues, and these defensive


vulnerabilities were h i^ li^ ted as Clitheroe took the lead in the 18th minute.


have done better on previous occasions, rifled into the roof of the net from the comer of the sbc-yardbox.


final half hour, despite there being plenty of endeavour from both sides, it largely petered out in terms of clear- ; cut chances.


As the game entered the


Jack Higgins and Chris Smalley both produced superb


could o n ly ; shoot straight ■


‘ the box, and i then fironi tall '


individual pieces of defending to keep the scores level. ; At the other end, Watmore continued to be a willing runner, shooting over after witming the


ball back well from the Mossley ■ defence. ;


. , r . ;, - There was good link'up play


9 771355 365472' The Clitheroe Advertiser and Tmies is published by East L^cashire


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of the, second half belonged to the Lilywhites, who-had already wasted a couple of half chances by the time Denton nodded a free-kick into the path of Nathan Neequaye on 56 minutes to level matters. Neequaye, who might


could perhaps justifiably feel aggrieved going in a goal down, but this was ah industrious half by the Blues, who com peted well and battled to keep their one-goal ■ advantage. The opening exchanges


some momentum, and Oliver Devenney had a couple of shots from outside the box which narrowly missed the target, and the new strike partnership of Calvert and Watmore, signed from Altrincham, looked promising. As half-time came, Mossley


on the right and whipped in a datigerous cross which Keil O’Brien inadvertently headed past Martin Pearson, the on-rushing Mossley keeper. The goal gave Clitheroe


Dent received the bail wide


striker Tom Denton, following a good through ball from the impressive Lee Rick. Denton has been a thorn


as he was the victim of a nasty bobble as he surged into the box looking for a goal to cap an


that particular record straight, build on the point gained in this game, and start putting some distance between themselvH~ and the cluster of teams hovering above the relegation places.


over the next fortnight with consecutive away games, s ta r t in g on Saturday at Wakefield, which has not been too happy a hunting ground in recent years. No better time then to set


80p ISSN 1355-3658 9771355365472


04 >


shaded the affair on chances, this was a hard-fought draw and probably a fair result Clitheroe hit the- road


Fearon found Roberts with a' quickly taken free-kick and his cross was flicked towards goal by Smalley, but without the necessary purchase to trouble the Mossley keeper. -Although the visitors possibly


impressive debut, while Roberts fired over. The final chance came.when


the 90-minute mark, Clitheroe carved out the last few half­ chances of the game. Watmore was unfortunate


sending off, if there was to be a winner then it was going to be the home side. As the clocked ticked past


minutes to go, Mossley left-back Ben Fallows received his marching orders following a second caution for a rather c ru d e ta ck le on Bobby Langford, who had come on to replace Davis. In the aftermath of the


also between Devenney and Joe Roberts, who had replaced Ajagbe just after half-time, a move which saw Matty Fearon revert to r i^ t full-back having started in im'dfield. With only a couple of


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