K I CLITHER0EADVERT1SER&TIMES www.clitheroeadv8rtiser.co.uk Thursday,December!!,2014 Thursday, December 11,2014 www.clittieroeadvertiser.co.uk SPORT BLUES’ CUP JOY * & > - T f i . ,


Heroic CUtheroe earn a place in Trophy semis


Gonzales and Ralph strike early to see off Barpber Bridge in the pouring rain BamberBridge.. Clitheroe.;.........,


rain.'


Two stunning strikes inside the first three minutes was enough to see Clitherdeinto theLancashire FA Challenge


:Trbphysemi-finals6nTues-j day nightiS. : : : •••••• 5


The Blues went to the Sir Tom Finney Stadium with


; only u senior players, with the bench made up ofyouth


© players. But stunning strikes


!trf back five minutes from time when Matt Lawlor headed home a free kick from former Preston, Not­ tingham Forest and Hull City midfielder Paul McK-


• . enna, the Blues hung on for . our lives and can now look


forward to Monday’s draw, as they joined Conference


North high-fliers Chorley, and Holker Old Boys and


. Atherton Collieries of the North West Counties First


lfAl Division, in the last four. . Withinaminute,Gonzal­


es stunned the hosts with a bolt from the bluej and two


minutes later Ralph made it a 2-0 with another unbeliev-


® ablestrikefrom25yards. . Darren Green volleyed


well over for Brig on 17 min­ utes, and Clitheroe contin­ ued to frustrate the home side, giving them no room down the flanks and com­ peting well in the pouring


from Sefton Gonzales and Alex Ralph set Simon Gar­ ner’s side on their way, and although Brig pulled one


- .


' Just before the break, V;' Green, McKenna and Mat-


V._ ty Kay exchanged passes,- ^ playing Alistair Waddecar." I


-•, through, but he fired tame: •; • : ly at Andrew Dawber, as the % ?


;; -Blues went in two goals to'; ^ . the good.


. ' .• Brig started the secondl y half in determined niood,; i with Dawber put under in- v creased pressure, and just 1 after the hour mark, he beat away a volley from Kay. • Shortly after the hosts


introduced top scorer Andy Bell, as their search fo r a wav


backinto the tie intensified-


. But, after soaking up' pressure from Brig. Clithe­


roe almost added the killer third goal, as Ralph had a shot cleared off the line. . With five minutes re- ■ '


maining, Brig halved the deficit through Lawlor’s header, and moments later


Dawber came to the rescue, : blocking Matthew Ma­


honey’s drilled effort on the line.


In the third minute of


added time, Glenn Steel’s header was comfortably held by Dawber, as Clit- ; heroe held on to reach the semi-fipals. The Blues now await


their opponents in Mon­ day’s draw, having finally beaten BamberBridge at the third attempt this season,


after two league defeats. Clitheroe celebrate Alex Ralph’s goal at Bamber Bridge


Reigning champions are back on top of table There was an amazing finish


to the game involving champi-


onsWaddingtonRedandnew- comersthe AllBlacks in the Dorothy Southworth Indoor


bowling league at Roefield Lei­ sure Edisford Clitheroe.


Reigning champions Wad- dington Reds, who again top of the league in the second season of this new venture,


earnedthenarrowestofvicto-


ries over rivals the All Blacks. On mat one, the Reds’ Jim


Tierney, Wendy Rome and Bill


RomejustgotthebetterofHa- rold Rigg, Jeff Cowling and Pe­ ter Cunliffe 17-15, but mat two


provided an even closer finish where the All Blacks’ trio of Edward Houghton, John Crop­ per and Clive Bater squeaked


. home by a single shot at 14-13! Waddingtontooktheextra


two points for a 30-29 aggre­ gate and won the tie 4-2. In other games, the Wan­ derers continued their recent


revival with a convincing win over Clitheroe Blue, while Sabden produced an excel­ lent performance to over- .come newcomers the Tigers,


■ winning on both mats for an impressive 6-0 points victory. ■ There were also maximum


' wins for Read, Waddington Blue and the All Blacks against Longridge, the French Con­ nection and Clitheroe White respectively, with Hurst Green beating the French Connection 4-2.


Seven up for Dog Inn at Memorial Park


BuryRUFC......... ........;...15 Clitheroe RUFC............ .14 A nail biting finish to a hard; fought match for the town team at second placed Bury ' ended in disappointment. With the score at 15-14 to


the hosts, the final kick of the game saw a touchline conver-


© sion attempt from the skipper Nathan Peel sailed agonising- ■ '


lywide. Clitheroe w.ent to Bury


stretched by injuries, but


. ^ there was a first start for . bulky prop Ben Graves after


nearly two seasons out, and a


recall for Rick Slinger on the flank. - The first quarter was fairly,


even with both sides trading' penalties.AlthoughClitheroe seemed to manage to get on' the wrong side of the referee on too many occasions, and the penalty count mounted . up alarmingly against the’ Maroons. -


Abitofbackchatgavethe • home team easy possession


and directly from it scored a try to take the lead.


Just before the interval,


Bury pounded hard on the Clitheroe line. After, hold­ ing out from a series of close range penalties, scrums and line outs, the referee blewfor


half time with the Maroon on­ ly three points adrift. , Unfortunately Bury had * other ideas and were soon


.driving at the Clitheroe line. After a series of raids un­


der the shadow of the posts, Clitheroe tested the referee’s


patience once too often and a penalty try ensued.


Dog Inn enjoyed a 7-0 win over Billingtonatawintry Memo­ rial Park on Sunday.


Clitheroe turned up, and


on came Dan Smith for Ri­ chard Few at scrum half and Andrew Thornber for Adam Penney at hooker. As the clock went against


Clitheroe, the ball was spun out wide and full back Chris Stewart used his.pace and power to crash.through to score with the final play! A one point reverse against one of the top teams in


thedivisionisnodisgraceand an excellent attitude should see some scalps ahead.


Chris Stewart (s).


JamesBarnes and SimonHol- gate gave Dog a two-goal ad­


vantage at half-time. The locals stepped things


up in the second half, with Holgate netting his second, and captain and man o f the match Nick Lord fired home a fourth from the penalty spot, before Aiden Thomas scored his first Dog goal. Jordy Tim­ mins lashed home a superb sixth, before an unfortunate own goal from Marsden. Dog are due to visit Church at King George’s on Sunday.


In the East Lancashire Table Tennis League, both Whalley Hakws and Eagles have it to dotowinpromotiontothe topflight.


Division One is a closely- fought division from top to bottom, although the'two front runners at the moment have the potential to stay there. These are Hyndburners,


greatly helped by a superb season so far by Duncan Rig­ by, second in the merits, and


Ramsbottom C, with their own emerging star in Tim Fields, fourth in the merits. Ramsbottom may fancy


theycangoaboveHyndburn- ers to top place as they are on-


lyi2pointsbehind them,but with a game in hand. Whalley Hawks and Whal- leyEaglesarethirdandfourth


' respectively, but may strug­ gle to threaten the top two this season. Sixth placed Old Masters


AandKSBA,inseventh, with two games in hand each, have


thepotentialto! .' Old Masters have the divi-


sion’sbest player tohelp them in Howard Whewell, and KSB A - worthy of mention as the only remaining unbeaten team in the division - have the ever consistent Trevor Elkington, fifth in the merits. KSB are fifth at present,


and with the likes of Daven Argile - third in the merits - have the capacity on any giv­ en night to go toe to toe with any team.


■ The bottom four who are fighting around the relegation


zone are Tackyfire, Mavericks, Hyndburn B and Whalley Kes- trals, though perhaps most worried should be Hyndburn


BandMavericks.withoutawin totheirnameat present. It’s the closest title race in


recent memory this year for the Premier Division. Unbeaten so far, and allow­


ing for games in hand and thus still in the challenge for the


honours', are K.Ward Plumb­


ing, Ramsbottom A, and B.L.C. Clarets, who, along with cur­


rent first placed East Lancs ists, with just the one loss, could all emerge on top by Christmas. With most of these teams involved in clashes before


then with each other, it is hard to call at this stage. K.Ward Plumbing will,


look to their sponsor and best player Keith Ward to aid their chances; Ramsbottom to Man- dyWinskill and Martin Wyatt, and B.L.C. Clarets to Keith Lee and Dave Kay. Brierfield, as a newly pro­


moted team, can be pleased with their start, with three 0


winsoutofsixandbeingcom- »


fortably mid-table, as can East Lancs 2nds, the other newly- *


promoted team, who though y second, are, in pro-rata terms,’


also well placed mid-table." Three teams without a win ’


and most likely in danger o f © relegation at the moment are Rovers, Hyndburn A and The Lions, but with Hyndburn have the likes of Mick Moir at hand


. tocomeandplayifneededfur-w ther on into thp spncnn • .


Ribble Valley trio Jack Stanley, Harvey Griffin and Elliot Norman had afantas- tic weekend atthe British Bjathlon 2014 Championships atthe TudorGrangeSports Centre, Solihull, Birmingham.


Jack claims gold from teammate Harvey, with Elliot in seventh &&&£&: m m


mm iM


Thei3 -year-oldsqualifiedfor the event at the North West Biathlon in October. ' • Jack, a Year 9 pupil at Clit-


heroeRoyal Grammar School and swimmer at Clitheroe Dolphins, was crowned Brit­ ish Biathlon Under 14 Boys’ champion, the event con­ sisting of a 100m swim and a 1600m run.


Jack swam the 100m in a


time of 1.00.20, which placed him second,, in a personal


best time of 5.11.85, followed by a great 1,600m run in an­ other PB of 5.11.85, again fin­


ishing second. The combined points score of 2,567 placed


Jack in first position and champion.


Jack was closely followed


by his Year 8 CRGS team­ mate Harvey Griffin, who was awarded silver in the event. . Harvey, who is also a Clit­


heroe Dolphins swimmer, ran a fantastic 1,600m race, sprinting to the finish in a personal best time 0f5.09.72. Harvey was ranked eighth


in the swim in a time of 1.01.98, which placed him in second with a combined total points score of 2,546. Elliot Norman, a Year 9 pupil at Ribblesdale High


_ m Pictured, from left, Elliot Norman, Karvey Griffin and Jack Stanley with their awards and medals (s).


School, and a member of Burnley Bobcats squad, also produced some personal be­ sts in the competition and was ranked in seventh posi­ tion in the freestyle swim in


a time of 1.01.91, and in 21st in the 1,600m run in a personal best time 0f5.37.31. Elliot’s combined points


score after the two events of 2,408 ranked him seventh out


ofthe36 competitors. The boys represented the


Ribble Valley Modern Pen­ tathlon Team, and they were crowned Team Champions with their combined scoresof 7,521 and were each awarded gold medals. Second place was awarded


to St Johns School with 7,207 points, and North Kent MPC in third position with 7,099


points. - This was an exception­


al performance by all three members of the team. Also competing at the Brit­


ish Biathlon Championships were Clitheroe Dolphins and CRGS pupils, Joseph Kenny (14) and Alasdair Moir (12); Burnley Bobcats swimmers Harry Pilkington (13) from St Christophers CE School and


Matthew Mackay (13) from Alder Grange Community School.


, ' Hannah Procter (13) from


CRGS, who swims with Clit­ heroe Dolphins and Burnley Bobcats, and Charlie Coy (14) from Ribblesdale High


' School, a Clitheroe Dolphins swimmer, qualified for the


• event but, due to iry'ury, did n n t .n nm n p tp


va t? s z m m 1 i f M l


SPOR.T ALL THE LATEST LOCAL SPORT Valiev trio shine at British B rim -. wm


Racepace looking ® forward to ^ busy period


Racepace, whose head coach RodgerWilkinshailsfrom - Clitheroe, have organised a Christmas half-marathon with a difference.


OnSaturday,December20th, ® you are invited tojoin the Lan-


. '■ cashire Trail Runners for a •. stunning half-marathon trail run, taking in Eiitwistle, Way-^ oh and Jumbles reservoirs t o * the north of Bolton.


: The run will be at a social pace, and suitable to anyone


who runs on a relatively regu­ lar basis, : ' . ; ^ ; Everyone will be in the


H it " - M 1


. Christmas spirit so please feel © free to dress accordingly! .. The Christmas Half-Mar­


athon 2014 is £10 per person. • Tobookyourplaceandre-


ceive all the relevant informa­ tion, please contact Rodger@ -j\ Racepace.co.uk


On Sunday, December 28th, all Racepace athletes


are heading to the Ribble Val­ ley 10k in Clitheroe. This race is well known for .


being one of the premier loks around, and being the North- *


ern Championships, it always attracts some big names - no­ tably AlistairBrowmleeturned up a couple of years ago, and narrowly lost out to interna­ tional runner Jonny Mellor. . Meanwhile, Racepace will^**


be leading an open and social New Year’s Day ride. Providing the weather, is


half decent, cyclists will meet _ at St Augustine’s R.C. High ® School at 10 a.m.


The route will last between _


two and three hours at an easy pace. There will be updates on


Facebook as to whether the . ride will be going ahead, so


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