Score Draw in the Mud

As the winds blew and rains poured many amateur Saturday sportsmen were looking to the refuge of the a cancellation and an afternoon in the Clubhouse or Christmas shopping, not at Littlemoor where even as the weather threw its worse at Clitheroe the Maroon & Gold prepared to entertain local rivals Pendle in what is usually a tense, but enjoyable, derby match – which in recent years Pendle have very much had the upper hand in the recent encounters.
As the whistle went the hail began to slam down like ball bearings on players and the hardy Littlemoor faithful and Pendle soon were pressing the Littlemoor line. A 5 metre scrum was conceded as Clitheroe scrambled their defence, as the home team pack skated backwards in the mud, it was Chamberlain who dropped on the ball from the second row to ground the ball, the referee saw a different view and awarded a try to Pendle 3 minutes in, Pendle 5 points up – this match looked like going the way of recent encounters. However, Clitheroe rallied and looked to be more in control as the half wore on into the mud and rain. As they pressed Pendle transgressed and conceded a kickable penalty which Declan Fitzhenry took to take the score to 3 – 5.
Pendle were next in ascendancy with a score near the posts which they converted to move into a 3 – 12 lead, Clitheroe again found themselves looking at difficult conditions and a fired up set of visitors moving into a decent lead. However the men in Maroon & Gold were as gritty and as cool as the weather as the slowly clawed their way back into the match and the clock ticked down to the end of the first half. Two penalties later the half time whistle went with the scores Clitheroe 9 to Pendle 12.
The second half started much as the first half with the inclement weather doing its best to chill the bones of all assembled at Littlemoor. Luckily the Clitheroe players appear immune to the harsh conditions and started their best period of the match. Looking more and more progressive as the centre pairing of Bartle and Peel looked to drive the ball hard into contact, with forwards Chamberlain, Rigby and Dixon working hard to provide quick second phase ball the back 3 of Fitzhenry, Waterworth and Waddington all looked threatening at times going forward. Pendle defended manfully, but the Maroon & Gold were surging into their half and the ball spun out down the line to Fitzhenry who seeing two forwards to his outside placed a perfect chip over the top – skipper McEntyre went into pursuit and slide over the line with the ball only for the referee to be unsighted but he did award a penalty which the sharp thinking Smudge Smith took quickly and again the ball spun rapidly down the line and after another breakdown where Holmes and Thornber snaffled the ball back once more, then through 4 sets of hands, including the Peter Pan like Watson who was controlling the game at 10, it was Waddington who slipped in through the mud to score and for the first time in the game Clitheroe were in front 14 -12.
Pendle were never going to lie down at this stage and as the match squelched into the final 15 minutes. A move out wide form a breakdown in the 22 metre area saw them ground the ball in the far corner to creep 3 points in front. Again, the grit of the Clitheroe team began to show – with changes happening all over the park, Ralph Rigby went limp and was replaced by Edmondson, while the three Ws of Watson, Waterworth and Waddington were replaced Railton, Fielding and Beery. The new sets of legs on the park seemed to hand the edge back to Clitheroe who finished the match strongly, pressing the Pendle 22 metre area hard looking for a score – eventually Pendle were tempted in to a penalty from the pressure, being judged offside in the centres and with a temperament to match the conditions it was ice-cool Fitzhenry who slotted the 3 points to bring the scores to 17 – 17.
Pendle rallied as Clitheroe too looked to win the game with a deciding score in the final seconds, but the whistle went and the teams shared the points. Both teams felt they had done enough to win and Clitheroe in particular we both elated at the draw from a team that has proved their nemesis in recent years, yet also that feeling of what might have been.
Next week Clitheroe face another tough match at Littlemoor against the league leaders Manchester Medics in their penultimate game of 2011.

by O.McE