1sts Toil Hard for Victory

Clitheroe held court at Littlemoor to Crosby St Marys on a gloriously warm sunny spring Saturday, well, glorious for those gathered on the touchline and after rapid pace, full on, opening 15 minutes the players must have been wishing for a rain storm to cool them off. After a frenetic opening quarter the scores remained level with both teams pushing deep into scoring territory. For the home team a charging run by Atkinson saw him streak clear of the Crosby defensive lines only for Rigby to overrun what surely must have been the scoring pass. whilst Waddington and Railton were dynamic in the backline crashing ball up the pitch and making good yards.
However, the opening score came through the visitors who slammed over in the corner after bouncing through some tackles, 0 – 5 to the Merseyside team and Clitheroe had to dig deep to get a grip on the game. Again, slicing runs up the middle of the park were the direct answer as Hough and Chamberlain in the forwards took flight with the ball looking like a 5 point score was imminent at any time. Waddington took the ball at pace and headed into the Crosby half, the referee judged a high tackle and Fitzhenry took the 3 points on offer. It was now Crosby who were spurred into action as they crashed up the pitch from the re-start and from the pressure Clitheroe conceded a penalty – Crosby converted and restored their 5 point margin. As the heat of the day took a wilting grip on the players, errors started to creep in – final passes on both sides just would not go to hand and the exciting game rushed into one half then the other. Clitheroe mounted good pressure from a steal from Peel and as the forward charge was led by Graves and Edmondson the quick ball came – again it was simple “route one” stuff from the Maroon & Gold, straight up the middle. Another high tackle was given and again Fitzhenry slotted the 3 points on offer, 6 – 8to the visitors. The welcome break of half time began to beckon and Clitheroe ended the half in the ascendancy as the forwards pushed and probed their way towards the Crosby 22 metre area. As Crosby began to flood the defence to stem the effort, an offside transgression was punished and virtually on the stroke of half time Clitheroe pulled into a 1 point lead with Fitzhenry again dissecting the posts for 3 points – at the break it was Clitheroe 9 – Crosby 8.
The second half began with a renewed vigour as both teams benefited from the break, but it was Clitheroe who struck first in the scoring stakes and a fantastic move which saw backs and forwards interlinking with quick ball coming much better as Clitheroe looked to dominate the ruck area. From a line out a driving maul pumped the Maroon & Gold forwards deep up the pitch, Watson at scrum half unleashed the backline, Kino at full back burst through and made good yards while the bump and grind of the forwards again gave very quick ball, Watson to Fitzhenry and the result was a score under the posts – Fitzhenry converted his own try and the scoreboard moved on to 16 – 8. Given Clitheroe had begun to look menacing in attack, resolute in defence and overall seemed to be handling the hot conditions better, aided by their full bench of subs, many on the touchline thought the home team would now open up and put some margin of safety between themselves and the visitors, Crosby had other ideas! Up front, Hough and Edmondson who had run themselves to a virtual standstill were replaced by Dixon and Dowson and Penny was replaced by Holmes at hooker, while in the backline Waterworth gave way to James “David” Dickinson and Peel moved into the centres from the wing as Waddington went off for Birch. The fresh legs took a little time to gel and Crosby ground their way into the scoring zone, a shrill blast from the referee gave the visitors a shot a goal which they eagerly took and the gap narrowed to 5 points at 16 – 11.
However, as the half moved into the final 15 minutes, Clitheroe began to take control once more and retain more ball which frustrated the visitors in defence. Several penalty chances were just too far out to kick and Clitheroe looked to apply the killer 5 point score instead. It did not come and a jumpy last few minutes were played out in opposition territory. As the final whistle went, it was the Maroon & Gold who celebrated as worthy winners at 16 – 11.

by O.McE