Better than last time but still no good enough

Thornton Cleveleys returned to Littlemoor no doubt with thoughts of their substantial win here at the beginning of the season. Clitheroe fielded a team that was somewhat stronger than the one that took to the field that day and despite the loss of Thornber and Williams Jnr and Snr being called up to the 1sts and Thornton's elevated league position, they looked forward to following up the excellent home win against Fleetwood with another win.

With the wind blowing the rain towards the horizontal it was always going to be a tricky day for handling but Thornton managed to run the ball well from deep and despite scoring only 2 tries in the first half they managed to pull away with relative ease in the second half to score a total of 6 tries. It wasn't all one-way traffic though with Clitheroe showing some skilful midfield interplay, orchestrated by Watson and Fielding and some excellent robust defence with Harper, Newton and Thatcher to the fore in this regard. Scrum half Brown also played well and is quickly learning the trade at the base of the scrum. Having these experienced players around him no doubt helps.

The main opportunities for Clitheroe to get onto the scoreboard were from penalties but both were difficult in terms of angle and distance and were pushed wide. Overall, the score might suggest a walkover but Clitheroe played with pride and determination right through to the end and this was even after losing both Thatcher and Wood to injury, leaving them with no subs to play with.

Next weeks sees both teams at home, with both games kicking off at 14:15. The 2nds entertain BAe Warton, who lie 4th in the league and it should be an entertaining contest considering how the games went last year.