Burnley Double Done

Clitheroe Cavaliers played their first game since before Christmas due to the recent freezing conditions against local rivals Burnley 3rds. These local derbies are always tough encounters and this game was no exception.
Burnley came to Littlemoor looking for revenge after a defeat v Clitheroe earlier in the season. The team they brought reflected this and showed an early intent with their pacy back row who were being used to good effect.
It took Clitheroe some time to settle into their game plan, Veteran Ralph Rigby setting the tempo with some mazy runs into enemy territory.
The Clitheroe back line began to come alive and centre partnership Keough and Fairhurst began to make great inroads into the Burnley half; from one of these forays Ralph Rigby linked up well for a man of his tender years and managed to dart between the defenders to score under the posts. An easy kick for Bill Thatcher to make it 7 nil.
From the retake the Cavaliers then managed to set up a strong maul which was driven deep into the Burnley 22 and would have continued if Bill Thatcher hadn't used his elbow in retaliation for some opposition niggle. The referee was well placed to see this indiscretion and handed out a yellow card and 10 minutes behind the posts for the no.8.
Clitheroe then had to work extremely hard to keep Burnley at bay as they sniffed blood and were looking to take advantage of their overlap. To the home teams credit they managed to keep them out of scoring range and went into the half time break still in the lead.
The second half saw an extemely positive period of play from the home team; Steve Matthews a young buck of the future showed his metal with some hard drives up the park. This set up the flatform for a penalty which Jim Moody was able to take. Clitheroe forwards then continued to dominate proceedings and scrum half Ben Rigby[pictured in action above], Ralphs name sake only, managed to skirt over the line for the home teams final score. At this point they should have scored more but Burnley got a new lease of life and played the rest of the game in Clitheroe territory managing to score two unconverted tries. At times the home side looked like they had capitulated however they held out manfully to thwart the final score and a tough game was won.
The Captain Windy Rawstron was extemely proud of his teams defensive performance which keeps them at the right end of the league table. He hopes that this is the start of a successful 2010 season finale.

by SR.

Meanwhile,[pic below] the Club Captain finds his true vocation at last - water boy!