Clitheroe’s ambition of moving up the mid table congestion area took a bit of a dent on Saturday at a muddy Orrell.
In a curates egg of a game the performance was fairly underwhelming; coming from behind to get level and let it slip again.
There can be little complaint in the result and although the scoreline may have flattered the home side, the maroons saved their flattest showing of the season for this day.

A largely settled squad with only a few enforced changes saw Owen Panton come into the front row and senior debutant Gil Stanton was drafted onto the bench at the eleventh hour.

Arriving at the ground it was clear why the previous scheduled game had been postponed as the home officials indicated which was the ‘deep end’. Just like the good old days the older spectators concurred.

Playing down a slight slope in the first half, Clitheroe had a positively sloth-like 30 minutes. By this time Orrell had scored three tries and were 21-0 up.
Although have by far the better of the scrummage exchanges, Clitheroe’s line out was flaky and any attacks were snuffed out by the strong Orrell defence.

But eventually Clitheroe worked themselves into the game and a good break down the right flank put Jack Stanly away to score under the sticks. Stanno senior delighted among the spectators. Nathon Burns converted to give the maroons a glimmer of hope at the turn round (21-7)

Into the second period and the pitch getting heavier by the minute. But Clitheroe upped their game at last. An Orrell scrum on their 22 saw the Maroon pack shove them off their own ball, Roberts made ground off the back off the scrum and from the breakdown good hands put Will Tattersall through a gap to score. Burns converted and suddenly confidence was up. (21-14).

By this time Sam White and Joe Wilkinson had both limped off injured but it was good to see Rick Griffiths make a welcome return and new man Gil Stanton take the field.

Attacking from deep Clitheroe made steady progress up the field, some great ball retention going through the phases. A ruck 20 metres out saw Roberts again make good ground and in a half tackle fed the supporting Oscar Duck to pile over. Burns again on target and suddenly all the momentum was with Clitheroe (21-21) with 15 minutes to go.

But failure to clear a speculative kick cost Clitheroe dear. In a scramble on the line Orrell regained the lead. (26-21).

With time running down Clitheroe continued to attack strongly but an interception in midfield saw Orrell race away to clinch the game. The player was probably two yards offside but it went undetected and was really academic in the final outcome.
The game was lost in the first half hour, and no team can gift a team three tries and expect a good outcome. On the plus side the scrums were strong and there was some decent handling in tricky conditions. Stanton on debut didn’t look out of place and could be an asset with continued game time.

One to take on the chin and improve from. Still plenty of rugby left this season. An away trip to Old Bedians this Saturday is a cathartic opportunity to fix things.