Clitheroe too strong for PGH 4s

With the pitch in perfect condition and glorious weather to suit the crowds on the touchline the assembled throng were looking forward to some open exciting rugby, they were not disappointed. Taking the starting kick well Clitheroe pushed out of their own half and took the game to the visitors, however some sloppy play at the breakdown gave Preston possession. The forged back into the Clitheroe half with some dashing breaks and direct running. Scrambled defence kept them out but it highlighted early the potent threat the ‘Hoppers can be at any level. The game went from one end of to the other and the scoreline remained at 0 – 0.

After some good running from Graves and Edward Thornber the Hoppers defence slowed the ball down once too often for the referee’s liking and Peel stepped up to slot the penalty on offer and after 15 minutes the Maroon & Gold finally took the lead. The next ten minutes the battle remained very even with both visitors and hosts running some fine ball towards the whitewash without ever crossing it – notably Redfearn looked home and hosed only to be dragged down short. The break came from Rigby, who running off the shoulder of Peel at standoff took a crash ball on a great angle and suddenly found himself in acres of space behind the ‘Hoppers defence, however the 35 metres to the try line looked a long way for the old stager – but he managed to scramble in, evading come last gasp cover talking on the way and Peel took the conversion well to move the score to 10 – 0 to the Clitheroe squad. This seemed to have Preston on the ropes temporarily as next Peel himself shimmied in after some good ball from the scrum was passed out from slick wristed scrum half Watson to the standoff who ducked and swerved in his usual irrepressible fashion and then converted his own score to move it on to 17 – 0.

From the re-start there was knock-on which gave the ‘Hoppers the advantage and from the resulting ruck they won a penalty which they duly took to claw 3 points back. This seemed to give Hoppers renewed vigour and they pressured the Clitheroe line, but the excellent defence of Cowgill, Redfearn, Rigby and Sam Thornber kept the visitors out. Then as the Maroon & Gold pushed into the “strike zone” they won a scrum just inside the 22 area – in a well rehearsed and executed move from the base of the attacking scrum the ball moved as if it knew the move too and passed through 3 sets of hands before Peel touched down. The score moved on to 22 – 3 and the Maroon & Gold had effectively ended the match as a contest. However, any ‘Hoppers team is never going to lie down and they continued to hammer away at Clitheroe.

By now Chamberlain and Gretton had joined the fray in place of the rampaging Ed Thornber who had picked up a neck injury and rapid Redfearn who was suffering with a thigh strain. Clitheroe were sensing more points would be on offer and continued to pound the ‘Hoppers 22 metre area. Some great interlinking play from forwards and backs saw the forwards crashing the ball directly into the opposition – notably Andrew Thornber, Edmondson and Smith – and the backline slotting in to inject some pace at vital moments with Bartle, Waddington and Gretton all seeing the gaps and breaking the gain line. It looked like a fairytale end to the match as Railton – having his last game before a 5 month world tour – lined up under a high kick and dashed off in style but he was dragged down short of the line. No more scores for either team saw the score line remain 22 – 3 in favour of the Maroon & Gold at the final whistle.

It was an excellent performance from a strong squad and they can move on to meeting Vale of Lune next Saturday away.