Clitheroe 1st XV
Matches
Sat 23 Oct 2010  ·  Division 2 North
Vale of Lune 3
11
20
CLITHEROE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB
Clitheroe 1st XV
Penalties: M Lafranceschina (5)
The return to Vale is a good one this year

The return to Vale is a good one this year

Bob Wilkinson25 Oct 2010 - 19:23
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Clitheroe wreak revenge for last year's disappointing loss at Vale.

Clitheroe 1st XV travelled to Lancaster to face a Vale of Lune side who were sitting 3rd in the league and as ever with this fixture, negotiating the notorious Lancaster one way system proved the first hurdle. With a limited warm-up routine and with Vale making their usual vigorous start it was Vale who crossed the white wash first within 5 minutes of the start. The conversion was missed, but while it was taken the team was told by the Skipper it was a typical start to a Vale match and it was time to knuckle down and work hard.

The team responded fantastically and progressed back up the pitch to grind their way into the Vale half, with Ed Thornber and Ralph Rigby pounding the ball up the middle with able assistance from Graves and Andrew Thornber. Eventually the pressure told and Vale transgressed at the breakdown – Cowgill showing his usual quick thinking to take the quick tap and invite a tackle before the Vale pack had retreated the full 10 metres meaning the referee marched the Vale team back a further 10 metres and bringing the kick well within range of Lafranceschina who duly slotted the kick to bring the score back to 5 – 3 to the hosts. It was not long before the Maroon & Gold pressure meant Vale could not deal with the attack and again they transgressed, up strutted Lafranceschina to put Clitheroe in the lead 5 – 6. With half time beckoning, Clitheroe were looking pleased with their half period of work – but the mighty Maroon & Gold were not finished yet! Again the Vale forwards committed the penalty and again Lafranceschina swaggered up to slot the kick, 5 – 9. Vale had some good pressure from the re-start but after mauling the ball 15 yards up the pitch, Clitheroe gained possession after good work in the dark art of mauling from Chamberlain and Rigby, and promptly were caught offside. Quick thinking Ben Rigby playing at scrum half for the first time this season took a quick tap and spun the ball the Watson who saw the opportunity like a hawk seeing a mouse in the long grass and delivered the ball to Curphey who smashed his way up the pitch to gain good ground – the ball was recycled by the hard working back row duo of Cowgill and Rigby with the added power of 2nd rows Chamberlain & Ed Thornber. Lafranceschina was in on the act by now and after a trademark run, chipped the ball over the Vale backline, Hough –making is 1st XV debut for the season – charged up the pitch and touched down. The conversion was missed in the crosswind but Clitheroe went into the break 5 – 14 up.

After the break Vale came back hard at Clitheroe and the match was starting to turn a little feisty at times – while the Maroon & Gold never go looking for trouble, they are more than capable of looking after themselves when it comes looking for them. While Vale were in the Clitheroe half the hardworking Jim Smith was putting in some bone crunching tackles, along with Holmes who was now on the pitch for Graves. Vale got a penalty and they took the points to drag themselves back into striking range at 8 – 14 but they undid all their good work by giving another 3 points to the metronomic boot of Lafranceschina, 8 – 17. Another penalty went the way of Vale and the scoreboard moved to 11 – 17 and again Vale were within a converted try of taking the lead. With 20 minutes to go the feistiness of the match began to bubble over again, with 10 minutes to go - Chamberlain and one of the Vale forwards were send for an early bath after letting their feelings get the better of them.

With the clock now ticking down the mighty pressure from the Clitheroe forwards and backline – Redfearn, now on for the industrious Gretton, having some darting, eye-catching runs with Waddington and the likes of Holmes and Andrew Thornber up front not being backward in coming forward – meant it was only a matter of time before Vale transgressed again and Lafranceschina slotted his hardest kick of the day to give the Maroon & Gold an unassailable lead with 2 minutes to and the game was effectively won.

It was a case of good performances all round from the squad which led to victory, but Ed Thornber just edged the Man of Match award for his aggressive driving play up front. Next week Clitheroe entertain Wigan at Littlemoor with a 3pm kick-off.

Match details

Match date

Sat 23 Oct 2010

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Division 2 North
Team overview
Further reading

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