Clitheroe 1st XV
Matches
Sat 08 Jan 2011  ·  Division 2 North
CLITHEROE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB
Clitheroe 1st XV
Tries: S Coulter, M Lafranceschina (2), D Smith (2)Conversions: M Lafranceschina (4)
33
10
Tyldesley 2
Clitheroe pile on the points in the 2nd half

Clitheroe pile on the points in the 2nd half

Bob Wilkinson12 Apr 2011 - 13:23
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The first game of 2011 at Littlemoor for Clitheroe 1sts

The first game of 2011 at Littlemoor was the 1st XV entertaining Tyldesley, earlier in the season Clitheroe gifted the game to their opponents with some sloppy handling so the Maroon & Gold were looking to avenge that defeat. The team had a familiar look but with Jim Smith failing a late fitness test, Ric Edmondson moved from 2nd row into the tight head position and Curphey made a welcome return to the 2nd row. The start could not have gone better, Clitheroe kicked and as Tyldesley looked to clear their lines from deep in the 22 metre area Ralph Rigby sniffed out the ball and charged the kick down, bursting up from the centres came Bartle and Waddington like a pair of piranhas who had scented blood – with the latter deftly scooping up the ball and popping to Bartle who was hauled down under the posts. The tackler failed to roll away and from the penalty scrum half Smudge Smith spun it down the line to Coulter who scored a great wingers try and with only 2 minutes of the game gone, Clitheroe led 5 – 0.

Tyldesley were keen to make amends and it must have been déjà vu for them as the fed on Clitheroe mistakes and attacked the Clitheroe line relentlessly for the next 15 minutes. A penalty taken quickly saw them recycle the ball quickly to score in the corner and put the scores all square at 5 apiece. Again it was Tyldesley coming back into the game who proved the more determined at this stage with a rolling maul which should have been dealt with long before it trundled 40 yards up the pitch to score, as half time went the visitors we leading 5 – 10.

In years gone by Clitheroe would have submitted if losing at half time, but a concise team talk helped focus the minds of the squad and the Maroon & Gold finally got rid of the cobwebs of not playing for 4 weeks and ploughed into their opposition. The forwards winning quick ball again and again through the hard work of the like of Edmondson, Atkinson, and the Thornber brothers Andrew and Mick – backed up by the bullocking runs of Curphey, Cowgill and Ralph Rigby, Tyldesley were on the back foot nearly continuously in the opening minutes of the second half. Good pressure led to a penalty chance which was missed but from the re-start Waddington smashed the ball back up the pitch, with Simon Cowgill in strong support as usual to take the ball on again and from the Lafranceschina broke through to score in typical style, conversion taken it put Clitheroe into the lead for the first time since the 2nd minute.

Again the forwards dominated, Atkinson crashed onto a driving ball just inside the Tyldesley 22 metre area and made good yards to set up the ruck within easy range of the line, scrum half Smudge Smith having a great game saw his chance and darted over to score, again converted the Maroon & Gold took a 19 – 10 lead. Tyldesley came back from the re-start and started applying pressure into the Clitheroe 22, Watson and Bartle as cool as ever in dealing with the attacking visitors with strong tackling and holding the play up to allow their forwards to arrive. As the ball spilled out of the back of a ruck the bizarre sight of a Ralph Rigby kick had all in awe apart from the quick acting Lafranceschina who followed the kick up to snaffle the ball and run 50 metres to score and convert too, the scoreboard moved on to 26 – 10.
By now Waddington was showing the affects of a flu type bug and a hard game and came off for the speedy Redfearn who swapped with Ben Rigby on the wing who moved to fullback and put in another assured performance, while Andrew Thornber made way for Penny at hooker. Making his mark straight away Penny picked up from the back of a ruck and made good yards, but for the second time in a week he was unceremoniously dumped, but did manage to work the ball back to retain possession. Tyldesley were sporadically attacking into Clitheroe territory, but without really threatening the line and the final score came from a scrum in on the Clitheroe 22 metre line, McEntyre picked and went blind and managed to evaded a couple of tackles then passed to Smudge Smith who scooted 60 metres down the middle of the park to score under the posts with a fantastic run, a fitting end which clinched the Man of the Match award for him.

The final score was 33 – 10 and after a slightly rusty start in the first half the Maroon & Gold turned in a great all round squad performance and scored 28 un-answered points in the second which should be enough to hit top gear in time for the tough clash away at Pendle next week, while the 2nd XV also travel over the hill to play Burnley 3rd XV.

Match details

Match date

Sat 08 Jan 2011

Kickoff

14:15

Competition

Division 2 North
Team overview
Further reading

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