Two on the Trot for Maroons

Clitheroe eventually secured a home win and a bonus point in a five try to one victory over Salford based side Broughton.
It took some doing though. Only 17-7 ahead at the interval it took all of the second half to break down a stubborn Broughton defence and score a further three unanswered tries.

A few years back a fixture with Broughton would have been a rather tense affair with plenty of incidents to keep the referee occupied and looking over his shoulder.
Broughton had dropped out of the RFU National league set-up for a few seasons, and having undergone some rebuilding, re-entered for this term. They contain a few old heads to give experience as well as a good scattering of keen younger lads who want to concentrate on the rugby first and foremost.

The home side, still in good spirits after their last successful outing had trained well mid week under the watchful eye of guest coach, Fylde and Lancashire front rower Alex Loney, and looked well set for the contest.

So much so that with the first few minutes evergreen back row man Andrew Rigby had broken clear down the left wing and faced with a two on one with the only the full back to beat, cheekily dummied the defender to score the opener. Greg Birch converted from in front of the posts.

However far from becoming a procession that the home crowd were expecting, Broughton came back strongly and laid siege to the Clitheroe line for some time. Eventually the pressure told and the visitors levelled the scores with a try under the sticks.

The Littlemoor outfit took some time generate a head of steam. But whenever they gained some field position in the visitors half they looked dangerous and likely to score.
However Broughton were efficient at slowing the ruck ball down and conversely Clitheroe were just not clinical enough at times. All this meant scrappy ball for the backs who looked likely to score if they could be given the ball in the right areas and at the right time. Simple really.

Fortune prevailed and after keeping possession for a period centre Chris Waddington cut a fine angle to power through for the try to regain the lead. Birch on hand with the extras again.

A handy enough lead at the interval for the locals. Even so they realised that there was an immense amount still to do and they needed to start brightly to secure the result.

Almost on cue Clitheroe looked a better side. And with some more efficient clean outs at ruck time made big yardages into the visitors half.

Loose forward Sam Thornber was next to benefit. After the defensive line was stretched the big blonde hunk reached out a long arm to dot down over the whitewash. Birch maintained his success rate with the extras.

By now Clitheroe were in fairly good control of the game but credit to Broughton who made life difficult right up to the final whistle.

Midway through the second half Waddington scored his second and his best chum Birch again made it a 100% success rate with his kicks.

Right on the final whistle, replacement Jacob Shorrock, who'd only been on twenty minutes, barged over for and excellent cameo try.

A pleasing second win on the bounce for the town team. But much more to come from this still developing group of players.

A tough encounter on the cards this Saturday when the team travel to old friends and rivals Carnforth RUFC