Clitheroe bounced back from a poor showing on their last outing in the best possible fashion with an excellent win against close league table rivals.
A first half full of grit and concentration in defence turned into a more open second , when two tries sealed the 'W' and in so doing leap frogged the visitors in ADM Division 1 into 6th place.
The early spring weather brought the spectators out and they were treated to an exciting game of rugby. Clitheroe kept faith in their younger charges with Ollie Barraclough and Jasper Smith retained at full back and wing respectively, plus Rory Campbell was waiting in the wings on the bench poised to come on to make an impact. James Cathcart and Oscar Duck returned from an 18-30 holiday and Will Tattersall moved to probably his most effective position of inside centre.
Up front Ben Wheale moved from last week in the centres to this week in the second row, likewise Nick Roberts - normally an outside back - this week a flanker.
One just couldn't see that happening at Harlequins somehow.
So a firm, almost hard, pitch and the sun beating down; there was some trepidation from the touchline sages on the outcome. Would it be like the French in Paris with the sun on their backs; Blanco Sella, Lafond etc ?? Well almost. For Pierre Berbizier read our own petit general Nathon Burns - having one of his best games in maroon & gold. Plus for Franck Mesnel then look no further than Matt Bleasdale, who again had one of his most assured outings of recent weeks.
The first half was one of obdurate defence and a large, almost worrying, number of penalties conceded. On another day some cards may have been shown , but although stuck in their own half for most of the time and indeed on their own line for long periods, they managed to repel the attacks time and again.
After a long session under the cosh they did ship one score, but struck back with a Burns penalty to put them behind 3-5 at the interval. After all that pressure and still be in touch you could sense the confidence swelling.
A second Burns penalty early in the second half gave Clitheroe the lead and from there they didn't look back.
On the hour mark Clitheroe were attacking with confidence; Bleasdale ghosted through an invisible gap and had 30 metres to go. But with girly screams of encouragement from certain sections of the crowd, he stretched his legs and was round under the posts for a fine try.
Burns converted and suddenly it was 13-5 to the Littlemoor men.
Marple hit back with a penalty but this did not derail the Maroons. By now the scrum was getting on top, even though the line out remained a lottery. Prop forwards Adam Wood and Tom Walton had strong games carrying the ball up into heavy traffic, and Pete Mitchell - who likes to tell everyone how unfit and can't wait to be substituted - was gambolling around the pitch like a small baby rhino. Sam Barr in the second row was solid throughout and did a lot of unseen chores - the only question is how he gets those ultra skin tight jeans on/off - perhaps answers for another day., after the watershed.
The back row had a good day , Joe Aspin playing on the offside line like a good No 7, putting pressure on the opposition, along with Roberts who was reveling in his new role. Captain Dickinson had a good game and secured a few vital turnovers as well as some powerful surges from the base of the scrum.
Scrum half Burns , not forgetting in his first season [ever] of rugby, was in the thick of it and with his service improving was able to set the backs away on the front foot.
It was himself on the score sheet later; the forwards put pressure on and turned the ball over and from a ruck near the posts Burns muscled over for a typical scrum half try. He converted it himself to wrap up the scoring for the town team.
All in all a satisfying performance for Clitheroe, but the trick, as ever, is repeating it on a consistent basis , week in, week out.
So maybe not like Les Blues of the old days of Five Nations rugby but it's worth dreaming about.
Next week it's a road trip to Didsbury, with Old Bedians RFC the destination.