Clitheroe put Carnforth to the sword

The Maroon & Gold’s league fixtures continued with a trip to old friends Carnforth, a club which has given the town team some great matches over the years, reflected in the camaraderie between the teams both during the game and afterwards. With the injury and absentee list getting shorter as players return, Skipper Ben Graves did at least have plenty of ammunition with which to travel. This included the return of Bartle in the centres and the inclusion of Birch on the wing for his 1st team debut.

In the opening exchanges there was an air of rustiness as both teams struggled to retain possession and little mistakes led to a stop-start opening quarter. It was Carnforth who shook off the cobwebs first with a powerful drive from the base of the scrum and a looping pass out to the centre who crashed over near the posts, conversion taken and Clitheroe were chasing the game. Within minutes a scrum in the Carnforth 22 saw the ball spun out by Smith at scrum-half to Watson at 10 who showed a delightful shimmy to swan dive over the line. Lafranceschina slotted the conversion and the game was all square. The forwards were looking like they were just on top and some continued drives saw the Maroon & Gold power into the Carnforth 22 once more, from behind the ruck Cowgill picked the ball and taking the direct route scored near the posts – just reward for his work rate. The conversion was missed but half time was approaching and Clitheroe were holding a lead of 7 – 12. Then a minor indiscretion proved costly for Carnforth, as sharp thinking scrum-half Dan Smith took a quick penalty and after breaking the line for Carins, watched the hefty prop run in a try from a distance most prop-forwards can only dream about – so much so it was hard to tell if it was a grin or a grimace as he walked back up the pitch. Conversion taken, it was Clitheroe who went into half time 7 – 19 up.

Never a side to lie down Carnforth came out attacking after the break, with some nice movement off the ball and their stand-off showing his usual deceptive speed. It was while they were attacking that Lafranceschina rushed up and intercepted a pass, put his head down and scored under the posts. A cruel reward for any attacking team, Lafranceschina converted his try and the score was beginning to get away from the home team at 7 – 26. Again Carnforth knuckled down to the hard yards, with just reward in the shape of a try in the corner for their pack, although the conversion was missed the score did wonders for their resolution to get back into the game. Within minutes Clitheroe were back threatening the Carnforth line, Cowgill making a darting run followed by a timely pass to Bartle who had the line at his mercy only to be felled by a lazy, rather than malicious, high arm with the end result a converted penalty for Clitheroe and a rather harsh 10 minutes in the sin bin for the Carnforth centre.

While Carnforth were missing a man in the centres, Clitheroe continued to attack and when a kick came over the back line Keough at full back sent a neat pass to Kino who broke well and flipped the ball to Bartle who was caught on the Carnforth 22. The move looked like grinding to halt when up glided the ever industrious Rigby, not a hair out of place despite the amount of ground he had made up, who took the pass and skipped in under the posts. Conversion added, the scoreboard moved on to 12 – 36. From the re-start Clitheroe’s discipline started to tatter and a succession of penalties saw the Carnforth pack edging up the park – whilst the Maroon & Golds were still lining up a Carnforth 2nd row dived over to make the score 17 – 36. With just a few minutes left Carnforth were looking to pile on the pressure, a minor indiscretion from Cowgill saw him sent to the sin bin although it had little affect to the outcome with Clitheroe winning 17 – 36.

There was much to like about this performance, notably the debut of Birch on the wing who tackled and hunted the ball all match with little personal reward but his great play gained yards and momentum for the team. The work rate of the backline as a whole was good and the streetwise work of the forwards was a joy to the trained eye – notably the diminutive hooker Adam who kept turning up like a bad penny to be a thorn in the side at the breakdowns.

Next week Clitheroe entertain Cumbrian side Hawcoat Park at Littlemoor – kick off 2:30. This will be followed by the England vs Australia game on the big screen from 6pm.