Hutton firing on fat too many cylinders

Skipper Ben Graves returned to lead his men in what would be tough encounter as the Maroon & Gold travelled to high flyers Hutton who play at the police HQ on the south west side of Preston. Their hosts have been beaten only once this season and are notoriously mean when it comes to conceding points.

With Hutton having a lofty reputation and some impressive performances already in the bag this season, it has to be said the team took to the pitch with a certain amount of trepidation. The whistle blew and battle commenced on a sticky if flat, fair pitch.

The opening exchanges were all Hutton and they drove the ball in time and time again in an attempt to soften the Clitheroe pack and break their will to compete. After 20 minutes and two Hutton scores (one converted) Clitheroe begin to get into gear and get right under the skins of the hosts. Some good open play by the forwards and crash ball running by the centres saw them move up the pitch and they began to put some practice ground moves into action. Although the strength of Hutton is primarily their defence and Clitheroe always seemed to have their attacks snaffled out when entering their opponents 22 metre area. However, it was a good period of pressure from Clitheroe and ensured Hutton didn’t think they were on a cake walk to victory – a fact that seemed to really niggle the home team.

Another converted try from Hutton’s dazzling outside centre against the run of play put the score to 19 – 0, with the only plus to the score being the re-start put Clitheroe firmly back into Hutton territory. The kick was caught and at the ensuing ruck some of the Hutton forwards reverted to their form of recent weeks, lost their heads and the melee that ensued continued on as play continued. With several of the Hutton team running over to join in, the referee had no choice but to stop play – it looked at one point that he might need to call in some of the local residents to break it up. He then brought out his cards and sent one of the Hutton forwards to the bin – which was lucky as it could easily have been a straight red. Then, in a move that baffled the Clitheroe faithful supporters on the touchline the referee decided to even the teams up by sending scrum half Smith to cool down for 10 minutes also. At 14 men each the rest of the first half was played out in a niggling manner but Clitheroe ended the stronger albeit without any points to show for their endeavour.

The second half started much as the first with the Maroon & Gold taking time to find their stride. After pressure in the Clitheroe half, a rash error of judgement with a quick lineout left one Clitheroe player with a very red face as the throw was gathered by the Hutton scrum half who took one step and crossed the line to touchdown. The conversion of the try ended the game as a points contest but pride was still to play for.

And this the town team did with vengeance as while Hutton continued to score through their silky back line the whole Clitheroe team rallied. With the clock ticking down it was again the Maroon & Gold who ended the half in the ascendancy. But again the Hutton defence held firm and the score they so deserved eluded them.

Had Clitheroe had blasted out of the blocks against the opposition and played the men on the pitch instead of their reputation, whist the end result would likely to have been the same, the score line might have reflected the effort they put in a little more realistically. They say it is the taking part not the winning that matters, but what matters in rugby is more the manner in which you play. Clitheroe can hold their heads high as whilst the final score line of 46 – 0 tells one story those who were playing and those on the touchline watching will tell of the commitment of the whole team. There are always lessons to be learnt from any encounter, from this one Clitheroe can learn to play the men not the reputation, to believe in themselves and not to let Alex Hough take quick line-outs.

Hutton play some great flowing rugby through the back line and defensively are strong which should stand them in good stead next season in the higher division within which they belong, but Clitheroe are looking forward to the return fixture in a few weeks time.