Burnley 14 Clitheroe 17

A derby win, a top-of-the-table finish and a nervy last five minutes. Clitheroe went over the hill to Burnley and came home with a 17-14 win, with two tries from Joe Clarke and one from Andrew Parker, in wind and rain that got worse as the afternoon went on.

We had the wind in the first half and Joe Clarke set the tone inside the first minute with a 40-metre break. The early exchanges were all about defence, with big hits from Harry Marsden and Morgan Sword, and George Barnes and Oscar Duck stuck in well too. Burnley's kicking game put us under pressure early, and Matty Mason had to touch down behind our own line on seven minutes, but we cleared our lines and worked our way back up the pitch.

Points were hard to come by. A quick tap from Duck on fifteen minutes pinned Burnley back, and Nick Roberts ran a great inside line from the scrum to win a penalty, but Adrian Davies' kick drifted wide in the wind. A second attempt on 27 minutes held up and dropped under the bar, and it was still 0-0 at the half-hour.

The breakthrough came on 31 minutes. From the restart Harry Marsden spotted Joe Clarke on his right, and Joe took the ball at pace and ran a straight line all the way to the posts. George Barnes converted for 7-0. Andrew Parker then made a great covering tackle to bundle the Burnley winger into touch, Joe Wilkinson's pressure forced a fumble five yards out, and from the scrum that followed a lovely switch play sent Clarke over for his second on 38 minutes. The conversion went wide, 12-0.

Burnley struck right on the stroke of half-time. Their full back cut through from left to right, the ball was recycled twice inside our 22 and they forced their way over, converting for 12-7 at the break.

Turning into the wind, the message was to keep the ball and run it, and when we did, with short passes and close support, Clitheroe looked the better side. Jack Downham came on for Toby Furbush at hooker and John Taylor, drafted into the 1st XV for the day, replaced Harry Marsden in the second row. On 57 minutes Clarke was held up over the line after a pick and drive, but the pressure told straight away. Barnes carried hard, Clarke came round on a great outside line, broke through the winger and full back, and flipped the ball out the back for Andrew Parker to score on the right. The conversion was missed, 17-7.

Oscar Duck carried a huge amount of ball and kept us going forward, and the scrum, with young Jack Downham in the middle of it, held up well. Burnley came back hard in the final quarter, though. A run of penalties had them camped on our line, and after good defence from Clarke and Roberts their full back broke through and the ball went left for a big forward to score. The conversion in those conditions was a very good kick, and suddenly it was 17-14 with five minutes left.

Clitheroe did the right things to close it out. Duck took a quick penalty to clear, the forwards kept the ball, and we made Burnley work for every yard. They had one last scrum five yards out, but the ball squirted loose and the referee blew for full time.

The win keeps the 1st XV top of Counties 3 on 21 points, one ahead of Ashton-under-Lyne, who come to Silcock Park next Saturday, 31 October, kick-off 2:15. First against second. Come and support the lads.

Thank you to Burnley for a hard, honest derby, and to everyone who made the trip over the hill to support us.

Scorers: tries Clarke 2, Parker; conversion Barnes.

Referee: Mark Whelan.