Clitheroe 26 Ashton-under-Lyne 12

First against second at Silcock Park, with the past players in for their annual lunch, and Clitheroe beat Ashton-under-Lyne 26-12. The four tries came from Toby Furbush, Matt Owen-Davies, Ed Sinclair and Nick Roberts.

Before kick-off the past players lined up to clap the lads out onto the pitch. It was a lovely touch: the club's past cheering on its future, and urging them to make the most of the chance they have.

Clitheroe had the better of the early exchanges. We missed a penalty from around the 22, but Ashton kept giving away penalties and after repeated infringements they had a man yellow-carded. We made it count. From a five-metre tap penalty Toby Furbush burrowed his way over for 5-0. The conversion was missed.

The penalty count told the story of the first half, roughly a dozen to Clitheroe against one to Ashton, and we had around 75 per cent of the possession and territory. Oscar Duck kicked another penalty down to within five metres of the line, and Duck himself was then held up over the line.

The second try came from the scrum on 32 minutes. Ashton had a put-in on their own five-metre line, the Clitheroe pack drove them off it and the ball squirted out the back. Matt Owen-Davies picked it up, went round the openside, did a bit of a pirouette and scored. George Barnes found his kicking boots for the extras, 12-0.

We kept battering the line. Clitheroe were held up again, and Duck made a great tackle, chasing his own kick and smashing his man in midfield. Ashton struck right at the end of the half, though, moving the ball through hands to find space on the right outside Matty Mason. The conversion was missed and it was 12-5 at the break.

Joe Aspin made a great run early in the second half, with good support. Around ten minutes in, after some good interplay to break out of our own 22, Andrew Parker made a brilliant run down the wing. We recycled well through the middle, won a penalty, and Ed Sinclair took it quickly and went over. Barnes added his second conversion for 19-5. George is a flanker by trade but has been playing at 10, and his clearing kicks were a big help all afternoon.

Ashton then had their best spell. They earned a five-metre scrum, and the Clitheroe front row of Toby Furbush, Ed Sinclair and Tom Lavelle stood up to it. It's the best our scrum has looked for a while. Ashton got over the line but were held up, and Duck put his bootlaces through the drop-out, sending it over halfway, with Barnes following up with a heavy tackle. The defence was outstanding, getting in Ashton's faces as soon as they had the ball, with Nick Roberts, George Barnes and Joe Aspin tackling superbly. Ashton tapped a penalty ten metres out, but their number 8 knocked on.

With 13 minutes left, Clitheroe broke out of the pressure, Parker went down the right wing and kicked through, and Ashton just managed to clear. 19-5 going into the final stretch.

Both sides scored once more in the closing minutes. Nick Roberts got the last Clitheroe try, converted by Barnes, and Ashton scored a converted try of their own, and the final whistle went with Clitheroe winning 26-12.

This is a team growing in confidence, and you can see it building week by week. The defence is strong, and there's still plenty more to come in attack. With the youngsters coming in and developing, it's an exciting time for this side.

The win keeps the 1st XV top of Counties 3, and opens up the gap on Ashton in second.

Thank you to Ashton-under-Lyne for a hard game, to Luca Lanzani for refereeing it, and to the past players and everyone who came down to Silcock Park to support us.

Scorers: tries Furbush, Owen-Davies, Sinclair, Roberts; conversions Barnes 3.

Referee: Luca Lanzani.