Clitheroe 3-1 Bamber Bridge 11-04-2017

Clitheroe relished the chance to play on their own patch after three games on the road, and in front of another 400+ crowd, they cruised to victory. Happiest of all was striker Alex Newby, who saves his best performances for this opposition, as he notched his second hat-trick in a season against them.

Newby was in the thick of the action as early as the tenth minute as his shot forced a corner, and Kurt Willoughby almost showed him the way as his swivel volley from a Robbie Bromley pass fizzed over the bar on 13 minutes. Danny Brady poked the ball through to Newby on 17 minutes, but he just overran the ball, and on 26 minutes, Newby turned and shot against the bar. Clitheroe pressure was building and it went up a notch when Brad Carroll just failed to connect cleanly with a Brady header back from a deep corner.

The home side took the lead on 38 minutes, and it was no surprise that Newby found the back of the net as he received the ball on the right and slid it comfortably under the keeper. Brig’s only chance on the half came on 44 minutes when a cluster of shots in and around the box could easily have seen an equaliser. As it was, 30 seconds later, Newby raced 60 yards down the pitch and his cross was hastily bundled out for a corner by a back-pedalling defence.

Brig had a good chance at the start of the second half with another melee in the box on 51 minutes, but it was Newby who doubled the lead on 55 minutes when he was released behind the defence at pace and finished coolly. Three minutes later, Newby hared down the left and his near post shot eluded a despairing defender and keeper. Brig restored a measure of dignity when Milligan expertly arched his left foot free kick past Chris Thompson on 69 minutes, but it was a solitary strike. On 84 minutes Willoughby advanced on goal and was hacked down close to the edge of the box, and with the crowd baying for a red card, the referee opted for yellow.

The Blues saw the game out very comfortably and now face an epic three games in the next 12 days. If Clitheroe can get a result on Saturday at home to Ossett Albion, Easter Monday’s game at Colne could see Clitheroe’s biggest away following for over a decade.

Team : Chris Thompson, Robbie Bromley, Gareth Roberts, Jacob Davies, Danny Brady (c), Joe Mitchell (Charlie Russell), Chris Churchman, Brad Carroll, Kurt Willoughby, Alex Newby, Dimitri Tuanzebe (Aidan Kirby). Subs - Charlie Russell, Aidan Kirby. Not used - Ryan Cattermole, Adam Bolton, Ian Rowlands.