Colne 2 Clitheroe 1

In bitterly cold conditions, Clitheroe made the worst possible return to competitive football after the enforced weather layoff and returned home empty handed from Colne, with a performance which deserved little more.

Kicking down the slope in the first half, the Blues struggled to cope with the art of undercooking through balls as passes simply ran away from forwards. The one bright spot all day was the returning Darren Holden, who even though he played the first half on the unfamiliar right was always a threat on the overlap. It was Holden who fashioned the first chance for skipper Ross Dent on four minutes, but Dent could not get his shot cleanly on target as he swivelled to shoot.

On eight minutes, Sefton Gonzales rounded the keeper but as he took the ball to the bye line, his pull back failed to find a teammate. Max Cane was next in the action with several clear half chances, one of which led to a break to the Clitheroe end. This saw Chris Thompson balloon a huge clearance downfield with Gonzales then heading the ball on from half way in the Colne half, which the back pedalling keeper just managed to tip away as it threatened to soar over him.

After a full blown hail storm, Colne had a number of chances. After 33 minutes, Jamie Edwards received a harsh yellow card and from the resultant free kick, the ball ricocheted around an increasingly desperate defence before it was slammed home. The game remained disjointed and it was a surprise deep into injury time when Lee Pugh threw a short throw in to Reece Webb-Foster, and as he stabbed the ball back to him, Pugh’s deep cross was met unmarked in the middle of the box by Cameron Lancaster’s header to level the scores.

The Clitheroe fans were hoping for a second half of more controlled football up the hill, but on 49 minutes, Pugh hacked down former Blue Owen Watkinson in a dangerous position. Once the ensuing melee cleared, the free kick was a damp squib, but as the ball squirted to the right, another ex Blue Craig Carney angled a great shot into the far upright of the goal. The Clitheroe response was muted with a succession of chances not really constituting real pressure.

By now Holden was playing on the left and he was clearly the outlet, which would deliver results if anyone would. Another melee this time sparked by Colne saw a card produced and finally in the last ten minutes, more Clitheroe chances came. On 81 minutes, Cane had a run and half shot with Webb-Foster’s follow up well saved.

One minute later, Cane ran through on goal and his shot whistled across the goal. Finally, with minutes left, the Colne keeper made two stunning finger tip saves from successive corners from the heads of Billy Priestley and Gonzales, but it was too little, too late and the East Lancashire bragging rights stayed over the hill.

Team : Chris Thompson, Darren Holden, Lee Pugh, Danny Wilkins (Callum Leigh), Cameron Lancaster, Billy Priestley, Max Cane, Reece Webb-Foster, Sefton Gonzales, Ross Dent (c) (Richard Baker), Jamie Edwards (Pharrell Brown). Subs - Richard Baker, Pharrell Brown, Callum Leigh. Not used - Charlie Russell, Jack Burrows.