Congleton 4 Clitheroe 2

Clitheroe squandered a 2-0 lead away at third place Congleton, and an untimely injury and a moment of madness saw the Blues go down to their seventh defeat on the road.
It had all started so well for Clitheroe, with much of the early possession of note in their favour. Luke Gill fashioned the first chance on 11 minutes when he fired in a low cross from the right, only for Jake Connelly to drive a shot across the face of goal. The next chance was not long coming and one minute later, Veron Parny continued his outstanding form as he wove his way down the pitch and engineered the ball on to his favoured left, before finishing across the keeper. Sefton Gonzales could easily have extended the lead minutes later when he picked up a Parny knock back and after setting himself, his shot was somehow saved by a very grateful keeper. It was then Gonzales’ turn to become provider as he unpicked the defence before Parny clipped the ball over the keeper only to see it go agonisingly wide. It took 25 minutes for the first home attack and it caused some confusion before Jacob Hanson tidied away the danger. Congleton then benefited from a number of generous refereeing decisions near the Clitheroe box, with the second one only just eluding an airborne striker as he flung himself at the ball. However, it was fully with the run of play when Gonzalez extended the lead after a surgical through ball from Parny as he held off defenders to finish expertly. As the clock ticked down, Ross Dent was carried off with a back injury and as Clitheroe switched off momentarily after the break in play, poor defending saw a good strike from Congleton to pull a goal back.
The second half was always going to be a test and after home pressure, Clitheroe did not switch on at a corner and a deep header was placed without a challenge beyond Hakan Burton. Shortly afterwards, Cameron Lancaster saw red after he tussled with a Congleton forward and he was seen to stamp on his prone opponent. Clitheroe rapidly reorganised themselves leaving Gonzales to plough a lonely furrow up front, but home tails were up. Congleton then took the lead as a hanging cross from the right was headed home before they extended it further after a great burst down the left was excellently hammered home. Burton then made a number of key saves before Sam Olawumi headed a corner straight at the keeper from 3 yards out.
In the end, Clitheroe proved to be the architects of their own downfall and lacked some of the nous to see the game out when on top.
TEAM: 1 Hakan Burton (C), 2 Jacob Hanson, 3 Dylan Dwyer, 4 Sam Olawumi, 5 Cameron Lancaster, 6 Ross Dent, 7 Luke Gill, 8 Emerich Poilly, 9 Sefton Gonzales, 10 Veron Parny, 11 Jake Connelly. SUBS USED: 12 Connor High, 14 Jordan Windass, 15 Jordan Dainty, 17 Danny Wilkins. Not Used: 16 Sean McConville.