Connor Gaul struck twice in the space of a minute as the Blues staged a superb second-half fightback to avoid a third successive defeat. Gaul missed two penalties on his last Shawbridge outing as the Clitheroe’s long unbeaten home run came to an end. But the Blues’ 14-goal top scorer responded in perfect style as Phil Brown’s men almost repeated their 3-2 win at Pickering in October.

The North Yorkshiremen led 2-0 that day before being sunk by a Blues’ comeback and lightning almost struck twice in front of a superb crowd of 463. The rapidly improving Pikes took an early lead and then doubled their advantage three minutes after the break as the division’s bottom club sensed a first away win of the campaign. But they were then blown away by a Gaul-inspired riposte which could have brought three goals in three minutes and all three points for the Blues as Danny Gray missed a golden chance to win it.

Pickering have been given renewed belief in their fight to beat the drop since the appointment of Steve Roberts as their new manager at the turn of the year and his young side struck first with a classic goal on the break. Central defender Matty Turnbull released Dan Earl with a peach of a pass and the striker did the rest as he raced through to drill a low shot past Chris Thompson at his near post.

The Blues – with Craig Carney back in the side – struggled to respond, although they could have been level at the break. Charlie Russell saw an effort well saved by Harrison Foulkes and Ollie Wood twice saw efforts cleared off the line from the corners that followed. But Clitheroe’s momentum was de-railed almost immediately after the re-start when Pickering doubled their lead from a corner of their own, Niall Tilsley claiming the final touch which may also have belonged to Blues’ defender Craig Stanley.

A point looked a long way off at that point, but Brown’s men rallied to totally dominate a scintillating final half-hour. They still needed a spark to get back into the contest, and that belonged to Gaul. The winger scored twice 71' 72' in the fightback at Pickering and did it again with two classy finishes. The first came after collecting a Mitch George lay-off, to cut in and guide a right-footed effort into the far corner.

And the second to level the scores just 60 seconds later came following a drop of the shoulder from Oscar O’Neil’s clever flick to get the ball onto his left foot and drill s low effort into the same corner. With Pickering on the ropes, Gray should then have delivered the knock-out blow but couldn’t convert George’s low cross from close range. The visitors had one final chance themselves which Earl lifted over the top but that would have been cruel on Clitheroe, whose second-half performance, with Gaul and Russell outstanding and Terry Cummings coming the party, could be the catalyst for a renewed play-off push.

Team : Chris Thompson, Danny Gray (Jacob Gregory), Oliver Muir, Craig Stanley, Markell Foulds, Charlie Russell (c), Terry Cummins, Oscar O'Neil, Ollie Wood (Ollie Stirzaker), Craig Carney (Mitch George), Conor Gaul. Subs - Mitch George, Jacob Gregory, Ollie Stirzaker. Not used - Jack Camarda, Jake Connelly.