Clitheroe 2-0 Marine

Clitheroe returned to winning ways in a feisty encounter with highly fancied Marine under the lights at Shawbridge. The Blues started brightly and a strong run by Jamie Edwards after 11 minutes saw him tackled by Dean Winnard, the ball deflecting for a corner and Winnard injured, being replaced by ex-Clitheroe boss David Lynch. The corner was easily collected by the Marine keeper.
The visitors had a corner of their own soon after when a shot from their dangerous forward Neil Kengni was deflected. Nothing came of their
corner either. Clitheroe took the lead in the 19th minute when Gary Stopforth released Jake Connelly on another run down the left wing and this time his low cross found its way across the goal area and was bundled home at the far post by Sefton Gonzales under pressure from a Marine defender.
Marine disputed the decision, suggesting handball but the goal stood. The advantage was doubled in the 35th minute when Sefton Gonzales chased a through ball, was challenged by the keeper on the edge of the penalty area with the ball squirming back towards the onrushing Ross Dent who expertly directed the ball home from 25 yards. The game exploded in the 40th minute following a bad foul by Marine's Ryan Wignall on Jamie Edwards which led to an all-player scuffle. The Clitheroe player was treated at the side of the pitch before being taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated elbow. The Marine player was sent off and after the resulting melee there were yellow cards for Clitheroe's Billy Priestley and Marine's Owen Watkinson. The referee had words with both captains before resuming play.

The first half ended with another good run down the left wing by Jake Connelly whose cross was met by Ross Dent but he couldn't quite direct it inside the near post. 2-0 at half time was a score that pleased an excellent crowd of 558.

Marine started the second half strongly and thought they had a penalty in the 47th minute when Owen Watkinson went flying as he chased a ball into the box. Many similar incidents ended in a penalty during his spell at Shawbridge but this time the referee just waved him back to his feet and play continued. Clitheroe next effort on goal was a speculative 30 yard shot from the left touchline from Cole Lonsdale who chanced his luck when spotting the keeper off his line. Unfortunately it sailed over the crossbar as well as the keeper.

The visitors were reduced to 9 men in the 69th minute when centre back Mark Howarth received a second yellow card for a late foul on Ross Dent. The resultant free kick was fired just wide by Richie Baker. The Blues were struggling to make their numerical superiority count and
the game began to become scrappy.
It livened up in the 87th minute when Jake Connelly stretched for a pass and his high boot caught David Lynch on the shin. The former Blues boss tried to remonstrate with the young winger and soon all players again became involved in ugly scenes. Jake Connelly was shown a straight red card for the tackle and after the flare-up there were yellow cards for Richie Baker and David Lynch. Lynch went off injured and as Marine had already used their 3 subs they ended the game with just 8 players.

This was a much improved performance by Clitheroe, the game was won in a tremendous first half and the players deserved the applause from another large crowd at the final whistle.

Team: Chris Thompson, Jack Burrows, Cole Lonsdale, Gary Stopforth, Harrison Burke, Billy Priestley, Ross Dent (William Ludlow-Foster),
Richie Baker, Sefton Gonzales (c), Jamie Edwards (Alex Turner), Jake Connelly.
Subs - Alex Turner, William Ludlow-Foster. Not used - Joel Mills, Taylor Brickell, Ricardo Pembele.