Warrington Rylands 2 Clitheroe 2

Clitheroe were made to work hard for a point at newly promoted Rylands, but having weathered a tricky first half could feel justifiably aggrieved not to have secured all three points.

The home side roared out of the blocks and their tactics of swarming round opposition players when out of possession barely let up all game. They also had a nimble front three, which at times in the first 20 minutes had the Clitheroe defence chasing shadows. Cole Lonsdale had an early shot from a flowing Blues move, but play switched swiftly to the Clitheroe end and a shot whistling across the face of goal gave due warning of what was to come.
Minutes later, Chris Thompson made a superb fingertip save as a Rylands striker danced into the area, and it was no surprise when minutes later a driven cross from the right was steered home in one smooth movement. Rylands continued to press and Thompson made another useful save before Lonsdale tumbled over in the box with the next Clitheroe attack. No penalty was given, but ugly scenes were dealt with well by the referee as Sefton Gonzales found himself amongst a sea of angry home players. The episode took some of the steam out of Rylands and the tally of chances slowed, albeit with another jinking run almost paying dividends for the home side.

Clitheroe had the best possible start to the second half and minutes after the restart, a slick Clitheroe move saw Ben McKenna slip Gonzales free and his instant shot was too hot for the keeper to handle. Consistently, Clitheroe were breaking up the play more and getting into dangerous positions, and it was against the run of play when a home player collapsed theatrically in the box under minimal contact and a spot kick was awarded. Justice was probably served when the Rylands centre forward decided to chip Thompson and the large Clitheroe contingent cheered mightily as his shot limped embarrassingly over the bar.
From this point onwards, it was blow for blow as both sides looked to win the game. Richie Baker pinged one narrowly over, whilst Billy Priestley and Harrison Burke were foot perfect as they each made covering challenges to cut out dangerous breaks. It was the home side which took the lead after a sublime chip from the left over the entire Clitheroe defence was swept home with barely a backlift.
Rylands’ concentration seemed to slip and whilst a few of their players seemed more intent on gloating to the Clitheroe fans, Terry Cummings, back from injury and on as a substitute, jinked down the right and from his driven cross, McKenna was the man to stab the ball home from close range. Still the game didn’t let up.
Cummings was flying by this stage and when his superb cross just eluded a forward, seconds later Thompson was making a great one on one save. Cummings was then scythed down as the whole wing gaped free, and minutes later Gonzales almost pressured a defender into an own goal. From the resultant corner, the ball was cleared off the line from an unknown Clitheroe player in a forest of bodies. There was still time for more and from a Rylands corner, Thompson made a smart save as the ball was cleared before he fell at an attacker’s feet as he shaped to shoot.

When the whistle went, several home players fell to the floor from sheer exhaustion. The ovation from the Clitheroe fans was lengthy and deserved and the hope was that this might just kick start the next run.

Team : Chris Thompson, Jack Burrows, Cole Lonsdale, Richard Baker, Harrison Burke, Billy Priestley, Zack Clarke (Terry Cummins), Alex Turner (Ross Dent), Sefton Gonzales (c), Danny Wilkins, Ben McKenna. Subs - Terry Cummins, Ross Dent. Not used - Jake Connelly, Matthew Hodds.