Clitheroe 4 Market Drayton Town 0

Doughty defending and quality goalkeeping by the visitors matched with profligate finishing by the Blues was all that stood between respectability and a cricket score. Clitheroe had 90% of possession, with keeper Chris Thompson barely handling the ball all game, but still it took until the final five minutes for the score line to reflect home dominance.

Sefton Gonzales almost scored after two minutes, but his glancing header was superbly pushed round for a corner. It did not take long for him to make amends and from a Richie Baker corner, he forced the ball home from close range. Ross Dent had a volley go narrowly wide on 13 minutes after a Ben McKenna cross, and Zack Clarke missed with a back heel five minutes later, courtesy of McKenna.

Clitheroe extended the lead on 23 minutes, when Jack Burrows advanced down the right and slipped Clarke through behind the defence, and he in turn hared towards goal and scored from an acute angle across the keeper. Amongst numerous half chances, the nearest to a goal came on 35 minutes when a flurry of shots and blocks from a corner finally saw the ball scream over the bar. Finally, as the half time whistle approached, Gonzales volleyed narrowly wide as he chased after a high bouncing ball.

The second half followed the same pattern. Dent forced a finger tip save after great passing movement on 51 minutes before Harrison Burke headed over, McKenna shot wide and Dent volleyed against the post all in the space of five minutes. Clarke chipped narrowly wide on 64 minutes before Terry Cummings and Jake Connelly came on as substitutes and the pressure increased further. On 73 minutes, Cummings worked his way down the right and timed a superb low cross for a fast approaching Gonzales, but he could just not convert.

Two minutes later, Cummings laid the ball to Baker, whose volley was smartly saved. On 76 minutes, Burke burst forward on a 50 yard run and was only foiled at the death, before Cummings whistled a first time shot over the bar one minute later. Finally, Clitheroe extended their lead on 87 minutes. Dent forced a good save from a 30 yard shot, with Burke then thumping a header home from the resultant corner. One minute later, Connelly burst down the left wing and Gonzales slid home for his second goal and the Blues’ fourth.

The 600+ crowd had lapped up the entertainment and rewarded the team with ovations all round the ground.

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