Clitheroe 1 Trafford 0
Attendance 648

With a swirling wind and bitterly cold conditions, these two promotion rivals served up an intriguing game for another huge Shawbridge crowd. In the end, Clitheroe took all three points courtesy of the trusty head of player manager Billy Priestley.

The sole goal of the game came on 2 minutes when from a half cleared corner, the ball sat up invitingly for Priestley to nod home unchallenged to put home noses in front. For the next 20 minutes, it seemed inevitable that the lead would be extended. Ross Dent was slipped through on 5 minutes and was only just beaten to the ball by the onrushing keeper. Three minutes later, Terry Cummings passed and moved on the edge of the Trafford box, and as the ball came back, his right foot shot was pulled wide.
Shortly afterwards McKenna was foiled by a save at his feet, whilst Sefton Gonzales on 21 minutes beat two men but sent his shot rolling agonisingly along the goal line. However, slowly but surely the visitors started to assert themselves. They should have done better when after some catastrophic defending, the Trafford forward blasted the ball over the bar on 23 minutes, and Chris Thompson then saved well on 36 minutes. Cummings had a great left foot shot saved after he bamboozled the visiting defence, but half time came with only one goal separating the teams.

Clitheroe started the second half brightly. McKenna forced a good save on 50 minutes and Cummings was nicked on the edge of the box, but the subsequent free kick sailed harmlessly over. From this point, Trafford were well in the game. On 58 minutes, they sprang the offside trap but the shot eluded both the advancing Thompson and the post. Three minutes later Trafford tested Thompson again and Clitheroe seemed unable to consolidate possession as the visitors continued to press. An error by Cole Lonsdale saw a neat exchange of passes by the visitors and Thompson made an excellent full length save. Thompson again was called upon as an attack went down the Trafford right and the save as the forward cut in from the bye line was from the top drawer. As the clock ticked down, Clitheroe finally started to find their range again and Jake Connelly and Gonzales caused real problems.

When the whistle went, both teams knew they had been in a game but it was the home team which pocketed the points.

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