Clitheroe 3 Kendal Town 1
Att. 601

In a game almost entirely dominated by the home side, it still took until six minutes from the end for Clitheroe to snuff out the resistance of the youthful Kendal side.

The returning Lee Pugh was heavily involved in the opening exchanges, in particular the use of his huge throw. Before the first minute was out, Pugh had launched an enormous throw into the box, which totally caught out the Kendal keeper, and from the ensuing mayhem, Ross Dent slammed the ball home.

On 19 minutes, a carbon copy saw Pugh’s throw arrow towards the keeper, but he simply managed to allow the ball to skim off his gloves into the net, leaving Pugh to claim a goal on his return. Clitheroe were by now dominating possession, but without providing the clinical final touch to put the game out of sight. On 29 minutes, Kendal pulled a goal back with their second chance of the game. A short pass to the midfielder on the edge of the box saw him turn and thread his shot tidily beyond the returning Chris Thompson.

The second half saw more of the same, with Kendal defending deep, inviting Clitheroe to try and break them down. For the next 45 minutes they did just that, and if their shooting boots had been only slightly better calibrated, it could have been a cricket score, as the home team hit the woodwork four times and created innumerable solid chances.

Amongst the many efforts, the first stand out chance fell to Max Cane on 61 minutes as he ran beyond the defence from deep and expertly slipped the keeper, only to see his shot hit the bar before Sefton Gonzales repeated the feat with his follow up effort. On 67 minutes, Dent hit the post this time, with Gonzales’ follow up saved.

Two minutes later, Richie Baker hit the woodwork as his free kick from the edge of the box arced over the wall The introduction of fresh Clitheroe legs ensured that the chances kept on coming, with Terry Cummings looking dangerous every time he touched the ball. There were still nerves in the crowd as they feared a sucker punch from a Kendal side, which had not left its own half for the entire second half, but these were calmed when Billy Priestley thumped in a great header from a deep corner to ensure the points stayed at Clitheroe.

Team : Chris Thompson, Ben McKenna, Lee Pugh, Richard Baker, Jack Burrows, Billy Priestley, Ross Dent, Danny Wilkins (Joel Byrom), Sefton Gonzales (c), Max Cane (Terry Cummings), Bailey Sloane (Jamie Edwards). Subs - Terry Cummings, Jamie Edwards, Joel Byrom. Not used - Jake Connelly, Alex Turner.