Ramsbottom 1 Clitheroe 4
Attendance 420

Clitheroe recovered from an early setback and in the end ran out comfortable winners to progress to the next round of the FA Trophy.

Clitheroe had much of the opening play but could not find a way to unlock the home defence. Max Cane went closest on 6 minutes when he deflected a Callum Leigh shot towards goal, but the effort was well saved by the home keeper. It was a surprise when Ramsbottom took the lead against the run of play on 21 minutes.

A rare Cameron Lancaster error saw the defence and keeper wrong footed as a home forward found himself with the goal at his mercy and he made no mistake. The lead did not last long and on 27 minutes, Billy Priestley was on hand to thump home a trademark header from a pinpoint Richie Baker corner.

Ramsbottom then had two good chances to take back the lead. Having had a dangerous shot go into the side netting, there followed a goal mouth scramble with the Clitheroe defence at sixes and sevens, but the danger was shepherded away. As the clock ticked down for half time, Clitheroe got their noses in front. From another Baker corner, the ball came out to substitute Lee Pugh on the left, and his great cross was met by Sefton Gonzales on the back post to head home.

The second half was dominated by Clitheroe, with Reece Webb-Foster in much of the action. On 52 minutes, Webb-Foster danced through the home defence but was foiled by the keeper saving at his feet. However, one minute later, Baker picked out Webb-Foster on the left wing and he drove to the bye line before dropping a great cross on to Gonzales’ head for a regulation finish.

Minutes later Cane sprang the offside trap and was unlucky to be foiled by the keeper, before on 59 minutes home defenders desperately threw themselves at the ball to block a goal bound Baker shot. At times, Clitheroe players were queuing up to get in on the action without further goals, although Priestley went close as he drove a loose ball across the face of the goal from a Gonzales flick on from a corner. Finally, Webb-Foster got his due rewards when Jack Burrows flew down the right and laid the ball to him. His first shot was blocked but he made no mistake with the second.

This was a good performance to set the lads up for a massive week to come, with the only potential cloud on the horizon being Terry Cummings limping off in the first half.

Team: Chris Thompson, Jack Burrows, Terry Cummings (Lee Pugh), Richard Baker, Cameron Lancaster, Billy Priestley, Max Cane (Jamie Edwards), Callum Leigh, Sefton Gonzales, Ross Dent (c) (Danny Wilkins), Reece Webb-Foster. Subs - Lee Pugh, Danny Wilkins, Jamie Edwards. Not used - Declan Donovan, Lewis Brown, William Ludlow-Foster.