Come and back us - Clitheroe FC boss
CLITHEROE boss Pete Smith is hoping the town come out in force to back his entertaining in-form Blues on Saturday.
Shawbridge plays host to Bamber Bridge, with Clitheroe in great nick, unbeaten in five.
In fact, Smith's side have only tasted defeat once in their last eight outings as they have climbed away from the wrong end of the table into the top 10 of the UniBond League First Division North.
Saturday's encounter will give the Blues a good indicator of how far they have progressed in recent times, with Brig occupying seventh place.
The match, of course, sees Clitheroe come face to face again with former boss Neil Reynolds, a mainstay of the Brig midfield in his third spell at the club. And the Blues will have to breach the joint-meanest defence in the league to take the points, with Tony Greenwood's men having leaked only nine goals in 15 games to date.
Smith looked ahead to a mouth-watering derby: "Every game is a test in this league, but Saturday certainly will be.
"It's a game we can win, but we have to be disciplined and organised, and hopefully play the football we have been playing.
"We've scored 11 goals in three games, and are exciting to watch.
"We have pacy wingers and forwards, and I hope we can attract more supporters down, especially with it being a derby."
Smith, a winger and a striker in his playing days, loves nothing more than the sight of a player taking on a defender down the flanks and whipping in quality deliveries, and his team, even after losing Dave Hankin and Craig Sargeson, remain true to that ethos: "I'm a big believer in pace out wide and up front, teams can't live with it.
"I like playing with wide men, opening teams up, getting it down and creating chances, which we have all season."
And he hopes width will help unlock Brig's tight defence.
Reynolds returns to Shawbridge, and Smith expects he will be given a warm reception - although he wants his players to wait until after the game in the bar to make him feel at home: "Neil's played every game for them and he's playing well.
"He's very welcome at Shawbridge, he was a great ambassador for the club, a great player and manager for the club.
"I have massive respect for him, and we're still good friends, but we will have a battle on our hands, and we'll forget about our friendship until afterwards."
Tuesday night's derby at Rossendale United was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, but on Saturday, the Blues picked up another three points, courtesy of a late winner from assistant boss Kenny Mayers.
At home to Wakefield, in front of a crowd of 194, Ryan Fisher returned to the back four, with Jonathan Forbes moving to right back in place of the suspended Liam McManus.
Gavinlee Ellison replaced Joe Roberts in midfield, while Alan Coar and Jerrome Matthews replaced the absent Andrew Naylor and Nathan Taylor up front.
Clitheroe had to come from behind with an improved second half performance.
Wakefield took the lead six minutes from the break, and a fine save from a fierce Danny Williams shot kept the interval advantage with the visitors.
The Blues pegged Wakefield back in their own half for long spells after half-time, and they equalised in the 69th minute when Jason Jones lashed a cross home from 15 yards.
The winning goal came after 85 minutes when substitute Mayers sprung the off-side trap and slotted home across the keeper.
Line-up: Danny Hanford, Jonathan Forbes, Conor Kavanagh, Ryan Fisher, Kev Brown, Jason Jones, Zach Clark (Alex Brees), Gavinlee Ellison, Alan Coar (Kenny Mayers), Jerrome Matthews (Lydon Hodgkiss), Danny Williams. Sub not used: Joe Roberts.
Saturday's game kicks-off at 3 p.m., with admission at 7 for adults, 4 OAPs, 2 14-17-year-olds, and free for U14s.
CLITHEROE have been drawn at Marine in the LFA Co-operative Trophy after their impressive 3-0 win over Fleetwood Town in the last round.
Draw: Radcliffe Borough v Lancaster City; Colne v Leigh Genesis; Marine v Clitheroe; Southport v Barrow AFC. Ties to be played Tuesday, January 5th.
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Weather for Clitheroe
Friday 25 May 2012
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