Clitheroe continued their disappointing start to November with a 3-0 loss away at Northwich Victoria, sending the Blues down to 12th in the table. An early sending-off for Blues defender Steve Mercer was nearly forgotten about when Simon Garner’s men had the chance to open the scoring through a penalty. However Wilkins penalty was saved and Clitheroe’s frustration was compounded after goals from Callum Henry and a double from Aboubacar Sanogo sent the Vics to six wins from six.
The game was tarnished from the beginning as after 4 minutes Blues defender Steve Mercer was adjudged to have been the last man when he committed a foul outside the box and was dismissed.
Simon Garner slotted in at centre back and Clitheroe should have taken the lead on 19 minutes when Richard Burns was dropped on the edge of the box, but Wilkins’s weak penalty was saved. Four minutes later, a mix up between Dawber and Garner could have proved costly, but the on rushing forward prodded the ball past the post.
Jason Hart’s pace was causing problems to the home defence, but the next clear chance fell to the home side on 38 minutes when a deep cross sat up nicely for a volley, which was smartly saved by Dawber.
From the resultant corner, a pinpoint delivery into a packed box was forced home by Callum Henry breaking the deadlock for the home side despite muted appeals for a foul from the away side.

After the break a change in Clitheroe’s formation was hastily changed back as Vics hit the post twice through Mo Ali and Godwin Abadaki before scoring from a Sanogo unchallenged corner within the first ten minutes.
The game was effectively finished on 71 minutes when James Walker was deemed to have fouled an attacker who artistically fell to ground with a time delay. Sanogo took the penalty and smashed it past Dawber in goal to get his second of the match.
A flurry of yellow cards came Clitheroe’s way and The Vics could have extended their lead with three minutes remaining but the shot was hacked off the line and the game finished 3-0 to the home side.
The three points for the Cheshire based side made sure they continued their impressive run of form, having picked up eighteen points from a possible eighteen and shooting up to 3rd in the table, four points off top side Darlington 1883 who Clitheroe face this Saturday. The Blues on the other hand go into tonight’s Doodson Cup game against Lancaster City with manager Simon Garner admitting he is set to rest some first-team players with Ryan Cattermole, Tom Jackson and Lewis Cumpsty being promoted from the youth team for the game.