Clitheroe 6 Colne 8

With spirits high following last weeks first half performance at Skipton last week, Colne and Nelsons 1st team travelled the short distance over Pendle Hill to face a resilient Clitheroe side.
The last time the sides met before Xmas saw Colne win, but periods of intense pressure from Clitheroe put Colne under some serious pressure, reminding Colne that Clitheroe were capable of some very good rugby.
The Littlemoor pitch was in good nick for this time of year, with only a few soft patches. A strong January breeze blew towards the clubhouse and with Colne winning the toss, Skipper Tindall elected to play against the wind in the first half.
The early encounters set the pace of the game, a game that was obviously going to be played mainly with the ball in the forwards hands and very few flowing, running rugby moments. The scrum was dominated by the away side, although some bizarre refereeing decisions meant scrappy ball for Kyle Hargreaves at the back. This was much the same for most of the first half, both sides being penalized for unknown reasons.
Clitheroe took advantage of the wind, after some strong running from their pack allowed 2 unanswered penalties to sale between the posts given them a 6 point lead. Tom Handforth had recovered from his broken nail last week, and was soon barking orders to the pack. Quick ball from Hargreaves allowed Handforth to dummy the opposition No10 and set off on a run just inside the Colne half. An offload to Lewis ‘Skinny’ Hesketh set up an attack outside the Clitheroe 22. Colnes pick and drive was working well, with Lance Jones and Luke Edwards making hard ground. A pop to Alex Wood set up a driving maul, the ball found Dem Cantrill who powered his way through 2 defenders and over the line, only for the ball to be deemed held up.
Colne soon had something to cheer about, more hard work from Colnes forwards allowed the ever present Luke Edwards to crash over the white wash just before the half time whistle. Conversion missed.
6-5 Half time.
The half time team talk from Coach Matt was much the same as last weeks. Keep up the pressure and increase the intensity, play in the oppositions half and don’t get complacent.
With the wind on Colnes side, Handforth kicked off. The thought of using the wind to play in Ciltheroe’s half soon went out the window, as Clitheroe marched down field into Colnes half and were camped on Colnes 22 for a lengthy period of time Only strong defending from the Colne pack kept Clitheroe from adding to the score board.
Finally a turn over from Ant Minshull allowed Colne to gradually gain some territory. A pass from Handforth found Tindall, who kicked in behind the Clitheroe winger. A foot race between him and speedster Skye Bullen was won by the young Colne winger who touched down in the corner, with the Clitheroe defender pouncing on the ball afterwards. Bizarrely, the referee deemed the Clitheroe player had touched the ball down first, to the surprise of the contingent on the top touch line. Try disallowed.
With the clock ticking away and time running out, Colne peppered the Clitheroe touch line and excellent defending from the home side looked certain to be enough to secure them victory. Numerous reset scrums in the Clitheroe 22 eventually led to a Colne penalty on the stroke of full time. With no time to kick to the corner up stepped Tindall for the last kick of the game. With the penalty good, Colne earned a hard fought first victory of 2015. Credit to Clitheroe who could have easily taken the points in the derby.
Final Score Clitheroe 6- Colne and Nelson 8
Man of the match: Luke Edwards.
Colne now have a few weeks off again, but with potential friendlies coming up, Colne are always looking for new players. Anyone interest can contact Ian Cockroft on 07590818341 or turn up to training Mon and Thurs at Holt House 7pm.