Clitheroe FC 3 Fleetwood Town FC 3

Tuesday August 7th 2007 Pre Season Friendly

Crowd: 200

Goals: FTFC – Andy Bell, Liam Maloney 2 CFC - Fisher, Exton, Byrom

It is two years since Town last visited Shawbridge, losing 1-0 in a game that still gives the faithful nightmares! A twice taken missed penalty by Joe Booth two minutes from time handed the points to Clitheroe as they scored the only goal in the very last minute.

The Blues immediately confirmed their bogey team status in the 4th minute when Fisher smashed home a left wing cross. However the rest of the first half was really a case of missed chances for Town. After 15 minutes Andy Bell converted a pass from Brown to equalise and seven minutes later his lob from a tight angle just shaved the far post. Five minutes later Alex Taylor hit the bar with a super strike from 25 yards. Fitzgerald then hit the post and somehow Bell managed to sky the rebound from short range.

Fleetwood could have had the match sewn up by half time but Clitheroe came out with renewed vigour in the second half and pounded Town for the rest of the game. It soon became apparent that this was more than just a friendly as fists flew on more than one occasion! Clitheroe seemed to have a good penalty shout waved away on 50 minutes much to the relief of the away fans. Town managed to break away just after the hour and Maloney converted a through ball from Foster. Clitheroe used their sloping pitch to good effect and after several corners and close shaves it was no surprise when they equalised. Exton put the ball into the net after a header had come back off the bar. Straight from the kick off Byrom went on an unchallenged run through the static Fleetwood defence for a terrific individual goal. Liam Maloney spared Town’s blushes by poking home his second in the 89th minute.

This was a very hard game for Fleetwood but it should prove a very useful yard stick for Tony Greenwood to make any final adjustments to his tactics with the new season looming next week.

FTFC Squad: Hurst, Heffernan, Gray, Moran, Smith, Robinson, Brown, Fitzgerald, Bell, Taylor, Maloney. Subs. Hale, Foster, Pond, Milligan, Haddow.
CFC Squad: Collinge, Kozlowski, Taylor, Fletcher, Anderson, Osbourne, Sargeson, Fisher, Jackson, Byrom, Stansfield. Subs: Exton, Heaps, Mann, Dempsey.