Clitheroe 6-4 Kendal Town

KENDAL Town slipped to their eighth defeat on the road in their last ten games in a high goal-scoring encounter against a rampant Clitheroe side on Saturday.

A host of defensive blunders from the start saw Town trail 3-0 and then 4-1 in the first half, before Mike Stringfellow’s men rallied to almost pull level at the start of the second half.

The damage had already been done though as the hosts added two more to their tally with Kendal pushing for an equaliser.

Kendal’s sloppiness at the back began after just three minutes when captain Ricky Mercer miscued a clearance in the box under no pressure.

The ball looped onto the crossbar, allowing midfielder Ross Dent to nod home from close range.

Shell-shocked Kendal were further set back when centre half Rory Winters hobbled off injured, forcing Rob Henry into the heart of the defence and midfielder Reece Fishwick to right back.

It was 2-0 on 23 minutes as former Kendal striker Sefton Gonzales, a nuisance all afternoon, was hauled down in the area by Mercer, before stepping up to dispatch the resultant penalty with ease.

An inevitable third soon followed, as a free kick on the edge of Town’s box rattled the crossbar, and in the aftermath keeper Liam Bleeker fumbled a cross straight onto the head of home captain David Lynch.

Zach Clark’s excellent low finish from 15 yards reduced the arrears before Jason Hart ghosted past a static Mintcakes backline to restore the host’s three goal cushion.

Clark was then bundled over in the area deep in stoppage time and top scorer Jordan Connerton confidently made no mistake from 12 yards to somehow send Town into the half tie break only two goals down.

Half time substitute Jack Kelleher, making his debut from Morecambe, gave Town hope of a comeback after burying his first touch of the game into the corner following a deft Connerton flick to reduce the arrears to 4-3.

But any hopes of a comeback were dashed midway through the half as the hosts pulled clear once more. They had already struck the crossbar twice more before substitute Byron Andrew was penalised for handball in the area as the referee gave his third penalty of the game. Once again Gonzales did the rest from the spot.

The goals continued to fly in the final stages as Clitheroe finally put the game to bed thanks to a stunning free kick from substitute Louis Mayers, before Connerton scored his second of the afternoon and 17th of the season after being played through by Stringfellow.

Clitheroe: Collinge, Morton, Bamba, Bonaminio, Esdaille, Dent (Garner 63), Dale, Lynch ©, Gonzales, Hart (Mayers 75), Bent. Subs not used: Burns, Walker, Cattermole.

Kendal: Bleeker, Henry, Forbes, Winters (Andrew 17), Mercer ©, Helliwell, Fishwick, Watson (Stringfellow 75), Connerton, Johnstone (Kelleher 45), Clark. Sub not used: Mason