Seven goal cup thriller (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Seven goal cup thriller

8:40am Friday 16th December 2005 in Sport By Dennis Aris

BOTH sides netted inside the first minute of seven goal pre-Christmas cracker of a cup-tie between Kendal Town and Clitheroe.

And despite having defender Paul Sparrow dismissed at the start of the second half it was Kendal who hung on for a gritty success in this UniBond League Cup match.

Goalscoring chances came thick and fast with Paul Stansfield stealing a march on Town's midfield before seeing his shot somehow escape the grasp of Kendal keeper James Salisbury to give the home side the lead with just 20 seconds played.

As the crowd were still resuming their seats Chris Ward latched on to Stuart Cliff's through ball. His shot beat the Clitheroe keeper, but it was Lee Ashcroft who made sure by forcing the ball over the head of a Clitheroe defender to make it 1-1 with still less than a minute played.

Ashcroft threatened again in the eighth minute, blasting over the bar at the end of a promising Kendal attack.

Clitheroe's Paul Rogers then returned the compliment, shooting wide with only Salisbury to beat.

Clitheroe 3, Kendal Town 4,

A well-worked goal gave Town the lead on 28 minutes. Sparrow's probing pass released Ian Kilford who showed great awareness to pick out Ward, who swept the ball into the bottom corner of the net with his first touch.

The Lancashire side levelled the tie on 37 minutes, Gary Williams supplying a cross from the left for Chris Clark to fire home at the back post.

Three minutes later Kendal resorted their lead as Ashcroft was seen at his best, holding of the challenge of defender Ian Kearney before coolly slotting the ball wide of the keeper.

The home supporters were silenced at the start of the second half when they witnessed the miss of the season. Faced with the ridiculously simple task of rolling the ball into an empty net Gareth Evans somehow contrived to steer it wide of the post.

It was a worrying time for Kendal as they failed to settle and things looked desperate when Sparrow was red carded following a strong physical challenge.

Clitheroe continued to press with Clark's free-kick striking the top of the cross bar and sub Craig Sargeson forcing Salisbury into a brilliant diving save.

Six minutes from time Ged Smith forced his way past the home defence and blasted the ball in for a 4-2 lead, but Evans reduced the deficit from a corner just a minute later and leg weary Town were made to sweat as they hung on for victory.

Man of the match: Paul Rigby, solid in defence and with excellent distribution.

How they rated: Salisbury 7; Sparrow 6, Whittal-Williams 7, Taylor 7, Rigby 9; P. Smith 7 (J. Osborne 7 from 69 minutes), Kilford 7, Cliff 7, G. Smith 8; Ashcroft 8, Ward 7 (McKenna 7 from 45 minutes).