Chorley v Clitheroe
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
First Round Qualifying 
Saturday 15 September 2007
Victory Park
Winning clubs receive £2250
Click here for fixtures

There should be something of a buzz in the air at Victory Park in Chorley on Saturday, as Clitheroe make the short trip across Lancashire for something of a local derby in The FA Cup.

Both teams are rivals in the Northern Premier League Division One, but with the chance of progress in this famous competition there is sure to be an added edge to Saturday’s encounter.

Clitheroe are certainly seeing the match as a welcome distraction after what has been a tough start to the season for them. After losing their first three games in the league, their only win to date came against St.Helens Town in the previous round of The FA Cup two weeks ago.

However, joint boss Neil Reynolds, who has played for the Blues for seven years and still appears in midfield when needed, is confident that his team can get back into form and kick-start their season this weekend.

“The season just hasn’t started for us yet,” said Reynolds, who shares the role at Shawbridge with Peter Smith.

“The only high point of our season so far has been the win against St.Helens and with no disrespect to them, playing a side from a lower league gave us a chance to progress.

“Chorley have made a great start to the season and are flying while we have struggled a little bit but it’s a local derby and that’s always a great leveller.

“Of course it’s The FA Cup too, so every manager tomorrow will be telling their team that they can go on to reach the First Round Proper and it has to be someone, so there is no reason why it can’t be Clitheroe Football Club.

“As a player when I was with Bamber Bridge we reached the Second Round and played against Cambridge United in front of nearly 6000 people and that’s a great incentive for everyone.

“We’re certainly going into the game with plenty of positives and hopefully the sun will shine on us and we’ll have Lady Luck on our side.”

Clitheroe, who reached the final of The FA Vase in 1996, can certainly draw confidence from their recent results against Chorley as they won three of their four matches with them last season, including resounding 4-0 and 5-0 victories.

They are certainly looking to maintain that record on Saturday and Reynolds is understandably keen to draw confidence from those results and take it into the weekend’s game.

“We did very well against Chorley last season and we’ll look to do the same again, but they are a good side with a very experienced manager in Gerry Luczka and some experienced players in the squad,” added Reynolds, 30.

“We’ve still got mainly the same group of players from last season, give or take two or three, and we finished last season really strongly after Christmas.

“There is enough quality in the squad though and we’re looking to turn the results around in the league as well as continuing in The FA Cup.”

“It’s a massive game and we’re looking forward to it.”

Log on to TheFA.com this weekend to see whether Neil and Clitheroe go one step further down the Road to Wembley.

For the full list of fixtures for this weekend's games, click here...