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Clitheroe professional Stephen Benjamin felt a weight lifted from his shoulders thanks to a match-winning effort against Great Harwood.

And the young Aussie hopes his unbeaten 84 and return of 5-73 will be the trigger for a belated run of form, continuing at Cherry Tree on Saturday.

``I felt a bit like dead wood in the first five or six matches when I wasn't really contributing,'' he admitted.

``So to get the monkey off my back by getting 50 and five wickets in the same match was really pleasing.

``It was disappointing to get starts and then not go on to make a score knowing I could do it. Now I have done it and know what it takes, hopefully things will follow on.''

Benjamin had got into the thirties and forties several times and picked up the odd wicket, following his arrival as Jonathan Fielding's successor at Chatburn Road at the start of the season.

But Saturday's all-round performance represented his first major contribution for the club.

He batted through the Clitheroe innings, sharing stands of 38 with Mark Bolton, 35 with Neil Bolton, 68 with Simon Bishop and an unbeaten 40 with Andy Burns, as Phil Bishop's men got just enough runs on the board.

``I am lucky to have some really good amateur batsman in the side and the key for me, and what Phil has told me, is to anchor the side and turn the strike round. We have got blokes who can hit the ball at the other end and then if I reach the 35-over mark, review the situation. That plan worked perfectly on Saturday,'' added the Melbourne-based left-hander.

It wasn't all plain-sailing, however, as Great Harwood fell just 13 runs short of Clitheroe's 181. ``With two overs to go my first ball went for a big six and I was a worried man,'' Benjamin confessed.

``But I managed to get a wicket soon after that and then Neil Bibby bowled really well in the last over.

``All our wins seem to come in the last couple of overs, so for the spectators perhaps, we're the team to watch! We were without Mick Dewhurst, whose batting and bowling is very important to us, so it was a very good win for us. We are not far off track.''

The win inched Clitheroe above Harwood into fifth place in the Jennings Ribblesdale League. And they will climb another spot if they can win a tough game this weekend against a Cherry Tree side looking to bounce back from last Saturday's narrow loss to defending champions Padiham.

Eighteen wickets went down on a poor pitch as Padiham scraped to their victory target of 57.

And Benjamin is expecting an ``interesting game'' as he and Clitheroe look to stay on the coat-tails of the league leaders.