Clitheroe’s woes at home continued as this loss to Ossett Town made it three defeats on the spin at Shawbridge.

The Blues were below par all afternoon with substitute Joseph Thornton sealing the win for the visitors late in the second period after Carl Stewart’s first-half opener.

The home side had the first real chance of the game in the 23rd minute but Daley Woods blasted over after Marcus Calvert’s flick created space in the penalty area.

Five minutes later the hosts were indebted to Hakan Burton for keeping the scores level as he denied Stewart who was clear on goal after being found by Keir Hannity.

Danny Mahoney and debutant Dean Canning tested Ossett keeper Matthew Convey with low driven efforts but that was as much as Clitheroe could muster in a lacklustre first-half.

And ten minutes before the break Ossett had the lead as Stewart headed home a Luke Sharry corner from the left.

Matters could have been worse for Paul Moore’s side shortly before the interval with Sharry firing over from inside the box following a swift counter-attack.

The second-half continued in a similar vein with the Blues unable to create any clear-cut chances of note. At the other end, Burton saved well from Grant Darley’s glancing header just before the hour mark while Stewart flashed an effort inches wide moments later.

With the Blues rapidly running out of ideas, Thornton’s low effort from the left on 79 minutes ensured the points returned to West Yorkshire.