John steels himself for final shoot-out

Photo: PHOTO BY DARREN ROBINSON.

I’M A BELIEVER . . . John Wiggans is convinced his Unsworth side can rise to the occasion.

JOHN Wiggans will lead his side into the heat of John Willie Lees Wood Cup final battle less than a month after being hit in the face by a cricket ball.

Fielding at short leg against Monton and Weaste, the Unsworth captain did not have time to take evasive action as a fiercely-struck shot crashed against his mouth.

The result was a broken jaw which required two steel plates and four screws.

The metal work is still in place, but Wiggans has declared himself fit and is dreaming of lifting the Wood Cup with victory over Milnrow at Walsden CC on Sunday (1.30pm).

“We can beat anybody on our day,” said Wiggans. “We showed that when we beat Rochdale in the second round and if we turn up with our game on the day there is no reason why we can’t do it.”

Wiggans captains a well-balanced team which contains two South Africans in professional Calvin Flowers and overseas amateur Jonathan Fowler.

Ex-Werneth batsman Paul Entwistle, who spent 20 years at the Coppice, is also in the Unsworth line-up, along with spin bowler Liam Richards, a product of the Werneth junior set-up.

Unsworth, beaten finalists against Heywood in 2007, won the CLL’s Twenty20 Competition two years ago, but victory in the Wood Cup would represent their biggest achievement since they joined the league 21 years ago.

Milnrow and their supporters will have a sense of deja vu when they go out to face Unsworth.

The last time the Ladyhouse club reached the final was in 2003, when they faced Heywood . . . at Walsden.

They lost on that occasion, a fate which also befell them in 1972 against Castleton Moor.

That year, just like this, their second team also reached the final of the Burton Cup . . . and they were defeated by Royton.

So Milnrow have a record to put straight on Sunday and, on this season’s evidence, they will start slight favourites.

New captain Paul Winrow, an accumulator of runs, and Alex Scholefield, the more aggressive of the pair, form a formidable opening batting partnership following their move from Barkisland in the Huddersfield League.

And with Max Power usually among the runs in the middle order and Milnrow boasting an effective professional all-rounder in India’s Kuldeep Diwan, the Ladyhouse outfit possess plenty of fire power.

Skipper Winrow (34) is having a successful first season in the CLL.

He said: "I have played in a few finals in other leagues, including winning the Sykes Cup in the Huddersfield League in 2008, but I have never been in one over here.

“I am really looking forward to it, as is everyone at our club which is buzzing at the moment with our appearance in this and the second team being in the Burton Cup final.

"I am told this is a really big occasion which attracts a big crowd so it will be a case of who performs best on the day and holds their nerve rather than freezing.

"We have beaten Unsworth twice in the league this season, but on both occasions there were times when it could have gone their way.

“They do have some young lads in their team and our greater experience told in the end.

“I hope that experience counts for us again on Sunday."