Royton fired up for derby double

CRICKET:

THEIR spirits lifted immeasurably by two victories last weekend, Royton go into this weekend’s Lake Garage CLL derby double header on a high.

First up for Alan Durose’s men tomorrow is a home clash with Crompton, who have hit the buffers in recent weeks and badly need a change of fortune.

Royton, successful at Rochdale last Saturday before the following day’s Wood Cup victory at Radcliffe, go to Oldham on Sunday.

Both derby matches are likely to attract decent crowds and, as is normally the case in these fixtures, no shortage of banter.

CROMPTON, as skipper Carl Taylor recently suggested, are simply not making enough runs to be competitive.

Two innings last weekend yielded just 193 runs and those sort of batting displays must be improved upon if Crompton’s bowlers are to be given a realistic chance of forcing a victory against Royton or Sunday’s opponents at Glebe Street, Milnrow.

As for OLDHAM, they blow hot and cold and are heavily reliant on skipper Chris McDonnell for runs.

Opening batsman Zafar Jatoi has given the captain staunch batting support this season, but was absent last weekend when Oldham struggled at the top of the order and subsequently collapsed to low totals against Ashton and Norden.

Jatoi is available this weekend and will be gunning for runs, starting at Clifton tomorrow.

WERNETH’s season looked to be heading in a positive direction a couple of weeks ago, but a heavy defeat at Milnrow and Wood Cup exit at Heywood last weekend stopped them in their tracks.

The talent is clearly there, but consistency is not and that fault must be rectified if a talented outfit is to fulfil its potential.

This weekend’s fixtures offer little in the way of easy points as tomorrow Werneth host high-flying Littleborough and the following day sees a trip to a Middleton outfit on an upward curve.

TOMORROW: Clifton v Oldham; Heywood v Ashton; Milnrow v Radcliffe; Rochdale v Monton and Weaste; Royton v Crompton; Unsworth v Norden; Walsden v Middleton; Werneth v Littleborough.

SUNDAY: Ashton v Clifton; Crompton v Milnrow; Littleborough v Rochdale; Middleton v Werneth; Monton and Weaste v Walsden; Norden v Heywood; Oldham v Royton; Radcliffe v Unsworth.

Matches start at 1.30pm.