Captains eye key clashes

PETER ROBERTS: The Bamford Fieldhouse batsman faces his former team-mates tomorrow.

Armstrongs Office Furniture Saddleworth and District Cricket League by KEVIN RICHARDSON
HEYSIDE and Moorside will be sick of the sight of each other by the time the credits roll for “The Royal” on Sunday evening.

Points are at stake when the Armstrongs Office Furniture Saddleworth and District Cricket League title hopefuls go head to head at Little Hey Street tomorrow.

They also lock horns on Sunday at Turf Pit Lane, with a place in the semi-finals of Tanner Cup up for grabs.

Although captain Mark Barnes has been quick to play down any title talk, Heyside must seriously fancy their chances with the season at its half-way stage.

The division one table shows them just ahead of Hollinwood but, as the second-placed team are likely to be docked 148 points for fielding an ineligible player, they are effectively well clear of this weekend’s opponents.

Barnes will stress that the job is only 50-per-cent done, and in Moorside they face a squad of players perfectly capable of producing a big performance.

Opposite number Lee Warburton knows the importance of the next two days only too well as he attempts to steer his side to their first major piece of silverware for seven years.

He said: “This is our chance to push on. We had a chat after nets on Tuesday night and everyone knows what is expected of them.

“At the start of the season we were looking at a top-four finish, and that remains our goal — we’re not thinking about the title just yet.

“Whoever wins tomorrow will be slight favourites for Sunday, but I can see two close games of cricket between evenly-matched sides.”

Sunday’s meeting between the sides has come about following last weekend’s high winds, which forced the abandonment of the quarter-final tie after two overs.

Saddleworth play host to Greenfield in the other Tanner Cup fixture held over.

The home side were originally due to meet Hollinwood, but the Lime Lane outfit were removed from the competition because of an ineligible player.

That meant their first-round victims, Greenfield, were reinstated, but because these events unfolded so close to the date set aside for the last-eight, the league decided to postpone the tie for seven days.

Greenfield have had to give up home advantage due to a pre-arranged afternoon of ‘Caribbean Cricket’ at their Ladhill Lane ground.

Returning to the league programme, reigning champions Bamford Fieldhouse have raced up the table after a series of big wins.

They are at home to Uppermill, who will face two old boys in the guise of the Roberts brothers, Peter and David.

Defeat by Bamford ended a run of four straight league victories for Friarmere, but they will be hopeful of getting back on track at Greenfield, who will be without Ben Johnson because of suspension.

The way Kevin Du Feu’s Austerlands side are playing at the moment — they have won three of their last four league games — they must be confident of qualifying for next season’s LCB Cup.

They go to Stayley, whose recent fortunes in the league are just the opposite with four defeats in their previous five matches.

Buoyed after their win over Greenfield last Saturday, Glodwick visit basement boys Droylsden while Saddleworth, who are also struggling at the wrong end of the table, play host to Hollinwood.