Croston staying grounded despite going top

The men from Westhead Road leapfrogged Longridge at the top of the table last weekend after enjoying an excellent two-wicket win over Great Eccleston.

It was Croston’s fourth win of the season and means they have moved three points clear at the top – and 10 points ahead of Lancaster, who are in third spot.

The teams finishing in the top two positions in the Premier Division have the option of being promoted to the Northern League Division One, but Childs is refusing to look too far ahead.

“To finish in the top two? That would be a nice position to be in,” said Childs, whose side overcame Great Eccleston without him.

“Ideally, we would love to win the title, but we’re certainly not looking too far ahead.

“We have just got to make sure we keep doing what we are doing.

“In terms of promotion, if that was available then we would have to sit down and make a decision as a club, but there’s a long way to go.”

Croston will bid to extend their lead at the top of the table this weekend when they travel to newly-promoted South Shore this weekend.

Meanwhile, Longridge’s Ian Simpson believes Kendal are the team to beat in the Palace Shield after seeing what they are capable of.

After a tricky start to the season, last Saturday saw Kendal dominate a Longridge side with four wins from four. “They are a quality outfit and the best team we have played so far this year,” Simpson said. “They were strong all over, they put the bad balls away and they knew how to bowl really well.

“I take my hat off to them because they showed us how it’s done, Our benchmark has always been Vernon Carus because of the rivalry we’ve had over the last 20 years but Kendal are by far the best team we’ve played.”

Longridge move from one benchmark to the other as they travel to Vernon Carus on Saturday. Vernons lie fourth in the table, eight points and two places behind Longridge after failing to defend 235-4 against Penwortham – a side Longridge had dismissed for 58 seven days earlier.

“It will be tough, as it always is against Vernons,” Simpson said.

“We always take them seriously because of the quality they have got.”