Inconsistent Chorley aiming to ease relegation worries

​The Windsor Park men find themselves placed in the wrong end of the Northern Premier Cricket League (NPCL) division one table with eight games of the campaign left to play.

Admittedly, the table is extremely congested with just 36 points separating leaders Netherfield and second-bottom St Annes.

Keegan Petersen’s men are just one place and four points above the bottom two, but there is still time for them to finish in the higher echelons of the table.

Smith concedes that claiming the league title is probably out of the question now – the most pressing concern is easing any relegation worries they may have as soon as possible.

And he sees no reason why his men cannot finish the campaign strongly.

"This is what this league is now – it’s 10 teams, it’s incredibly close and the standard is high,” said Smith.

“I think if you speak to anybody, they will say the standard is the best it’s been for a number of years now. That saying, the best way to describe us is that we’ve been consistently inconsistent.

"We’ll win games, we’ll lose games – we’ve lost game that we should have been winning but we’ve got to get better because it’s heading towards crunch time now.

"We are in the second half of the season, we’ve got eight games left and we’ve got to really put a consistent run together and make sure that we go into the final weeks of the season where other things might impact you.

"It might rain, games could get cancelled and then it can get out of your hands. These situations you want to be in control of but we’ve seen that the teams who can put runs together, they soon fly up the table.

The title is a massive ask now because ultimately you looking at having to win every game.

“I think first thing first, staying in the division is our No.1 target and staying away from the bottom two.”

Meanwhile, seeing Netherfield lead the way at the top of the table is no great surprise to Smith.

​The two teams clash at Windsor Park this weekend with Smith hoping his men can put a dent in their visitors’ title ambitions.

However, he knows it won’t be easy against a side who he picked out as one of the strong favourites at the start of the season.

“We had success against Netherfield at home last season,” said Smith. “But I think I said earlier in the season that Netherfield were probably one of the favourites to win the league and that doesn’t change at all in my eyes.

“They are a very good side, well drilled and what they are is consistent.

“I have spoken to a lot of people around the league and they have all said that on paper this is one of the best Chorley sides that they can remember.

“But games aren’t won on paper, they are won on the grass and we have got to start putting consistent performances together.”

Fixtures:

NPCL Div One: ​Blackpool v Longridge, Carlisle v St Annes, Chorley v Netherfield, Kendal v Settle, Leyland v Garstang.

NPCL Div Two: ​Barrow v Penwortham, Carnforth v Euxton, F&B v Lytham, Morecambe v Great Eccleston, Preston v Fleetwood, Whalley v TC.

PS Champ: Fylde v Heysham, Garstang 2nds v Eccleston, Lancaster v Torrisholme, Netherfield 2ns v Burneside, Penrith v Mawdesley, Vernon Carus v Westgate.