It’s ‘do or die’ time for Penwortham in pursuit of Division Two spot

​But the Middleforth Green skipper has urged his men to leave nothing out on the pitch when they face third-placed Great Eccleston at home in a do or die battle this weekend.

Pen’s hopes of finishing in a top half position – and earning a place in next year’s newly-formed Northern Premier Cricket League Division Two – are in the balance.

They currently sit in eighth spot in the table – 15 points behind Penrith who lie in sixth.

Pen will need to claim maximum point from their final two games and hope other results go their way.

Fourth-placed Vernon Carus host sixth-placed Penrith, while Lancaster – in seventh – face a tough trip to second-placed Thornton Cleveleys, who still mathematically can catch leaders Barrow for the title.

Whatever happens, Sumner believes his young side have made progress over the course of the summer.

And he is all too aware that the club have a number of young players in their junior side who will all be champing at the bit to earn a first-team call in the future.

"It’s turned out to be an outside chance now but there’s still a chance,” said Sumner, whose side face bottom side Torrisholme on the final weekend of the campaign.

"It’s a lottery is this league so there’s no guaranteed win for anybody.

"We are reliant on a couple of other results going on our way but all we can do is get 24 points from our final two game s and see where it takes us.

"We all want to play as high as we can, in the best league that we can, but listen if we don’t make it, it’s not the end of the world.

"There will still be some good teams knocking around in the Palace Shield and it will give us another year to build and strengthen the squad for next year.

"We have got a young side and maybe it won't be the worst thing in the world for us at the moment if we were not coming up against professionals every week.

"It allows the younger lads to come in and gain that extra experience so that hopefully over the next three to four years, we will be challenging for success.”

Sumner believes Great Eccleston will provide formidable opposition for Pen this weekend.

Pen welcome Great Ecc to Middleforth Green knowing that a maximum-points victory for the visitors will secure their place in the Palace Shield Premier Division’s top six and virtually end the hosts’ slim hopes.

Joe McMillan’s (pictured) men sit in third spot in the table – 15 points clear of seventh-placed Lancaster and a further 10 points ahead of Penwortham.

"It’s always a tough task against Great Eccleston,” said Sumner. “They are a very experienced side and probably have got what we lack to a certain extent.

"They have got a lot of experienced players who have been around for years and know the game.

"It’s always a good contest against them, especially at our place.

"They have got some good batsmen, good bowlers – a bit like us – so it should be a good game.

"We will look to go toe-to-toe against them this weekend and see how the table looks on Sunday morning.”

Fixtures:

​Northern Premier League: Blackpool v Garstang, Leyland v Fleetwood, Longridge v Euxton, Mawdesley v St Annes, Netherfield v Kendal, Settle v Fulwood & Broughton.

Palace Shield: Carnforth v Torrisholme, Penwortham v Great Eccleston, Preston v Eccleston, Rufford v Barrow, Thornton Cleveleys v Lancaster, Vernon Carus v Penrith.