Skipper makes no Bones about Euxton’s promotion target

​James Bone’s men sit in second spot in the table – 10 points behind leaders St Annes, but nine in front of third-placed Carlisle.

A Moore and Smalley Palace Shield (PS) club for much of its existence, Euxton became a NPL club in 2023 when it claimed the PS Premier Division title.

It’s first summer at the higher level was a tough one but in any other year, they would have survived after finishing third bottom.

However, under the new local club cricket restructure, the bottom three – rather than the bottom two – were relegated to form two new divisions in the NPL.

They along with St Annes and Mawdesley were joined by the top six of the Premier Division, plus Carlisle, to form the new Division Two.

Bone – who is the club’s professional as well as the captain – revealed that Euxton’s demotion last season still rankles and they are determined to put it right this year.

"Last season was difficult but I think we all went into it knowing that was how it was going to be,” said Bone.

"In any other year, we would have stayed up in the Northern League.

"I think if you look at a lot of the teams who originally came up from the Palace Shield, that (survival) is all they did in their first season.

"You look at the likes of Garstang and Longridge, they have gone on to win titles.

"They just survived in their first year and in any other year, that’s what we would have done.

"But due to the restructure, unfortunately, we have gone back down so all we can do now is get ourselves promoted again.

"Going into this season we sort of knew the teams who would be there or thereabouts and it’s kind of played out that way.

"We would like to be top right now but we know we have got chances when we will play both St Annes and Carlisle later on in the season.

"So we will hopefully get our chance to get that top spot.”

Meanwhile, Bone has warned his Euxton players to beware of a Thornton Cleveleys outfit intent on revenge.

​The two teams only met less than a month ago for a NPL Division Two fixture at Illawala.

It was Euxton, currently in second place in the table, who came out on top on that occasion in rather convincing fashion by nine wickets.

After dismissing the hosts for 120, openers Josh Tolley and Jack Morgan hit half-centuries to seal victory with more than 30 overs to spare. However, Bone is not expecting such an easy ride when TC head to Balshaw Park tomorrow.

“With the way the fixtures have worked, we only played them about three weeks ago,” Bone said.

“So we’ve got some fairly recent experience of playing them and we got a pretty convincing nine-wicket win.

“We’re hoping for something similar but obviously mindful of the fact that they will be wanting revenge after that so we’ve got to make sure we’re on our game.”

Fixtures:

​NPL Div 1: Blackpool v Fleetwood, Chorley v Leyland, F&B v Kendal, Longridge v Garstang, Netherfield v Settle.

NPL Div 2: Carlisle v Great Eccleston, Carnforth v Vernon Carus, Euxton v TC, Mawdesley v Barrow, St Annes v Penwortham.

PS PD: Burneside v Fylde, Heysham v Preston, K&W v Eccleston, Rufford v Penrith, Torrisholme v Lancaster, Westgate v Morecambe.