Southport & Birkdale head to the scene of last season’s endgame, hoping to boost their chances of finding a winning combination in this year’s relegation battle.
A 25-point win at Leigh on the final day of last season secured Premier Division survival for Chris Cunningham’s men, when nothing else would have done.
This year’s struggle isn’t yet at the “do or die” stage but the skipper knows they need to start winning matches in order to close the 13-point gap to safety.
Now, ahead of Saturday’s return to Leigh, he’s calling on his young side to back their ability after a testing run of fixtures.
He said: “We went out there last year needing 25 points, when probably not a lot of people gave us a sniff.
“But we went up there and played our best cricket.
“We’ve just got to try and play to the best of our ability, back ourselves and believe on the field.”
Four games in five weeks against the top two, Wallasey and Northern, had an understandable effect on S&B’s confidence.
But Saturday’s visit of Rainhill, while it ended in a draw due to some early rain, was a much more positive experience.
Cunningham said: “I think in the last few games, it’s been a case of ‘can we stick around’ or ‘we've got no chance here’.
“So there was a mentality change, and hopefully that mentality changes for the next seven games, because if we feel sorry for ourselves or we have any sort of lack of belief then we've got no chance of trying to get a positive result.”
Saturday saw runs for the experienced Jonny Whitehead, and wickets for the evergreen Chris Firth.
But there were also 50s at the top of the order for teenagers JJ Fielding and Jack Stanley; a lot hinges on the performances of S&B’s youngsters over the next few weeks.
Cunningham is determined to drag his side out of the mire, but he insists even relegation won’t derail the club’s goal of being the best proving ground for young cricketers.
“The strategy won’t change,” he said.
“We’re still going to try to become the best place for these young talents to come and play cricket.
“Playing Premier League cricket is crucial, you can't say it's not, because it does retain some of the players you've got and makes you a more attractive proposition next year.
“This cricket club - in its facilities, its volunteer efforts, everything about it - deserves to be playing Premier League cricket.
“But the only way we get to play Premier League cricket is if we get the results.”
