High stakes in slog-fest

HAVING A BLAST . . . Ryan Barnes has been in good form in the Twenty20 Competition.

TWO Twenty20 fixtures of enormous local significance take place tonight.

The JW Lees Bitter Tom Hardman Competition has reached the business end of the group stages and for Crompton, Heyside, Oldham and Royton the stakes couldn’t be higher (6.15pm).

Group ‘B’ is delicately poised with Walsden in pole position after winning their first two matches.

Heyside have two wins from three fixtures and should they beat Crompton they will qualify for the quarter-finals. Crompton must win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages - which means keeping in check Heyside skipper Ryan Barnes, who smashed an unbeaten 72 against Milnrow on Saturday.

Even if Crompton beat Heyside, a final group fixture against Walsden next Friday beckons - so nothing is easy at this stage.

For Oldham the equation is simple: should they lose to Royton at the Pollards tonight, they will have only one win from three Group ‘C’ fixtures and will need a minor miracle to go through.

Royton, who lost their only game at Unsworth, must win if they are to have any chance of progression.

Even victory tonight gives no guarantee of a place in the last eight as their final fixture next Friday is at home to Rochdale, who have won both their fixtures so far.

With two of their four Group ‘A’ fixtures still to play, Werneth have little more than an outside chance of reaching the quarter-finals. Not only must they beat Norden at home tonight, they need to see off Ashton at Rayner Street next Friday before hoping the net run-rate figures work in their favour.

It’s back to league action tomorrow when the local highlight is the clash of Oldham and Werneth in the Championship. High-flying Crompton will expect to continue their unbeaten run at home to Middleton, but Heyside have an open date.

Premier Division action sees Royton embark on a difficult trip to Walsden. The CLL representative side takes on its Bolton League counterpart in the first round of the Readers Inter-League Knock-out at Milnrow on Sunday (1.30pm).

twitter: @KeithMcHughOC