Royton seeking cup inspiration

Heyside's quarter-final Wood Cup exit at the hands of Rochdale last weekend left Royton as the area's sole survivor in the CLL's premier cup competition.

For how long Royton can cling to their hope of winning this prestigious competition for the first time depends on their ability to bounce back from poor recent results, and to find inspiration to outplay the CLL's outstanding team of the season so far.

Victory in the premier division tomorrow would provide a springboard, but it won’t be easy as hosts Littleborough are emerging from a slump of their own.

Werneth ought to have beaten Middleton in their latest fixture, so will now view tomorrow’s trip to Championship leaders Crompton with less trepidation than they might have. But form points to another win for Simon Wright’s men, who saw off Heyside last weekend.

The latter face fellow CLL new boys Elton away, while Oldham are at Ashton.

twitter: @KeithMcHughOC