LEIGH RMI make the long journey to Gretna in the knowledge that a victory would close the gap on their Unibond promotion rivals.
With most of the Division One clubs in Trophy action, fourth placed RMI have an ideal opportunity to make up ground on the other contenders.
They have picked up six points in their last two matches scoring five goals, but more importantly, they have kept two clean sheets.
"Our defenders have regained the form they showed earlier in the season and clearly if you are not conceding goals you are always in with a chance of getting a victory," said manager Steve Waywell.
"Danny Collier, came in for his debut against Ashton on Monday and didn't put a foot wrong. Both Mark Schofield and Matty Western are now fit which leaves me with a selection dilemma."
Waywell will take a squad of 15 to next to bottom club Gretna, but has already ruled out Mick Wallace and Tony Edwards and long-term casualty Pete Smyth. RADCLIFFE BORO travel to Ashton tomorrow boosted by a midweek single goal victory at Atherton LR that put Kevin Glendon's men back on course in the pursuit of leaders Lincoln United.
Last weekend's 2-1 home defeat by Whitley Bay was a surprise blunder allowing a massive 10 point gap to open up at the top of the table. This was reduced to sevent points when Lincoln suffered a surprise 4-0 home defeat by Farsley Celtic. Glendon is under no illusions as to the size of the task facing his side and knows where he needs to adjust matters.
He said early this week: "We are not finishing off enough of the chances that we create. I will be looking to bring in a new striker if one becomes available. We are performing excellently at the back and in midfield but just lacking that vital touch in front of goal. Ian Lunt will always get around 20 goals in a season but we need someone alongside him that is going to also get around that mark - if not better!"
Such strong talk could already have found a solution on his own doorstep. Last season's scoring sensation partnering Lunt, Peter McRae, immediately rose to the challenge - literally - when he feared his place may be in jeopardy. He scored the vital goal at LR when he out-jumped everyone by at least two feet to power in a header from a corner. If he can start producing the goods again on a regular basis, now that he has recovered from his had ankle injury, Boro could well start to make inroads into the that gap at the top. ATHERTON LR entertain bottom club Warrington Town and there will certainly be feeling of trepidation in the Crilly Park camp.The Achilles heel that has blighted LR since the move into the Unibond League two seasons ago has been coming unstuck against teams that on paper should present little problem to Dave Morris's side. Wins against the top clubs have invariably been followed by shock defeats - especially at home - against the Division strugglers.
Midfielders Mattie Brooks has served out his three match suspension and along with striker Gavin McDonald and utility man Kenny Quigg will be available tomorrow. For McDonald it presents the opportunity to impress against one of his former clubs. Midfielder Tony Pemberton faces a month out with a groin injury. ATHERTON COLLS entertain a St Helens Town side that is currently experiencing a rare rough ride in the first division table. "Saints" have traditionally been one of those outfits that is always there or thereabouts without perhaps making the breakthrough into actually capturing the major silverware. This season has seen a real struggle for the Hoghton Road club with just three wins in eleven games and a current bottom six placing. Colls have flattered to deceive since the start of the club's first ever campaign in the NWCL top flight.
Last Saturday's home 2-2 draw with Chadderton was the perfect example. The first quarter of an hour saw Colls knocking the ball around superbly and camped out in the opposition penalty area. No goal were forthcoming and suddenly "Chaddie" win a free kick, the left back comes up from nowhere and bag they're one up. To say that Ian Lamb and Steve Walton's man struggled to recover from the shock would be a massive understatement. They were incredibly awful for the rest of the game and incredibly lucky to scrape a point. One thing is for certain tomorrow, St Helens may be struggling but it will need a far more mature approach from Colls to make sure of all three points. DAISY HILL went down 2-0 last weekend at Nelson in disappointing fashion. "We were just not good enough," said manager Jimmy Hulton. It is going to take a massive improvement tomorrow to take anything out of the visit of second in the table Haslingden to News Sirs. Hulton is hoping that highly-rated striker Roy Litherland will be fit after a calf problem but recent signing Tony Bolton is still away on holiday. TOMORROW'S FIXTURES
Unibond Division 1 Atherton LR v Warrington Town; Gretna v Leigh RMI; Ashton United v Radcliffe Boro. NWCL Division 1 Atherton Colls v St Helens Town. Division 2 (ko 2pm) Daisy HIll V Haslingden. Manchester League (kos 2pm) Premier Division Atherton Town - no fixture. Lancashire Adidas Amateur Shield - 2nd Round Replay Little Hulton Utd v Elton Fold. West Lancs League (kos 2.15pm) Division 1 Leyland Motors v Blackrod Town; Eagley v Burnley United; Feniscowles v Turton; Charnock Richard v Tempest Utd.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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