Even on the first day of the new football season there should be no shortage of spectators at Brook Lane for the top of the table showdown between New Brighton and Ormskirk. Which is remarkable in a way, given that the game is unlikely to decide the destination of the ECB Premier League title.
With seven games still to play and only five points between the teams there is still time for plenty of twists in the battle for the Med Imaging Liverpool Competition’s supreme honour. Yet the match will still provide a more than useful pointer to the destination of the title and may give the winners an important psychological advantage going into the business end of the season.
New Brighton, who have not won the title since 1998, have led the twelve-team division since the first week of June, but Bootle skipper Craig Prince, who has skippered his side to victory against both the title contenders this season, believes that the current champions’ track record will just about see them prevail tomorrow.
“Ormskirk have been the Competition’s form team for the last five years and I think their experience will tell in tomorrow’s game but I’d want to stress that I think New Brighton have done very well this season,” said Prince, whose Wadham Road team visit Ormskirk for a Ray Digman Trophy semi-final on Sunday.
“When Ormskirk have their full bowling side out, they are very powerful indeed and they cover all the bases. But they bat well too and they field superbly. At the same time Ashraf Nawab has bowled well twice against us this year and he will have a good say in it while Luke Procter can score very quickly indeed.”
“It’ll be a cracking game of cricket whoever wins and I also think that it would be good if New Brighton did win the league this year because it would be something different.”
And despite the tendency of such games to encourage a cautious approach, Prince does not believe that the game will end in a stalemate.
“Three of four years ago you might have said that one side will bat out for a draw but draws are very rare in the Comp now,” he said. “Because of the effect of T20 cricket on the way teams bat, it can be quite rare for games even to go to the last hour.”
However, as befits a season which has never lacked for interest, the Premier League’s other five games will also provide plenty of interest as teams continue the intriguing battle to avoid relegation.
A mere 40 points cover the eight sides from the third to ninth places and teams as formidable as Leigh or Lytham may find themselves in the relegation slots depending on the outcome of the game between Wallasey and Highfield, the two sides currently in the relegation places.
Nor can any of the sides above just above Leigh or Lytham consider themselves safe as the Competition season heads for a typically fascinating climax.
