Jenkins learning to cope without key men to avoid drop

Jul 12 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

OF the six clubs who made the battle for the 2007 Premier League title one of the most absorbing for many years, five have risen to the top of the pile once again.

The exception is Colwyn Bay who, as first team captain Paul Jenkins freely admits, have had “a tough year”.

Until June 7 ‘tough’ might have seemed an inadequate adjective for the experiences of the Penrhyn Avenue side. Without a win in 10 games and bottom of the elite division of the Business Assistance Liverpool Competition by 13 points, Colwyn Bay appeared to some observers of the local cricket scene set for a relegation fight.

Successive wins against St Helens Recs, Hightown and Maghull relieved some of the pressure; defeats at the hands of New Brighton and Firwood Bootle over the last fortnight have put some of it back on again. Colwyn Bay are 10nth going into this afternoon’s game at Fleetwood Hesketh, 20 points clear of bottom club Wallasey.

“We’ve struggled for availability,” said Jenkins. “We haven’t put out the same side on consecutive Saturdays. However, you have good seasons and sometimes you have to put up with bad ones.”

It’s not just a question of how many players Jenkins has had to cope without though; it’s a question of who’s been missing. Key to Colwyn Bay’s success last year – credible title contenders until the last fortnight of the season, qualification for the Lancashire Cup etc – were the performances of Debasis Mohanty and Patrick Leach. Yet Mohanty’s commitments in India meant that he missed the first five games of the campaign and Leach has made only four appearances.

“When we’ve got everyone out and playing well we’re a match for anyone,” said Jenkins, before bemoaning the fact that such a luxury is rarely afforded him.

“The nucleus of the side is available most of the time,” he said “But Charlie Clubb is away for the next three weeks and we’re without Huw Roberts, Mal Gorton and Chris Rowley today. But that’s what happens when you’re not doing very well.”

“It doesn’t help that we’ve got Northern and Ormskirk coming up in the next few weeks,” he added, as if reminded that when things seem black, there’s also the chance that they can get blacker still.

As for the spectre of relegation, Jenkins states simply that “the two worst teams will go down” and he’s “confident” that Colwyn Bay will avoid the drop. At the other end of the table, he believes the title rests between Firwood Bootle and Ormskirk because they are the two “best balanced” line-ups.

While a poll of Premier League skippers might confirm Jenkins’ judgment, New Brighton are only 27 points behind Bootle and know that victory at Wadham Road this afternoon will turn the championship into even more of a three-horse race. At Brook Lane St Helens Recs will be try to bring off one of the surprises of the season by upsetting Ormskirk.

TODAY: Business Assistance Liverpool Competition: ECB Premier League: Bootle v New Brighton, Fleetwood Hesketh v Colwyn Bay, Lytham v Prestatyn, Northern v Hightown, Ormskirk v St Helens Recs, Wallasey v Maghull. First Division: Huyton v Sefton Park, Leigh v Liverpool, Newton-le-Willows v Highfield, Rainford v Northop Hall, St Helens v Orrell Red Triangle, Skelmersdale v Wigan.