FINISHING third from bottom might be seen as a successful season for a club that have just been promoted, but Scholes' skipper James Stansfield is setting the bar a bit higher than that.

He said: "The club might see that as a good season but we as players don't as that could be seen as a negative."

After coming second behind Morley in Division Two in 2015, winning 17 of their 24 matches, Scholes have had a tough baptism in the top flight.

They lost five of their opening six matches, with the other being rained off, and they didn't taste victory until last Monday, when they defeated third-placed Cleckheaton by four wickets at Moorend.

Wickets – they only took ten in their first three matches – and runs were hard to come by initially this season for the former Central Yorkshire League club.

However, there are signs that things are being pulled around, particularly with the ball, as they have dismissed 28 batsmen in their last three league matches, while Monday's clash was the first time that they have topped 200 this campaign.

Stansfield took 4-49 off his allotted 15 overs as Cleckheaton were bowled out for 226, Yasir Ali bagging 3-49, and overseas player Rizwan Ahmed then made 81 not out as Scholes won by using the extra over that Cleckheaton gave them.

Skipper Stansfield said: "We have a young side, and it is a steep learning curve, but too often we have lost two or three quick wickets inside the first eight or nine overs, exposing our middle order to the new ball.

"What we need to do is get better starts and turn some of those innings into match-winning ones, but there is no doubt that we have the batting talent in Rizwan, Kasir Maroof and Irfan Amjad, while Christian Jackson has played well in the middle order.

"The better clubs, such as Pudsey St Lawrence, Hanging Heaton and Cleckheaton, have a settled one, two and three.

"Some people questioned Yasir Ali before the start of the season because he came from the Central Yorkshire League (Mirfield Parish Cavaliers) but he has produced performances with both bat and ball."

Despite defeating Cleckheaton, Scholes are still bottom of the table on 40 points, 11 behind Pudsey Congs, 15 adrift of Bradford & Bingley and 16 below East Bierley.

However, Stansfield said: "We have played most of the top clubs (Woodlands, Hanging Heaton, Pudsey St Lawrence and Cleckheaton) and now we have some winnable games, starting at Morley on Saturday.

"If we win a couple of those we can be nudging mid-table but we have always thought that we would be in a group with clubs such as East Bierley, Morley and Bradford & Bingley."

With Bierley at St Lawrence tomorrow and Bradford & Bingley hosting Woodlands, it would be a good time for Scholes to make it two wins on the trot.

Top game is Cleckheaton's visit to fourth-placed Hanging Heaton, while Wrenthorpe v Gomersal is the pick of the Championship action.