Congs aim to tighten things up at the top of the table

6:01pm Thursday 26th June 2008

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It is difficult to over-estimate the importance of Saturday's JCT600 Bradford League clash between Woodlands and Pudsey Congs, the top two in Division One.

League champions Wood-lands are currently 13 points ahead of the team they usurped as the ones to beat.

But, as Congs skipper Matt-hew Doidge says: “If we can win and the teams below us win as well, there will be five teams with not many points between them.

“But if Woodlands win they will be well in front.”

After a sluggish start to the season, Congs have raced into second place on the back of seven wins in eight matches, so confidence should be high for the trip to Albert Terrace.

But Woodlands won’t be lacking in confidence either, as they have only lost once this season compared to the three setbacks for the four teams who are immediately beneath them in the table – Congs, Bradford & Bingley, Cleckheaton and East Bierley.

Doidge is back in charge this season after one season when Congs were skippered by Babar Butt, and Doidge explained: “I enjoyed not being captain but I am also enjoying being captain.

“We had a good campaign in 2007, winning two cups and finishing second in the league, but the reason I stepped down was that it was getting harder and harder with having a young family. I was also on the committee and one or two other things.”

Congs were in the umfamiliar position of being ninth in the table after four matches this season, three of which they lost, and Doidge said: “We didn’t have our overseas player Mohammed Naved at the start, and we didn’t have Glenn Roberts for any of those three defeats.

“Also we weren’t batting well. We were 20 or 30 runs short in each of those losses and, while we might not necessarily have won all three if we had got more runs, we would certainly have made them all tighter.

“And we didn’t bowl well against Bingley, conceding 70 off our last ten.”

Now, however, they have Naved in harness and Roberts available.

Doidge added: “Naved is only about 20 and has settled in well. He doesn’t try and bowl too quickly on pitches that do not suit but moves it about a bit.

“We have also signed Adam Patel from Harrogate, and he is likely to open our batting.”