Farsley on the up as they travel to Farnley

After a tough 2015, the Red Laners are enjoying a much better time of it this time around and head into tomorrow’s game at New Farnley on a high after back-to-back wins over Morley and Bradford and Bingley.

The likes of overseas signing Arthur Price came to the party along with Mustafa Rafique and Chris Henry, but they meet another side tomorrow who have got their mojo back in Farnley.

They themselves won twice over the Bank Holiday weekend against B&B and Lightcliffe, with Nick Walker and Mohammed Bilal among those to make contributions and the portents are set fair for a cracker.

Farsley captain Mark Harrison, whose side are now level on points with second-placed Cleckheaton, said: “We had a great weekend.

“Last Saturday, Morley won the toss and we were in two minds what to do because of the wicket. But with the way the lads such as (James) Wainman, Mustafa Rafique and Neil Laidlaw bowled, they were just fantastic and blew Morley away – and then it was a case of just being composed with the bat.

“To be honest, the previous week we should have beaten Cleck and had them on the ropes. With the way we are playing, we are very confident at the minute and there’s good signs and we are gelling well and starting to fire.

“Our overseas (Price) then played a match-winning knock on Monday and hit 109 in a difficult wicket and it made all the difference.

“We have started to pick things up in the past four or five weeks and deserve to be where we are.

“But we have a tough run of fixtures coming up now, so we are not getting ahead of ourselves at all.

“But with our depth in batting and bowling with the way we line up, we have a lot of confidence at the minute. We feel like we have the bases covered and the make-up and balance of the side is right. And we are all doing a little bit of something.

“This season we have battled through what happened last year and it’s gone. We certainly have a few more wins on the board than this stage last year.”

And on tomorrow’s test against Farnley, who Farsley beat at the end of last season to retain their top-flight status, Harrison added: “Farnley have confidence coming into it and we have as well. It should be a good game of cricket. They have a star-studded side, but we beat them twice last year and can take confidence from that.”

Elsewhere tomorrow, two sides who have had indifferent form in recent weeks, but who are expected to be in the title shake-up in September do battle with Cleckheaton heading to Hanging Heaton.

Leaders Pudsey St Lawrence host East Bierley, whose mood has been improved by successive league wins.

Woodlands make the trip to Bradford and Bingley and second-from-bottom Pudsey Congs, in need of a boost after a poor run, visit Lightcliffe.

Morley play host to Scholes, who beat Cleck last time out.