Old Hill skipper Nathan Round believes his side are just a win away from promotion to the Birmingham Premier League.
A derby victory at Halesowen on Saturday, followed by a home draw with Brockhampton on Monday, leaves Old Hill 19 points clear of third placed Wombourne with just two games to go.
And though his side lost top spot and now sit second by a point, Round knows their dream of promotion is now tantalisingly close.
Old Hill host Leamington Spa this Saturday.
However, it’s a very different story just a couple of miles down the A459 at Halesowen, who are now staring relegation in the face after their derby loss and a losing draw at Stratford-upon-Avon.
Round said: “The big thing for us is the gap over third place, if someone had offered me the points last Friday I would have taken them.
“You would probably say one more win would do it but I think as long as we don’t lose we will be alright.”
Saturday’s derby was a very much one sided affair after Elliot Wilson took 8-40 and Halesowen were skittled out for just 90.
Though Old Hill lost five wickets in the run chase, the hosts never had enough runs to play with against their opponents strong batting line-up.
On Monday Round’s side had Brockhampton reeling at 74-6 but the visitors recovered to post 182-9. Old Hill then struggled in their reply, losing regular wickets and eventually hanging on at 172-9.
Round added: “We should have won the game on Monday but we batted poorly.
“I think maybe the pressure got to us a little bit.
“We are urging the lads to be positive and aggressive in their play.
“That really showed on Saturday as I felt we were always in control.”
Halesowen will be boosted by the news skipper Mo Ishtiaq is unlikely to face sanction for the unsightly incident which marred the end of the derby clash.
Ishtiaq had to be pulled away from Round after being smashed for a huge six by Richard Jones in the game’s penultimate over.
As the team’s most consistent batsman and most potent bowling threat, Hales need the skipper to be on top of his game for the final two games, starting with this Saturday’s clash with Bromsgrove.
Halesowen are bottom of the league, 15 points adrift of safety and realistically need to win their remaining two games to have any chance of survival.
Meanwhile, Old Hill’s second XI moved up to second and above Halesowen after a derby victory of their own at Haden Hill.
That was followed by a winning draw against Tamworth on Monday.
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