All hands to pumps for Himley
Himley had all hands to the pumps this week but accept their valiant Birmingham & District Premier League challenge is slipping away with the rain.
Himley had all hands to the pumps this week but accept their valiant Birmingham & District Premier League challenge is slipping away with the rain.
All Greg Wright's first-team squad have been helping out at the Stourbridge Road venue, in an effort to beat the dismal weather threatening this weekend's penultimate round of fixtures.
Champions Walsall can afford to sit back and let the rain fall, as they are sitting pretty with a 24-point lead over Wright's side.
Walsall are on the brink of a remarkable achievement by clinching a hat-trick of titles, the best sequence of domination since West Bromwich Dartmouth won five in a row during the war.
Paul Wicker's team would also be able to claim a repeat of their own club's treble from 1935-37. This weekend's home match against a Shifnal team, stuck at the foot of the table without a win, suggests they are all but home and hosed.
Himley, having launched a tremendous burst of form and results, refuse to give up the chase, which is why Wright has had no trouble finding volunteers to help ready the ground – if at all possible – for the visit of Kidderminster Victoria.
He said: "We've got to try and get a game on somehow and all the squad have been down here mopping up. We're doing everything we can.
"It's a slim chance, but we have to keep going. The way we're thinking is that, if we do fall short, it has still been a fantastic effort.
"We've had one really bad performance against Leamington but otherwise we've played some tremendous cricket and I've been really proud of the team.
"To beat Barnt Green twice, Knowle & Dorridge and Walsall once – we've put in some top performances against the top sides.
"Whatever happens, there has been progress. We've played some great cricket. It should give us the belief that we can come back next season and be challenging again."
Himley are left clinging to the hope that, in the event of the matches somehow surviving the weather, the bottom club can conjure something special at Walsall.
Wright said: "Shifnal made a good start against us last week and got to 60 without loss. But they're obviously low on confidence and once we got the chance to apply pressure, that told.
"We came back brilliantly, fielded and caught well and took some great catches."
Shifnal were eventually knocked over for 106, which proved no problem for Himley to reach.
The Walsall machine refused to crack and at the same time they were dismissing Kenilworth Wardens for 101, after making 208-7.
Wright added: "You've got to give credit to Walsall – we've applied as much pressure as we could but they've kept winning."
It is there for Walsall to win tomorrow, although if Himley can extend the season to the final weekend, it sees Walsall finishing at Wolverhampton while Himley are at Kenilworth.
