Danny Pennell pleased by Pelsall's progress

The Walsall Road outfit are leading the Staffs Clubs Premier Division title race as the run for home begins this weekend.

Saturday’s success over Aldridge left Pelsall 26 points clear of second-placed Cannock after the first half of the season.

And Pennell is delighted with his side’s progress as they prepare to tackle Springvale.

“I am pleased with how the first half of the season has gone,” he said.

“We lost four senior players in the winter who had been at the club for a while and brought a few new lads in.

“You do wonder how the new boys will settle and if they will blend in. It was quite a transitional period.

“But they have all fitted in really well and the recent signing of Ryan Brown has also added something to the group.

“We are playing well and we have only lost one game.

“That was against Beacon and it gave us a bit of a reality check.

“We had a good chat after that game and since then we have played some good cricket and hopefully we can continue to do that.

“We have a 26-point lead, which is nice, but we are aware that if we slip up then it brings a few other sides back into it.”

Pennell described Saturday’s victory over Aldridge as their ‘best display of the season’ with the the title-chasers cruising to a seven-wicket win.

Tom Boyd, Todd Henderson and Ryan Brown all bagged three wickets as Aldridge were shot out for 100.

Boyd then hit 40 at the top of the order to help secure victory inside 19 overs.

Beacon’s title hopes took another hit after they slipped to defeat at home to near neighbours Swindon.

After starting the season with a nine-game unbeaten run, Beacon have now lost in successive weeks to slip down to fourth.

An inspired display from Swindon skipper Waqar Ahmad helped fire his side to a 30-run success.

Opener Ahmad struck 112 in Swindon’s total of 224 and then took four wickets, joining forces with Andy Davies (4-45), as Beacon were dismissed for 194 in reply.

Mike Tromans chipped in with 44 for Swindon while Beacon’s Ollie Green picked up a hat-trick on his way to figures of 4-37.

Beacon face a crunch clash with second-placed Cannock on Saturday with skipper Dan Green sure his side will start firing again.

“We haven’t quite been at it in our last couple of games,” said Green, who was one of five home batsmen to reach 30, with none of them going on to make a telling contribution.

“But sometimes you have to give the opposition credit and that was the case on Saturday. Swindon played well.

“Their skipper, Waqar Ahmad, scored a century and took four wickets, Andy Davies also bowled well and we didn’t knuckle down as we would have liked with the bat.

“But it’s still very tight and things can change very quickly. I still think there will be a few twists and turns before the end of the season. I’m sure we will get back in touch.”