Lancaster CC face a crucial Palace Shield trip

Lancaster sit third in the Moore and Smalley Palace Shield Premier Division with four games remaining, the first of which is at second-placed Mawdesley on Saturday.

The hosts are five points clear of Lancaster so, if they were to win, that would open up a huge advantage in the race for promotion back to the Northern Premier Cricket League.

A Lancaster win, on the other hand, would see them climb into second going into the final month of the season.

There is also the question of revenge given Mawdesley won the reverse fixture at Lune Road by eight wickets in early June.

Steinson said: “We were really poor that day, there were no excuses for our performance.

“The lads need to use that as motivation between now and the end of the season.

“I think the benefit we’ve got is we have players who have been there before.

“We went down to the Palace Shield and came back up, so the experience of people like Ben (Simm) and Irfan (Qayyum) is going to be vital for us in the run-in.”

Euxton can clinch the title this weekend with victory at Morecambe but, behind them, only eight points separate Mawdesley and fourth-placed Carnforth.

Mawdesley’s win over Carnforth last weekend put them in the box seat for second position, on the same day Lancaster saw off Vernon Carus by six wickets.

It was a win set up by the bowlers with Kieran Moffat claiming 5-22 and Ben Simm 3-17 as Vernons were all out for 63.

Lancaster needed only 14.1 overs to reach their target, posting 64-4 with Joseph Bradshaw hitting a quickfire 43.

A foot injury meant Steinson watched on from the sidelines as Simm led Lancaster to their 10th win of the season.

He said: “If we play like we did against Vernons, then I’m really confident we can get a result there.

“They (Mawdesley) are a decent team but they aren’t unbeatable – and it’s the same for us – so we have to turn up with the same attitude we had last weekend.”