IT is very much a case of exciting times ahead for Tottington St Johns, who are maintaining a promotion push in the GMCL’s Division Three West despite having to play away from their Crompton Meadows home ground.

That is the view of opening batsman Kieran Coe following four wins from seven league matches so far this summer, leaving them fifth in a highly-competitive league with 23 points – six behind second-placed Elton seconds.

On Saturday, Tottington brushed aside one of their promotion rivals, Monton seconds, by four wickets chasing 78. Monton are now fourth but only a point ahead.

“We’re playing all our games at Radcliffe because our ground’s being renovated. The whole playing surface has been dug up and is being replaced,” said Coe.

“We’re really thankful to Radcliffe and also Bamford Fieldhouse, who have offered their ground for our second team to play at.

“We have to be back home next year because we’ve lost revenue from functions, people coming down to watch us play and putting money over the bar, etc.

“It should have been ready for this year, but the adverse weather over the winter put us back.

“But I went back to the club after the game on Saturday and there were still 30 people in the pavilion having a laugh and a drink. It’s testament to the spirit.

"The fact that we’re sticking together when we’ve no ground to play at is great.

“Going forward, everything is rosy. We just have to wait for the grass to grow. It’s like watching paint dry, but just grass!”

On Saturday, medium pacer Simon Marsh starred with 6-34 from 14 overs, and has taken 27 wickets in all competitions this summer, while fellow new-ball seamer Ryan Wilkes chipped in with three wickets after Monton were skittled having elected to bat first.

In Tottington’s reply, there were a couple of nervy moments at 5-2 and 38-4, but Danny Hornby and Rick Carr hit 24 and 21 respectively.

“We’re doing the job with the ball and in the field, but we’re stuttering a bit with the bat. Thankfully, we managed to get over the line,” said Coe.

“Simon Marsh is bowling brilliantly. He’s pretty unplayable at the moment. Ryan Wilkes has also come back in and bowled well, having been away for a couple of weeks.

“The wickets now are quite dry, so there’s a bit of uneven bounce around. It’s not seaming, but there’s just a differential in bounce to deal with.”

On the promotion push, Coe added: “The third division is right for us, but we’ll be in the mix to go up.

“We’ve lost a couple of games we should have really won.

"Against Worsley, we were chasing 116 and didn’t get there, even though we were 90-odd for four.

"Then, against Roe Green, we were chasing 131 and lost.

“Nobody’s really hammered us. Bury put on 226 against us, but we ended up getting a point because we finished on 175-9.

“We’ll be there or thereabouts.”