RADCLIFFE must brush themselves down and start again, according to captain Martyn Coates, following a sixth defeat of the season in Division Two of the Greater Manchester League.

The Racecourse men remain second bottom in the table, now 12 points from safety with the bottom four set to be relegated.

But while Coates believes they have enough quality in the side to battle their way out of trouble, he acknowledges they have to apply themselves better if the fightback is to begin at league leaders Flowery Field on Saturday.

"We've just got to put the latest defeat to the back of our minds and try to go again," said Coates, following last Saturday's four-wicket defeat at home to Edenfield.

"Every week is a fresh start at the moment.

"We can't let the defeats get on top of us, it is just a case of building ourselves up and starting our season from scratch."

Edenfield’s Brandon Diplock proved to be the difference between the two sides in what was a low-scoring encounter.

Diplock removed the Radcliffe openers cheaply on his way to figures of 2-25 before hitting an unbeaten 36 to steer Edenfield to a victory.

Fred Nixon and Paul Gallagher shared the remaining eight Radcliffe wickets as they were dismissed for 85.

Only two home batsmen made it into double figures, wicketkeeper Chris Berry top-scoring with 29 runs.

Edenfield did not fare much better with the bat, as five of their order fell in single figures, but Diplock kept his head to secure a fourth win of the league campaign.

"Brandon basically took the game away from us with the bat," said Coates.

"We bowled really well and were unlucky to lose really, it's just a shame we didn't have a bigger total to defend.

"As long as we have everyone pulling together, in training and on the pitch, then we will be okay.

"I think the team still has to gel a bit, but it is also about focusing on what we are doing as individuals, especially when it comes to our batting.

"Everyone can improve on that front, and I include myself in that.

"A lot of our problems have been of our own making, we have been getting ourselves out.

"But I still think we are more than capable as a team of staying in this division.

"There may be a couple of sides at the top who will be there all season, but the rest of the teams in this division are all of a pretty even standard.

"So I think there will be big fluctuations in the table throughout the season.

"Teams will take points off each other and go on little runs of victories and defeats, so I don't see that we are already cut adrift.

"It's only a quarter of the way through the season and I believe we have a very good chance of staying up."

Radcliffe also fell to a second defeat in three games in the GMCL20 last Friday at Elton Rifles, losing by eight wickets.

They put on a decent total of 134-6 but were unable to put pressure on the home side following a rare off day with the ball.