Lancashire League: Barker's dogs of war! (23 Aug 1997)

23 August 1997

Lancashire League: Barker's dogs of war!

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

ANDY Barker's Enfield are the form team of the Lancashire League and 'fear nobody'.

Eight wins on the trot - picking up seven bonus points in the process - have brought them to the threshold of a championship challenge.

Tomorrow they play Todmorden at Dill Hall Lane and, if the season had to run an extra two weeks, Barker would fancy Enfield's chances of taking the title.

But if they can gain two wins from what he describes as "a crucial weekend", Barker will be a happy man on Bank Holiday Monday and the opposition, he believes, will take notice.

"Haslingden have to do a Devon Loch to lose from here," he said, referring to the Queen Mother's horse whose legs gave way yards from the winning post in the infamous Grand National.

"If Haslingden do have the jitters this weekend and we can win both matches, they won't look forward to coming here the last match of the season needing to win.

"You will find there is a great deal of pressure around this weekend.

"Haslingden know that if they slip up, East Lancs don't seem to be able to grasp the nettle. They seem to bottle it.

"But they could let others slip in and then it will all be about who's got the nerve to do it."

While he is realistic enough to accept that a top-four finish would represent a good end-of-season result for Enfield, Barker believes his team have the necessary nerve to push even higher. "We underachieved and that reflected in our results," recalled Barker.

"Shane (Lee, the Enfield professional) had a few words and I had a few words.

"Some players thought they didn't have to try and could look to others to shoulder the responsibility.

"We said everyone had to look after their own games and forget about being prima donnas. "Everything gelled from there."

So much so that Enfield are regarded by other teams as one of the most balanced sides in the league, a vindication of their youth policy of several seasons ago.

"We took a lot of criticism three years ago for sticking young players in but that far-sighted youth policy is now paying dividend," said Barker. "We only introduced players who we thought had the potential to do well and make it in the league.

"Now we have Sam Reidy, 16, Liam Jackson, 16, Dean Barker, 17, David Bracewell, 17, and Darren Walton, 16, all established members of the side.

"And players like Bernard Reidy, the Fox, add the necessary experience."

And, although Shane Lee has been a towering presence this season, Enfield have proven they can do it without him. Tomorrow they have Sussex and West Indies all-rounder Vasbert Drakes as sub professional.

Fixtures: Burnley v Nelson, Church v Accrington, Colne v Lowerhouse, East Lancs v Rishton, Enfield v Todmorden, Ramsbottom v Haslingden, Rawtenstall v Bacup.

Source :: Lancashire Evening Telegraph (https://www.reednews.co.uk/let/)