JER Lane captain Raqeeb Younis admitted his surprise at how well the club have taken to life in the Bradford Premier Division in their maiden campaign.

The Bradford club were promoted to the top league after an outstanding season in Division 1 last time out, but they’ve taken to the Premier Division like a duck to water and find themselves in 4th place with just four league games remaining.

Their latest scalp, having already beaten champions Woodlands this season, was last weekend as they saw off the Priestley Cup victors Bradford & Bingley to push ever closer to a top four finish.

Reflecting on the victory, Younis said: “As a club it's massive to win any game in the Premier Division. People tend to forget that we only started to play Bradford League cricket in 2018, so within five years we're rubbing shoulders with the big boys who are established Bradford Premier League clubs. We are going into games knowing we have the quality to beat anybody, which just shows how far we have come as a club.”

Despite last weekend’s impressive victory, Younis brushed off top four talk, as he admitted: “I’ve said this throughout the year that we never targeted too much for our first season in the Premier Division. The goal for us was always to avoid relegation. Of course, things can change and when you do get wins like we have done against teams such as Bradford & Bingley and Woodlands then the outside may have different expectations for you as a team, but for us, we are happy with our position, and we won’t be classing a victory against a top four rival as a must regarding our final league positioning.”

Reflecting on Jer Lane’s maiden campaign in the Bradford Premier Division, the club’s captain said: “Yes, it’s been a good challenge and it’s been testing. We have struggled throughout the campaign with injuries, and the stop-start nature of the season because of the weather has also brought several difficulties to our first season in the top division.

“Saying that, although we are not mathematically safe from relegation just yet, we have done extremely well to find ourselves in the situation we are in at the moment. We are in a really good position; a position that not many promoted teams find themselves in at this stage of the season when being promoted to the Bradford Premier Division.”

He added: “It is a surprise with how well we’ve done. I do know what the lads are capable of and the quality the group possesses, so in that respect it isn’t a shock, but the way we’ve settled into this division and the position we’ve found ourselves in, that is a surprise. It’s certainly a pleasant one.”

Jer Lane travel to Woodlands today and they’ll be looking for a historic double over the consecutive three-time Bradford Premier Division Champions.

Looking ahead to the fixture, Younis said: “Woodlands are a formidable side as we all know. If they win the league this year it will be their fourth consecutive time at doing so, which is just incredible. But our boys love a challenge against some of the big teams because it brings out the best in us.”

Woodlands fell to a six-wicket defeat against Bradford & Bingley in the Priestley Cup final last Sunday, and Younis admitted that it could well spur the current Premier Division champions to bounce back in style.

He said: “They might be hurt from hurt Sunday’s defeat and that makes this fixture even more dangerous. It’s never a good time to play Woodlands.

“It could go two ways, with one of the outcomes being that we feel the wrath of Woodlands after their defeat.”

Younis added: “Doing the double over them in the league would be a brilliant outcome for the club because I don’t think many teams have done that over the past few years. It would be almost as good as winning a trophy.

“It would be a massive boost for the club, it would be a massive boost for the team and it would be very historic. However, it won’t be easy.”