WHEN you are fighting a relegation battle, the last thing that you want is to have a match abandoned when the opposition are 100-9 and need another 56 runs for victory.

But that was the fate suffered by Undercliffe when they hosted fellow strugglers Farsley in the JCT600 Bradford League First Division on the second weekend of the season.

"I have thought about that match every week since," admitted Undercliffe skipper Michael Kelsey, whose side finally broke their seasonal duck at home to East Bierley last Saturday.

"We only needed one more wicket against Farsley and our overseas was bowling, and he has got some wheels.

"But the umpires said that they would offer the light to the batsman if I carried on bowling him, and there were only three overs left. It was frustrating because they also needed the runs."

Undercliffe, who breezed through Division Two last season by winning 18 matches, are third from bottom in Division One with 43 points, and Kelsey said: "We are in a four-team battle to stay up (along with Lightcliffe, 51, Farsley, 33 and Saltaire, 30), and all of those teams want to beat each other.

"Tomorrow we are at home to Saltaire, which is a massive game.

"We started a two-year plan before the 2014 season in terms of the players that we recruited who we thought could play in both divisions but it is still a big leap from Division Two to Division One, and a few have been surprised at the standard.

"However, although we gained confidence last season in reaching the semi-finals of the Priestley Cup by defeating Morley and Pudsey Congs, we cannot just rely on one or two players.

"Everybody has to chip in, and it is one thing to play First Division teams two or three times a year but quite another to play 22 league matches."

Nevertheless, overseas player Fahim Ashraf is proving a more than capable deputy for Nawaz Sardar, who has moved to Bowling Old Lane.

Kelsey said: "It is the first time that Fahim has played outside of Pakistan but he has adapted really quickly and he is an absolutely brilliant batsman."

Key match at the top is second-placed Woodlands' visit to third-placed Bradford & Bingley, while Gomersal are the latest Division Two side to try and stop runaway leaders Morley.