Renfrew aim to make amends in West League Cup

Jun 27 2012 by Andy Newport, Paisley Daily Express

RENFREW skipper Sajid Majeed insists his side will be taking their West League Cup duties just as seriously as their league campaign.

The KGV outfit have enjoyed a positive start in the West First Division and currently lie second behind Ferguslie.

But their League Cup hopes have been left hanging in the balance after a sloppy start saw them lose opening fixtures to Greenock and Kelburne.

A win against Ferguslie plus another in the return match with Kelburne turned things around but ’Frew must now win their last two remaining games.

The first takes place tonight at Greenock’s Glenpark and Renfrew will also rely on other results to go their way in the other group games if they are to seal a semi-final slot.

However, Majeed insists his team will be going all out to triumph in a competition which they have yet to win.

He told Express Sports: “The League Cup is still one of our main priorities.

“It’s a first-level competition and its up there as one of the prestigious competitions that all the clubs hope to win.

“We have done well over the last couple of years and we want to continue that.

“However, we got off to a poor start this year and lost our first couple of games. We have got ourselves back into it but we need to win our last two group games and hope results go our way if we want to top the group and make the semis.”

The West League Cup – which went unclaimed last term as the wild summer weather 12 months go put paid to attempts to complete the tournament – is played over the shorter 20/20 format.

And Majeed believes that plays into his men’s hands.

“We have been quite good at it over the last number of years so hopefully we should be able to build on those performances again this term,” he added.

“It’s all about scoring as many runs as quickly as possible and that has been a strength of ours.

“However, we might be without Zia Ul-Haq, one of our top-order batsmen, which is a blow. He is struggling with a hamstring injury and it’s unlikely he will make it.”

Renfrew will hope to reset the balance against tonight’s opponents after suffering a surprise four-run defeat back in early May.

“Greenock beat us in our first group game and it was a close game,” said Majeed. “We hadn’t lost to them in this competition for a long time but they got the better of us the last time.

“They are a good side and we will give them due respect but if we play to our strengths, we should be in with a shout.”

Tonight’s match gets under way at 6pm.