ELLESMERE Port captain Gareth Boys has called on his players to adopt a more aggressive approach as they head into the final three matches of the season.
A heavy away defeat to promotion-chasing Wirral on Saturday has left Port 19 points adrift of safety at the bottom of Cheshire Alliance Division One.
After a recent good run, the depleted visitors were left with no excuses after Wirral scored 185-6 before bowling Port out for 82.
Skipper Boys must now fire his players up as he seeks to avoid an instant return to Division Two, just a year after celebrating promotion.
He said: “We need to be aggressive, obviously within the rules, but we need to bowl nasty and bat nasty, and let them come to us. A bit of the old Ellesmere Port may come out.
“We’ve been too nice all season. Now we’re in a dog fight, so we need to be horrible.”
Port’s batting let them down on Saturday.
After restricting Wirral to 185, the wheels came off in Port’s reply. The captain himself top scored with 14 runs but no strong partnerships were formed.
Despite heavy rain over the weekend, Boys refused to use it as an excuse.
He said: “The weather is the same for both teams. We had the better of the pitch so it should have helped us, but they were too strong.”
Port host Hartford this Saturday before rounding off the season with matches against Old Parkonians and Frodsham.
“The season starts with Hartford on Saturday,” said Boys. “We need to pull out all the stops and win all three of our remaining matches.
“There is pressure, not just on me but there are lads who have been here for 10 years, we need to show what we can do.”
