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Oswaldtwistle Immanuel skipper Roger Watson believes his side are now equipped to beat anyone in the Ribblesdale League following their dramatic tie with champions Padiham at the weekend.

The New Lane club made a disastrous start to the season, losing eight of their first 10 league games.

But a five-game unbeaten run has hauled them off the foot of the table and instilled a new wave of optimism into Watson and his team-mates.

Inspired by Watson and his brother, Duncan, Immanuel came within a whisker of toppling Padiham at The Arbories on Saturday.

Duncan hammered 75 and Roger chipped in with a quick-fire 66 as Oswaldtwistle rattled up 252-8.

Then Duncan bagged 6-80 in an impressive spell of bowling but a stunning unbeaten 124 from professional Mark Harvey took Padiham to the brink of victory.

The home side needed eight to win going into the final over.

And when Harvey smashed a six and then a single off the first two balls, the league champions looked odds-on certainties.

But tailender Umar Saddique failed to get a bat on any of the next three deliveries.

Then he scrambled a leg-bye off the final ball of the game to tie the scores before being run out attempting a second. ``It was a great game from a spectator's point of view although, as a captain, I'm disappointed we didn't win it,'' said Watson. ``I didn't think Padiham were going to make it when they needed 60-odd off the last six or seven overs.

``But Mark Harvey played well and swung it back in their favour.

``It just shows how far we've come, though, that we can now compete with the likes of Padiham.

``We've put together a good run and I'd now back us to beat anyone in this league.''

Watson believes a vast improvement in fielding has brought about his side's dramatic change in fortunes on the pitch.

But he's also witnessing more commitment from his side than earlier in the season.

``We've now got the players together who are committed to winning games for the club.

``Russ is batting brilliantly at the moment and he's got a brilliant winning attitude.

``And Duncan makes a 500-mile round trip from London every week to play for us, so you can't get more committed than that. ``At the start of the season I had lads who weren't prepared to travel 200 yards to come to practice.

``But our fielding has really improved as well.

``In the first eight games we must have dropped 30 catches but on Saturday our fielding was outstanding.''

Two wins this weekend could catapult Immanuel into mid-table.

And Watson is backing his men to put a dent in Read's title ambitions at New Lane on Saturday before they attempt to close the gap on mid-table Barnoldswick on Sunday.

``Man-for-man, I think we're a better team than Read, although they're doing better than us at the moment because they've got more points.

``They've got a great player in Peter Sleep and that obviously makes a big difference.

``But the way we are playing at the moment, I'm confident we can beat anyone.''