BURNLEY star David Brown believes there is no better tonic for getting over their LCB Cup semi-final defeat by Denton West than going on and winning the Lancashire League.

The Turf Moor men were beaten by 53 runs in Sunday’s last four clash despite at one stage having the hosts in trouble at 76-7, but Burnley’s title ambitions were given a boost by the news that Ramsbottom had lost at Accrington.

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That means Bharat Tripathi’s men are just four points off the summit with a game in hand ahead of this weekend’s derby double header against Lowerhouse and Nelson.

And Brown admits that while Sunday’s defeat was hard to take, the news from Thorneyholme Road immediately gave Burnley a boost.

“It is in our hands now and that is all you can ask for,” he said of the title race.

“Before the weekend we were relying on Rammy slipping up but now we know if we win our games then we will win the league.

“We managed to get our league game on on Saturday while Rammy were rained off and then obviously they slipped up on Sunday.

“I am not expecting them to slip up again so it is up to us now to do our job and win our fixtures.

“We have some tough games left, not least this weekend against Lowerhouse and Nelson, so we know we have to play at our best. I think if you are playing anyone in this league and are not at your best then you can lose.”

Burnley failed to capitalise on a good start at Denton with Tripathi and Dan Pickup bowling well to reduce the hosts to 76-7.

But the home side’s tail wagged and they managed to get up to 168 which the visitors, despite 41 at the top of the order from Vishal Tripathi, never looked like reaching.

“They bowled better than us in the end,” added Brown who made 18.

“It was a difficult wicket and it was turning a lot.

“We were well set on 90-3 but coming in on there against the spin was a tough ask and in the end we came up short.

“It was disappointing because we bowled well to get in a strong position in their innings but they got probably 40 or so more than they should have and that was the difference.”