COLNE veteran Gary Hunt is relishing a Worsley Cup semi-final and admits it’s about time the upbeat Horsfielders made another challenge for silverware.

The long-serving Hunt, player-coach of Colne after a spell as skipper of Ribblesdale Wanderers, is looking forward to the last-four clash with Bacup at Lanehead next month after his side breezed past Accrington in the quarter-final on Saturday.

That cup form is in stark contrast to Colne’s league struggles.

They are bottom of the table after a painfully slow start but spin bowling all-rounder Hunt is confident they will soon be looking and moving up.

“We have had a slow start and that’s certainly not what we were looking for,” he said. “But now Anwar Ali is here and looking good we can start moving in the right direction.”

While the league campaign is yet to take off, Colne have pulled off two stunning Worsley Cup wins and after hammering East Lancs in the first round, beat Accrington on Saturday.

“We have had two good results in the cup and now we want to take that better form into the league matches,” said Hunt.

“And the beauty of the Worsley Cup is that there is no league pressure – if you can pick up a win it really does lift everyone.

“The cup really is a great competition and it’s a long time since we won it.

“In fact, it was in 1999 and Joe Scuderi was our professional when we beat East Lancs – I remember it well and it would be nice to have another crack at it.”

The semi-final between Bacup and the Horsfielders has all the ingredients as Colne’s quick bowling pro Ali goes head-to-head with Bacup’s impressive South African Michael Smith.

It promises to be a good clash at Lanehead on July 4 but Hunt is focused on the league until then.

“We haven’t been playing badly,” he said. “But we were not bowling sides out and Anwar is putting that right and we can kick on.”

Colne have also seen a change in captain already this season with Jeff Ellis stepping down to be replaced by former skipper Matthew Wilson – and player coach Hunt, himself a former skipper, likes what he has seen.

“Jeff is busy at work and felt that he couldn’t give enough to the captaincy,” he said.

“He also felt that he was not performing as well as he can with the bat or ball – and since he has stepped down he has got runs and wickets and is getting back to being the player we all know he is.

“And I think Matthew has done a fine job since taking over.

“He has the spirits lifted and we are all working hard to try and get a few wins to move up the table.”