CONCERNED Old Hill skipper Jonathan Wright remains convinced the club can escape the threat of relegation this season following a points deduction which has left them rock bottom of Birmingham League Division Two.

The Haden Hill side find themselves 35 points adrift of safety this week after suffering a three wicket defeat at the hands of arch local rivals Halesowen.

In what proved a low scoring contest, Old Hill managed to reach 129 all out off their full 50 overs.

But Halesowen made it home in reply on 130 for seven with less than five overs to spare.

Wright, who has been sidelined with an arm injury for the past five games, said: " It wasn't the best of wickets and I thought a target of 130 would be challenging but we didn't take our chances when they were offered, while good sides seize upon their opportunities."

Wright admitted to being massively disappointed by the 24 point deduction imposed upon them following a flare-up with Fordhouses back in June but said: "We have to take it on the chin and move on.

"We're bottom of the table by default but we need to get back into winning ways. We must win at least three of our last five games to stand any chance of avoiding relegation, but I believe we can do that.

"The club is in a very good place at the moment and there's a real feelgood factor but we just need to get things right on the pitch.

"There is massive potential at Old Hill and it's very important that we stay up this season, but we find ourselves in a position where we shouldn't be.

"Importantly, supporters have stuck with us. On a pleasant day we can still attract 200 to 250 people which is 10 times more than most other clubs.

"We even took a coachload of supporters to Oswestry a couple of weeks ago - which other club could match that?

"There's a great deal more we could tap into the local community for, but we still need to have that bit of success to stop people drifting away."

Wright returns to action this Saturday along with experienced Nav Poonia for the trip to Harborne, Old Hill then host Fordhouses on Bank Holiday Monday.