CRADLEY Skipper Max Clegg leads his side into a key phase of the season on the back of a good week for the club.

Heathens make the long trip to Eastbourne this Sunday before staging the return leg of their Knockout Cup tie with Stoke at Perry Barr next Wednesday, May 27.

They hold a handy lead from the first leg in Staffordshire last weekend – hot on the heels of a 20-point thumping of bitter rivals Mildenhall at their Birmingham base.

Said Clegg: “It was a really good week for us with two good wins and loads of positives for us to take as a team.

“It was a great win for us against Mildenhall. They are never easy to beat but we came away with a quite comfortable win in the end.

“All the boys gave it 100% and the hard work paid off, it was a really good performance all-around.

“To go to Stoke at the weekend and win was an awesome result as well. It’s always difficult to go and win away from home, and we were without Nathan (Greaves) as well which wasn’t ideal.

“It was a great effort by all the boys in the end and we could have won by more but for a couple of silly falls. It was a good all-around team performance so we are really pleased.

“Matt Williamson is really starting to relish his role as a heat-leader and he scored some big points for us tonight in the absence of Nathan (Greaves).

“It was good to see Ellis (Perks) back amongst the points and hopefully we can finish the job when we entertain Stoke in the second leg a week on Wednesday.

“It’s only half a job done, and although we are in a good position we really can’t take it for granted. We know how difficult things are in the National League this year, there are no easy meetings.

“We’ll need to make sure we don’t make any silly mistakes, but hopefully we can keep our good run going and make it into the next round.

“After winning the Cup the last two years we’d love to do it again, so we need to put in a good performance next week to make sure we go through safely.”