WITH a win against one of the big guns under their belts and a professional finding form with bat and ball, it is no wonder Barrow CC skipper Toby Mowat is in upbeat mood.

Mowat takes his side into battle against Penrith and Kendal in a bank holiday double-header this weekend looking to build on victory at Fleetwood and continue climbing the Northern Premier League Division One table.

A new-look Barrow team have started the season slowly, but with Aussie pro Aaron Keverne-Onyon hitting his straps and the rest of the side starting to gel, the captain has a good feeling about the months ahead.

“Fleetwood have always beaten us in recent years, so it was a very good win,” said Mowat of the 15-run victory, which was inspired by Keverne-Onyon’s top score of 57 and figures of seven for 53.

“We got a decent total of 196, and we got off to a really good start with the ball. We had them 50 for 5, but then they had a good partnership and it looked like they were going to do it.”

Mowat said the game changed after a nasty accident which saw a bride enjoying her wedding day at the adjoining sports club struck on the head by the ball and rushed to hospital by ambulance.

Thankfully, she was not badly hurt and was able to return to her special day after receiving treatment.

The delay which followed the accident allowed Barrow to regain the impetus in a closely-fought battle.

“It was an unfortunate incident and there was delay for 15 minutes and that changed the game,” he said.

“They were on a bit of a roll at the time, but after going back on an over or two later we got two quick wickets and then Aaron got three wickets in an over, so it just changed the game.

“We needed something to get us going and sometimes it goes your way. It was a brilliant win.”

Mowat feels his team can build on that performance by seeing off Penrith and Kendal – teams they have already faced in the NPL Twenty20 tournament.

“We’ve played them both in the T20 so we’ve had a little look at them. We beat Penrith quite comfortably and we got beat in the other against Kendal, but I think we could have won.

“Hopefully if it’s goes our way it could be a 30-point weekend.

“We just need to keep going and keep creeping up there. We got off to a bad start last year and we ended up finishing fourth. We got on a roll and the momentum was with us and then we just lost a couple of games.

“Last year we didn’t beat any of the top teams, so to beat Fleetwood, who finished third last year, is great. I’m really happy with that performance and hopefully we can keep doing it.

“It’s all right picking up points against the bottom-of-the-league teams but you need points against the big boys. We just need to keep batting the way we did at the weekend and we will be okay.”

One man who will be key if Barrow are to make a surge up the table is Keverne-Onyon, the Perth paceman touted as a future Big Bash player, and whose hostile spells could cause plenty of batting line-ups problems this year.

“He’s a good fella and he bowled really well against Fleetwood,” said Mowat. “He’s got a yard, and he’ll probably be up there with the quickest in the league this year.

“We were obviously a new team at the start with two new overseas players, but we are all getting to know each other now and training is going well. We are on the up,”

In the North Lancs and Cumbria League, Furness’s winning start to the league season will be tested at Keswick tomorrow and at home to Dalton in what could be a bank holiday Monday cracker.

The Rams have coped well while New Zealand pro Seth Rance has been absent on international duty, beating Cleator and Carlisle, with Jordan Buchanan stepping up to the plate with nine wickets in two deadly spells of left-arm spin.

Dalton’s wait for a first Premier Division win this season goes on after they were on the wrong side of another closely-fought result, this time falling 16 runs short at Cockermouth.

And as opening bat Jack Singleton said ‘it doesn’t get an easier’ as they face Workington and Furness in the double header.

In Division One, Ulverston enjoyed a great weekend beating Vickerstown in the league and then table-toppers Lindal in the Sowerby Cup. Lindal – who have yet to taste defeat in the league, with West Indian Kenroy Peters starring with bat and ball – head to Priory Road on Monday, no doubt keen for revenge.

Millom have yet to find any consistency, but on their day are a match for anyone. After losing to Whitehaven in the league, they rattled up 383 for 5 in the Sowerby Cup against Vickerstown, with pro Sameera Sadamal and Graham Dawson both smashing big tons.

With both Millom and Haverigg needing a good run of results to apply the pressure in the first division promotion race, Monday’s derby at Poolside will be a very interesting one.