PAUL Wilcock takes his Lindal Moor side into Higson Cup final battle against Workington on Sunday knowing the odds are stacked against them.

Moor face the team at the top of the four-division North Lancs and Cumbria pyramid, who lead the Premier Division by some distance and have yet to suffer defeat in the league this season.

And, while Lindal are having a very good year themselves – second in Division One and South Cumbria Twenty20 Cup runners-up – they rightly go into Sunday’s showpiece at St George’s Road, Millom, as massive underdogs.

Wilcock is under no illusions about the size of the task facing his side if they want to bring the Higson Cup back to Pennington Lane for the first time since 2002.

“Obviously it’s a tough ask,” said Wilcock, whose hopes of lifting the South Cumbria Twenty20 Cup last Sunday were thwarted by his former club Furness who coasted to a 10-wicket win in the final.

The manner of Furness’s victory perhaps showed the gulf in class between the top flight and Division One, although Lindal can take heart from the fact they have beaten two decent Premier Division sides in Cleator and Keswick en-route to the Higson final.

Lindal are not without Higson Cup winners in their squad – Wilcock, Mark Daly, John Atkinson and Chris Brookshaw have all tasted victory – so they have no reason to feel over-awed by the occasion.

Said Wilcock: “We got murdered by Furness in the final on Sunday and Workington are above Furness in the league, so we know how tough it is going to be.

“But anything can happen on the day and we have beaten two good sides in Cleator and Keswick.

“The Keswick game was as complete a performance as I’ve seen since I’ve been involved with Lindal.

“We did all three things well under pressure so I’m hoping we can do the same come Sunday. So yes, in a one-off game, you never know!”

He added: “ I think the fact we are pushing for promotion and made the T20 final and now Higson final shows we as a club are going in the right direction.

“Only Furness in South Cumbria are competing for more than us and I’d certainly have taken that first week in August.”

Newly-crowned South Cumbria Twenty20 Cup winners Furness have another big cup match this Sunday as they host Kendal of the Northern League in a mouth-watering County Cup semi-final.

And completing Sunday’s cup action Hawcoat Park are at home to Egremont in the Marsden Cup semi-finals.