PHIL Grant has spoken of the sense of relief at GSK Ulverston Rangers after the West Lancs League Division One strugglers finally picked up their first league win of the season at the 16th time of asking.

To make things even sweeter, the 2-0 victory came in the derby match against Dalton United, with Jack Gardner putting the hosts in front after just two minutes and Chris Bolton adding the second nine minutes before half-time.

For Rangers secretary Grant and many involved at the club though, the most important aspect was just getting the points on the board after a frustrating season so far.

“We were happy to get the win, but it was a relief as much as anything to get it because it becomes a bit of a millstone and you start to wonder whether it’s ever going to come,” said Grant.

“Since Christmas, we’ve actually not played that badly. In our first game of the year, we lost 1-0 away to Stoneclough, but if we’d taken our chances we could have been out of sight by half-time and even the opposition admitted that.

“Derby matches are always the toughest matches you play every year, because everyone seems to raise their game. It was nice to beat Dalton, but the main thing was to get the win and we would have been happy whoever it was against.”

Grant puts Ulverston’s improvements down to the arrival of former Barrow Wanderers manager Brian White as boss, crediting him with boosting spirits at the club and bringing in several new players who have helped arrest the slide.

There is quiet optimism that Rangers can make it back-to-back wins against another of the Division One strugglers, Mill Hill St Peters, when they visit tomorrow. However, Grant is wary of being overly-confident going into the game.

“We’ve found it’s a lot harder in Division One than Division Two and everyone is capable of beating everyone from top to bottom,” said Grant. “We beat Dalton, but it was only a couple of weeks ago that they beat the league leaders (Poulton) 5-2.

“It’s a big few weeks for the club because we play the teams who are second, third and fourth-bottom. We played Dalton last week, then we’ve got Mill Hill St Peter this week and Ladybridge next week, followed by the return game against Mill Hill.

“If we are going to have a chance of staying up, these are the games we need to be trying to win.”

The rest of tomorrow’s Division One action sees Dalton aiming to get back to winning ways when they travel to Burscough Richmond, while Askam United can move ahead of CMB if they win away at the fourth-placed team.

In the Premier Division, Vickerstown are away to bottom side Eagley and Crooklands Casuals head to Turton.

And a derby clash between Furness Rovers and Walney Island highlights the Division Two fixtures, while Swarthmoor and Millom are away to Hurst Green reserves and at home to Blackpool Wren Rovers reserves respectively.

Elsewhere, Holker Old Boys are aiming to rebound from their loss away to Cheadle Town last week when they welcome Prestwich Heys to Rakesmoor Lane in North West Counties Division One.