With just a handful of games left in Counties Four ADM Lancs/Cheshire, things couldn’t be tighter at the top.

Colne & Nelson head the standings by four points from Ashton with Vagas men in third place five points back. All three play each other in the final weekends so the promotion spots are up for grabs. Vagas of course are the outsiders in the battle but two wins from their last two games might just be enough, depending on bonus points.

Ashton led the way for most of the season but haven’t had a game for over a month. Vagas won with a bonus point in the away leg so will really fancy their chances at home. Their last league match was back in February but two Manx Cup games have helped keep the team on the boil and they should go into this with better match fitness.

That is of course a two-edged sword and a leg injury for Cam Findlay last week means he may be a doubt for this one.

Vagas’ success is built around the strength of the front five and all three bagged tries last week in the cup game against Nomads just to underline that. They also managed to rest Mark Oldfield and Dan Bonwick too and both are important, especially defensively where Oldfield is a real nuisance for attacking teams.

The away win for Vagas and the lack of game time for Ashton coupled with home advantage and a big Ballafletcher crowd all point to a possible Vagabonds win, but Ashton aren’t in second place for no good reason and will have a possible league title in their sights.