DANNY Hancock admits Davenham have rediscovered their best form in the nick of time and has warned that relegation would risk doing the club damage.

After recording back-to-back wins, the latest of those a 51-run success against Widnes last weekend, they find themselves 28 points clear of the drop zone with a fortnight of the campaign remaining.

Their place in the Cheshire County League’s second division will be safe if they can extend that sequence at Bollington on Saturday.

“We always seem to perform against the top sides,” said the captain.

“Something has clicked in the past couple of weeks, and we needed it to.

“There has been talk about what might happen if we went down, and it’s hard to think of anything positive that would come of it.

“Players might leave, or become demotivated, and that’s when you’re vulnerable to a slide like others are having.”

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He told the Guardian that key players had made timely contributions in recent weeks.

Ben Gough has weighed in with 10 wickets in the past three matches, including a five-fer at Oxton, and is second only to Hancock – who has 47 in all competitions – for wickets taken.

Meanwhile Sam Hunt picked a perfect moment to score a maiden ton for the first-team in a county league game when he contributed 107 to his side’s total at Butcher’s Stile on Saturday.

“We’ve not scored heavily enough and that’s why we’ve struggled,” added Hancock.

“I always said that if we put on 200 every week then we won’t go far wrong; we did that against Widnes, and look what happened!

“Sam has always been talented, and the challenge for him has been keeping concentration for long spells.

“His was a mature innings, and he rotated the strike well rather than get bored after reaching 60 or 70.”

There is still work to do.

Davenham are due to host second-bottom Stockport on the season’s final day, and Hancock wants to start that game knowing there is nothing riding on it.

That’s why beating Bollington, and recording a third successive win in Division One for the first time in more than year, is so important.

However Hunt is unavailable.

Hancock added: “I need somebody else to step up.

“The irony is that we could finish in the table’s top-half if we win both of our remaining games.”

“Suddenly then we’ll rate the season differently.”