WERRINGTON can take a giant step towards their cherished dream of a first Jolly's Drinks Cornwall League title when they take on St Just at Ladycross today.

With the season nearing the halfway stage, events on the compact north Cornwall ground are sure to have a bearing on the title race. A big home victory will give pace-setters Werrington a decisive lead over the five-times champions, while St Just can draw level at the top and take a psychological edge into the second half of the campaign should they destroy their opponents' unbeaten record.

With the weather set fair, the track hard and the Ladycross boundaries invitingly small, it's a match tailor-made for some of the most prolific batters in club cricket.

"They always look forward to coming here because it's a good deck, more of a batting track than a bowling track, and they've got the batters," said Werrington skipper Ben Smeeth of today's opponents. "I think both sides will want to bowl first, so the toss is important. David Roberts is their main danger with the bat and if we can get him out for not too many we fancy getting stuck into them. If we play as a team we stand a good chance."

Werrington have been building towards pre-eminence in the League for several seasons now, and look to be reaching their peak just as their opponents are showing the first signs of fallibility after five seasons of unparalleled success.

The champions have lost twice this season in the League and were dumped out of the National Club Championship by today's opponents after reaching the semi-finals twice in recent years, all of which provides Werrington with extra confidence. Smeeth said: "Everybody's been chasing them for years; they're a great side and we've got a lot of respect for them, but now we want to do what they have done over the years.

"It's heck of a mantle to take on but we feel that if we can beat them on Saturday we'll be two wins to the good and that's a big lead."

Seb Street is still unavailable for the hosts but teenager Paul Smith returns to the side to add depth to the batting.

St Just skipper Gareth May believes that his team had the better of it in the abandoned match at Ladycross in the first week of the season, but accepts that the pretenders to the throne are worthy adversaries.

He said: "They're a tidy side, they've been consistent and we need a big performance. If they beat us they'll get away from us, but we're not looking at that and I think we've got the players and the power to beat them. Hopefully we'll do that, which will put us near enough joint top."

St Just persist with young seamer Terry Williams, who continues to impress after being introduced to Premier League cricket earlier this season.

At the other end of the table, Joe Crane takes his shell-shocked Newquay side to Paul still coming to terms with their nine-wicket humbling at Werrington last time out. Newquay have slipped to third from bottom after stringing together some good victories earlier in the season and the bad news is that today they take on a team high on confidence.

In the past fortnight Paul have beaten Camborne and Truro in the Vinter Cup to set up a final clash with near-neighbours St Just, and triumphed in their last League outing, a three-wicket success at St Austell.

"We're a little bit on the up, everyone's got a bit more confidence and self-belief after three wins and we're back to full strength," said captain Neil Pengelly.

Paul put in a competent performance at Wheal Eliza last Saturday, Pakistani off-spinner Kashif Shafi taking three wickets on debut and openers Ryan Edwards and Martin Oats laying the foundations for a successful run chase in pursuit of 180.

Andrew Snell returns to the fray today and, with a home match against Callington next on the itinerary, Pengelly is optimistic. He said: "There's a positive feel here now and we're hoping for two home wins to help push us up into mid table."

Mid-table club Falmouth are keen to vent their frustrations on visiting St Austell, after bowing out of the Vinter Cup on Tuesday and the eight-wicket defeat at Truro three days prior to that.

Falmouth's batters chose a bad time to have an off-day at Boscawen Park and saw their inadequate total of 197 overtaken with 16 overs remaining, after an early onslaught from Truro opener Barry Purchase.

"We knew we had to bowl them out as we couldn't contain them, but they played through our attacking fields," said Falmouth skipper Duncan Ayres. "We need to get back on the rails on Saturday but if we don't play well against St Austell they'll beat us, simple as that. They're one of the stronger sides in the League now, with plenty of good young players."

Third-placed Truro, meanwhile, are well positioned to cash in should St Just lose today. Tom Sharp's potent squad travels to whipping boys Callington looking to inflict a ninth defeat on the New Road strugglers, and poised to go second in the table for the first time this season.