JOHN CRANE is looking for Mold to strengthen their Division One title bid by getting one over expected challengers Pontblyddyn.

The two teams meet in a Flintshire derby at Alder Meadow tomorrow with visiting Mold second in the table and Pontblyddyn down in eighth.

Despite their current standings, Mold captain Crane is expecting Pontblyddyn, who finished third last season, to emerge as one of their rivals for promotion.

“I think us and Pont will be fighting it out for the title,” said Crane. “With the way we’ve started we want to be up there and Pont, with the team they’ve got, should challenge. They’ve only played two games and it was a bit of a shock losing to Bethesda, but they’ve got good players.”

The signing of Wes Gillam and the rise of teenager Isaac Allen have further strengthened Mold’s first XI, leaving Crane confident of improving on last season’s fourth placed finish.

“Everyone is playing well,” he said. “We didn’t start too well when we lost to Llanrwst, but since then we’ve been playing well and without winning a toss.”

“We bat down to eight or nine with the likes of Richard (Crane), Usman (Butt), Duane (Williams) joined by Isaac, Wes, the Deniz brothers and myself.”

Pont skipper James Birch is hoping a Bank Holiday double-header can kick-start his side’s season.

Approaching the final weekend of May, Birch’s men have played just twice, but games against Mold and Mochdre in the next three days represent a chance to find form.

“It has been hard to get going as a team, but hopefully two wins this bank holiday weekend will change this,” said Birch. “Our aim this season is to push for promotion, this is obviously going to be increasingly difficult with only one team going up but we are committed to this cause.

“We know what Mold offer but we are confident with the guys we have that we can hopefully get a positive result.”

Glenn Chambers and Chris Moss miss out for Pont, who are boosted by the return of Angus Reckford.