Haverhill captain tells team 'we have lost top spot and rightly so'

Haverhill captain Adam Dellar has described last weekend’s home defeat to Little Bardfield as a much-needed wake-up call.

The result saw Dellar’s men surrender top spot in the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship standings to Braintree, who now lead the way by a four-point margin.

On reflection it is a result that Dellar saw coming, with complacency having crept into the ranks during recent weeks.

His side are now playing the role of pursuer rather than the one being chased down, leading to the skipper calling on his players to step up and show their quality.

“It is a wake-up call. We have lost top spot and rightly so,” he said.

“It is all right talking off the pitch and people saying how good a side we are, but it means nothing if you do not perform on the pitch.

“We were a bit naive against Little Bardfield and perhaps there was an element of turning up and believing we would win.

“That is never going to be the case and we are all disappointed with the performance. In truth, complacency might have been creeping in a little bit, but this should have sorted that out.”

It is often said that champions are at their best after suffering a setback, showing their mettle by bouncing back at the first time of asking.

And if his side are to get their hands on some silverware come the end of the season, that is the mindset Dellar believes his men must inherit.

“It is a good little test for us now. We want to win the league, so now we have to show what we are made of,” added Dellar. “When a side is relegated like we were and strengthens with some good signings, people expect you to bounce straight back up.

“It is not that easy, teams want to beat you and you have to stand up to that.

“There will be setbacks, and it is the reaction to those that will define our season.”

Dellar will be absent as Haverhill look to right the wrongs of their previous outing at second-from-bottom Ipswich & East Suffolk on Saturday (1pm), with Anthony Phillips captaining the team.

Liam Botten, who took four wickets in the Little Bardfield defeat, is also unavailable.