THE Lancashire League’s joint leaders look to make the most of home advantage this afternoon as the season hits the halfway point and continues to shape up towards a thrilling conclusion.

Accrington and Lowerhouse are locked together at the top and look to press home their advantage when they host East Lancashire and Rawtenstall respectively but they have no breathing space as reigning champions Ramsbottom and Todmorden are both looming just seven points behind the top two.

It makes for a fascinating day of action – and Lowerhouse will be hunting revenge after they were beaten by Rawtenstall last month.

Skipper Charlie Cottam has been boosted by the return to the side of Jonathan Finch, who missed last weekend’s big win at Enfield through work commitments and his men have had just two league losses all season.

Accrington piled up a huge score at Burnley last weekend and with professional Ashar Zaidi the leading run scorer having gone through the 600-run barrier they are a formidable outfit.

East Lancs travel to Thorneyholme Road in a confident mood, however, after ending their slump with a big win over Haslingden last week.

That success lifted the spirits around Alexandra Meadows but they travel without star spinner Paul Kelly, whose son is being christened, and David Turner, who is working – and the absence of the pair weakens their bowling.

Ramsbottom head to Seedhill to face a Nelson side who are dangerous on their day.

Tom Lord’s men lost out to Church last Sunday in the Worsley Cup semi-final but professional Luke Woodcock will be determined to bow out on a high.

He plays his final game for a month as he heads off to play for New Zealand A in Queensland in a tournament against Australia, India and South Africa before returning to Seedhill in the middle of August.

Rammy skipper Jon Fielding is well aware of the threat posed by Nelson, who won when the sides met at Acre Bottom in May.

“They are a good side,” he said. “We know it is a hard game but it will be a good match to play in.”

Todmorden suffered last weekend as they were beaten by Nelson in the semi-final of the Twenty20 and Ramsbottom in the league and Worsley Cup semi-final.

That league defeat saw them drop down to third – and they face a stiff test at Centre Vale as Burnley arrive in town with chairman and Surrey opener Michael Brown in the team.

Brown is working his way back to fitness ahead of Surrey’s return to County Championship action.

Accrington v East Lancs

Stuart Crabtree, Graeme Sneddon and Mitch Taylor return to the Accrington side in place of Matt Schofield, Jon Hayhurst and Bryn Hargreaves as the joint leaders look towards another win with professional Ashar Zaidi in top form with the bat.

East Lancashire make two changes to their side with Ben Westhead and Mo Bhada replacing Paul Kelly, who misses out as it is his son’s christening, and David Turner.

Key Man: Graham Lloyd. Verdict: Accrington.

Bacup v Colne

James Cunliffe replaces Aaron Fielding in the Bacup side and former professional Michael Smith returns to the club to fill in as sub professional.

Sam Tillotson and Lewis Rimmer replace David Hoyle and Tayyib Jamil in the Colne team. Professional Mansoor Amjad is due to arrive back on Friday in time to play.

Key Man: Joe McLuskie. Verdict: Bacup.

Haslingden v Church

Eddie Shah and Muneeb Ahmed replace Garry Sudworth and Charlie Hamilton in the Haslingden team as they look to bounce back from their East Lancs defeat against the Worsley Cup finalists.

Sam Tucker is in Dubai and is replaced behind the stumps by Joel Gaskell.

Mabs Hussain and Phil Howard also come in for Andy Bentley and Levi Wolfenden.

Key Man: Graham Knowles. Verdict: Church.

Lowerhouse v Rawtenstall

The home side pick from a squad of 12 for the Liverpool Road showdown with hard to beat Rawtenstall.

Jonathan Finch is back in the frame for the joint leaders after missing last weekend through work.

Rawtenstall make three changes with Dan Guest, Kyle Ashworth and Andrew Clough replacing Adam Nawaz, Danny Barlow and Dean O’Brien.

Key Man: Jonathan Finch. Verdict: Lowerhouse.

Nelson v Ramsbottom

Nelson are unchanged with professional Luke Woodcock set to play his last game until next month as he returns to New Zealand for international duties.

Ramsbottom are back in the groove and their win against Todmorden last week took them up to third.

Tim Le Breton and Matty Lees replace Andy Hakin and David Bell from last week’s team.

Key Man: Jon Fielding. Verdict: Nelson.

Rishton v Enfield

Rishton look to build on last weekend’s first win of the season when they welcome derby rivals Enfield to Blackburn Road.

Luke McVarish replaces Ben Bridson in the Rishton team.

Enfield make three changes with Simon O’Loughlin, Wes Ingham and Jack Cook coming in for Alex Whittaker, Asif Fazal and Chris Maudsley.

Key Man: Liam Jackson. Verdict: Enfield.

Todmorden v Burnley

Freddie Priestley replaces Danny Brown in the Todmorden team with Matthew Brierley taking up the gloves.

Todmorden lost three games last weekend, bowing out of the T20 and Worsley Cup in the semis and losing in the league to Ramsbottom and Andrew Sutcliffe wants his men to bounce back.

Burnley chairman Michael Brown plays in place of Michael Kelly - and the Surrey opener is eager to add to his played two, won two record for his hometown team this season.

Key Man: Michael Brown. Verdict: Todmorden.