STUDLEY'S home game against Birmingham League Division Two strugglers Fordhouses has taken on added importance after the Washford Fields side's rain-hit losing draw at Evesham at the weekend.

Although Studley skipper Richard Gregory has denied the match against a side currently occupying the division's second relegation berth - just nine points below their hosts - has any special significance, it is fast shaping up as a relegation scrap.

Gregory and his side felt hard done by at the weekend when three-and-a-half hours of rain interrupted their chances of a positive result agaisnt Evesham.

The visitors got in eight overs before the heavens opened and eventually left them just 22 overs to post a healthy 152-5 in the circumstances.

That meant their hosts needed just 123 for a winning draw based on the run rate and Evesham eventually obliged with 131-5 to pick up 11 points to Studley's five and leave the visitors deeper in the relegation shake-up.

"I'd like to think that because of the overs we were due it went very much in their favour and they knew it," said Gregory, "but you can never really say what might have happened.

"We were there to play a game. The captains were offered the chance of an abandonment but when you have travelled that far you want to play so we went for it on a wet wicket.

"We would have taken five points from an abandonment and we ended up with five anyway so I suppose we lost nothing."

Studley will again be without their skipper for Saturday's crucial match-up (1pm start) but Gregory was playing down the league table.

"We have to see every game as an opportunity," he added, "we can't afford to worry about what other teams are doing, we've just got ot get as many points on the board as we can."