THEY have not conceded a goal since mid-November and have won their last four matches in Division One.

Little wonder, then, that CMB manager Rob Pennington is eyeing a late surge, hoping to disrupt the top three currently battling it out for the title.

CMB were 3-0 winners at Milnthorpe Corinthians on Saturday, a result that still leaves them fourth, 17 points behind leaders Hurst Green, though they have games in hand on each of the top three.

Their season has been hugely disrupted by the weather – each of their five scheduled games in December was called off – but that has served them well, allowing their many injured players time to recover and join the fray.

Among them is former Bury striker Andy Bishop. The Gigg Lane legend has now featured twice for Pennington’s side, and the manager says, as well as the two goals he scored on Saturday, he cannot under-estimate the influence he has had on his team-mates.

“He showed he’s real class, he was so good on Saturday against Milnthorpe,” he said. “He’s a very good lad to have around too, he’s come in and helped to coach the lads, he’s full of really good advice and he was happy to start on the bench on Saturday.

“There just isn’t a downside to having him around.

“His two goals on Saturday were excellent too, he was brilliant when he came on.

“For his first he shrugged off two men and finished well and for the second he started and finished the move. He could have had a hat-trick, he had a one-on-one with the keeper but squared it for Matty Chapman, which shows what a team player he is.

“We could have named just about anyone as man-of-the-match, they were that good, I think it has to have been our best win of the season.

“Micky Ford came up with a great finish for our first goal, Danny Lever pulled off some good saves whenever he was needed, Callum Yearsley did well, Ash Farlow was terrific, Ben McSorley too.

“I could go on but after a real captain’s performance it went to Will Archer, he and the whole back five were excellent.”

Their campaign has also been hit by a lengthy injury list but with numerous players returning to action it is becoming ever-more difficult to select the club’s two teams with close to 40 turning out for training.

CMB still have fixtures against leaders Hurst Green – the last team to score against them – and second-placed Poulton still to come, meaning Pennington refuses to call time on their title bid.

“I’m still wanting to go for it, we’ve just beaten the team in third 3-0, which flattered them, and we have the top two to play,” he added. “We’ll go one at a time and the next game is always the most important. We’re getting a lot of lads back now, there are still three or four we’re missing, so it will be tough. There will have been about 10 or 11 who didn’t make either squad on Saturday.

“Competition is there and there’s no room for complacency. We’re focusing on the league and we certainly won’t settle for second best. We have proved we deserve to be up there, so we might not get there in the end but we won’t stop trying, we’ll give it a good go.”

Division Two leaders Ladybridge were 3-2 winners at home to Padiham Reserves.