TEAMS want their professionals to make a immediate impact - and Enfield’s Gary Brent did just that.

The Zimbabwe all-rounder has come in as a replacement for Brandon Hiini who has linked up with the New Zealand Emerging Nations squad.

And Brent, 32, took seven wickets and top scored with 40 on his debut to help Enfield to a tense one-wicket win over Haslingden - and they hope there is more to come from him for the second half of the season.

"He is great," said skipper David Bracewell. "His arrival has given everyone a lift as results haven’t been very good over the last few weeks.

"If he can perform like that every week then we will be happy! But he has shown what he can do and now, that’s two wins in a row, hopefully we can put a decent run together."

The seven wickets certainly warmed him to his new team-mates but Brent’s batting experience has also been a boost for Enfield.

"He never looked like he was going to be out and he was a real help to all those he partnered," continued the captain. "Joe Wrigley came in near the end and he is only a young lad, with limited first team experience and it was getting tense. But Gary helped him take it over by over and kept talking to him.

"We need someone like him. Our bowlers have done well this season but it is our batting which hasn’t been too strong.

"There is only really Mas (Ahmed) who has got going and we need a score off a few more now."

And they hope they can go on a roll with a full strength side visiting local rivals Church this weekend.

"It is the first time in a while we have been at full strength. There have been injuries, work commitments and things like that but we should be at full-strength for the next few weeks and hopefully we can get the results we need.

"We are mid-table at the moment and we want to cement ourselves in the top half of the table and string some wins together.

"We usually have close battles against Church and it will be nice to get one over on them."

CHURCH will be aiming for a better show after losing to Nelson in a low scoring game. They only made 94 with pro Niel Bredenkamp top scoring with 37 while Seedhill pro Craig McMillan did the damage, taking six wickets.

Despite three wickets from Andy Bentley and a late wobble, Nelson held on to keep their title chase on track.

RISHTON also lost out despite pro Saeed Anwar smashing 86 - including 10 fours and a six - against Ramsbottom. The Pakistan all-rounder has now hit a staggering 893 runs and is far ahead in the league’s runs-scored charts.

The 29-year-old also took two wickets but his side gave away 36 extras which helped Ramsbottom to a four wicket win.

ACCRINGTON continued to keep the pressure on table toppers Rawtenstall and closed the gap to five points with victory over Colne.

Lower order batsman Graeme Sneddon saved the day with a solid half century in their 192. Then Zahir Afzal and Paul Carroll took three wickets each to see off the bottom club.

Accrington have a huge game against the league leaders on Sunday while Rishton face Haslingden at home.