Bailey’s Bay stalwart Cal (Patches) Dill is in a race to regain fitness ahead of next week’s Belco Cup competition.The veteran batsman and part-time spinner required three stitches in his left hand to close a wound he suffered attempting a sharp catch in the covers off the bat of Southampton Rangers player/coach Janeiro Tucker at Sea Breeze Oval at the weekend.But he is confident he can recover in time to help Bay win a first Belco Cup since the title sponsors of the competition came onboard in 2003.“I was fielding at point and was walking in and Janeiro cut the ball towards me and it came in hot and split my finger,” Dill explained. “But it didn’t ruin my day because we got the victory.”Bay won the Premier 50-over contest by 73 runs to get their quest for league supremacy off to a winning start.“We knew we needed to get a good start with a six-team league so that was a big win for us,” Dill said. “We have trained very hard in the pre-season and it’s good to get the season off with a very big win against Rangers.”That Bay prevailed owed much to Dill who rescued his team from a precarious 40 for four with a battling knock of 77 batting at number six. He also added 95 runs for the fifth wicket with Coolridge Durham (36) in a stand that provided Bay’s bowlers with sufficient runs to defend.“I knew the team needed me and being the senior player in the team I had to put my head down and build an innings for us,” Dill said. “I‘m feeling in pretty good nick.”Bay have finished runners-up in the top flight for the past two seasons. But this year the Eastern Counties champs are hoping to get over the final hurdle and win a first Premier title in nearly two decades.“Our main goal is to win the league because we are tired of being bridesmaids,” Dill said. “The guys are very serious about going the whole way this season.“We know it’s going to be tough. But we feel we can do the job with the players and harmony we have at the club.“We are just going to take things one game at a time and we always try and have a ‘A’ and ‘B’ plan whenever we play. The players never change but the game does and so we always try and prepare ourselves as best we can to deal with situations as they arise.”Dill had considered playing for Bay in Sunday’s 50-over match with Eastern Counties rivals Cleveland County at Sea Breeze Oval. But with Bay among this year’s quartet that will compete in the Belco Cup competition, the veteran player has decided not to take any chances in the hope of making a full recovery ahead of the upcoming knockout tournament featuring the top four teams from the top flight last season.“I want to make sure this thing heals properly so I can be ready for the Cup,” he said.