After Newcastle Blue Star were edged out by Newcastle Benfield for the second time in this campaign, it was expected that Marc Nash’s men would then be given the opportunity to right that wrong as soon as possible.
A trip to Carlisle City to follow just three days after a first home league defeat since September. That was until the weekend’s planned hosts could not switch their floodlights on and as a consequence, last Friday’s trip to Cumbria has been delayed for another few weeks.
That scenario means Blue Star have been given an extended rest before the visit of Kendal on Tuesday and because of their weekend activity, it has been all change in terms of the Northern League Division one table.
Change that sees the KD Stadium outfit drop out of the playoff positions after Newcastle Benfield picked up their third successive league win on Saturday and moved into fifth as a consequence of their routine win over Whitley Bay.
However, Blue Star have played three games fewer than the team that sits above them with only a single point less to their name but for all those spare encounters they have, points on the board are the most important thing at all.
Because its not only a case of sneaking back into the top five if all those games in hand can be won but also managing to be much more secure when it comes to the playoff race and even in having a say at where the league crown goes.
With a number of promotion contenders lined up as opponents over the next few weeks, the start of what can only be described as a 13-game sprint starts in just a few hours and to make things more interesting, it starts against a team that sits seventh before their trip to Scotswood.
Kendal arrive here knowing that victory on Tuesday night would thrust them further up the table at Blue Star’s expense and after sharing the points with West Auckland at the weekend, they will not be in a sharing mood this time around.
Something which sets up this upcoming clash rather nicely. A warm welcome goes out to the visiting Kendal team and support and for those who lend their voice to the home team, make sure to bring the noise throughout.
Comments