
Carlisle have had to call off Saturday’s North One West game with Glossop.
In the fixture list, it should have been a home game but because they could not travel to Glossop earlier in the season, they were having to go on Saturday.
But the club have suffered more injuries and were unable to find enough fit bodies for the trip.
They had been down to their last few props and one of them went down with illness yesterday.
It’s become a real struggle with injuries for some time now and since the home defeat by Bowdon two weeks ago they have lost three players to concussion and another to a significant shoulder injury. None of those will be able to play again this season.
However, with no games scheduled for Easter Saturday, Carlisle hope to be in a position to field teams for the last two games with Kendal on the 23rd and Vale of Lune on the 30th.
The Carlisle club are also close to announcing their new head coach for next season and also the appointment of a youth development officer.
Carlisle had slumped to a record defeat at the hands of Manchester as their painful North One West campaign reached a new low last Saturday.
Injury-hit, depleted Carlisle were thumped 116-12 by a Manchester side who look like finishing runners-up to unbeaten Stockport.
Carlisle are rock bottom with just three wins but because of fixtures not being fulfilled through COVID and injury disruptions, they are on minus one point.
However, there were words of encouragement from the Manchester club after the century-plus hammering.
Manchester said: “All those boys deserve a medal and massive respect. Your future is very bright with those guys coming through. A tough day for them but they’ll use it to get better and better.”
Euan Forlow, one of the bright hopes for the future, and Steve Benson scored the Carlisle tries with Benson putting over a conversion. They had trailed 64-7 at half-time.
Penrith
Penrith, going well in fifth place, have a tough but attractive finish to their season. They visit Birkenhead Park who are a place below them eight points adrift but with a game in hand.
They will complete the campaign on April 23 when they host 100% leaders Stockport.
A strong finish on Saturday earned them a 41-28 home win over Wilmslow.
Kendal
Kendal are due to host Douglas, who still have five league games to fit in before April 30 and are unlikely to play them all.
But a 1.30pm kick-off has been agreed, to fit in with the visitors’ flight home and Kendal will be looking to finish off in style with successive home games against the struggling pair of Douglas and Carlisle.
Aspatria
Aspatria are battling for fourth place in Durham Northumberland One, with the possibility of fifth enough to keep them at a higher level under restructuring.
They won 36-12 at Horden and Peterlee last week and on Saturday host Ponteland – still trailing fourth-placed Stockton by five points.
Ponteland are fourth bottom with only six wins in 24 games so far, while Stockton are at home to seventh-placed Medicals.
Keswick
In North Two West, third-placed Keswick are due to host struggling Orrell who cried off their last scheduled trip to Cumbria recently against Cockermouth.
A trip to Warrington faces Cockermouth while St. Benedict’s entertain Tarleton.
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