Kendal Town will have manager Jimmy Marshall back in the dug-out for tomorrow night’s North West Counties League game at Barnoldswick.
New boss Marshall missed Saturday’s opener, a 2-0 defeat at Vauxhall, and will have been updated on the performance at Ellesmere Port.
He will be boosted by the return of experienced striker Tom Kilifin who had work commitments on Saturday and was unable to travel.
Although Kendal were generally second-best to a well-organised and capable Vauxhall side they had their moments and were denied by one of their former players.
Goalkeeper James McClenaghan moved on to play nearer his home base and he produced two or three excellent saves to maintain a clean sheet.
Kendal chairman Michael O’Neill said: “It didn’t help that we arrived later than we wanted to because of the traffic but it was disappointing to lose our first game. We had taken a healthy group of fans but we came up against a good Vauxhall side who had scouted us very well, and knew our strengths.”
Vauxhall won with goals by Sean Buckley (18) and Ethan Gouldbourne (63).
Tuesday’s opponents Barnoldswick had gone behind against Winsford but came back to level before half-time and win 3-1.
Their manager Danny Craig said: “It’s always great to start with a win but it’s just one win that’s banked now and we have to focus on Tuesday which will be a new test against what I expect will be a strong Kendal side.”
