This Saturday should have been a blank date in the fixture list for League clubs but the recent freeze and subsequent postponements has changed that.
Indeed there are now some big games for our local clubs as they play catch-up and doubtless some players will be unavailable through committing tom other activities after perusing the original fixture list.
Penrith are now in pole position at the top of Regional 2 North after a win at South Shields Westoe was accompanied by another defeat for Morpeth.
The Cumbrians now have wriggle room with a nine-point cushion and only one game in hand for their North East rivals.
Coming off the pitch after the 36-0 win against South Shields Westoe the Penrith squad were pleased they had achieved what they had set out to do and come away with a bonus point win. They were hardly back in the changing room when the news came through that Morpeth has lost a second game in 2023, this time to Northern.
Penrith were now genuinely top of the league and not there just because they had played an extra game. They now face two massive games at home, the first on Saturday against Percy Park who also won at Morpeth and then against Morpeth themselves. The league is theirs to lose.
At the other end of the table Keswick and Carlisle are involved in a battle to stay at that level.
Times seems to be running out for Carlisle as they are still without a win but will have been encouraged to some degree that the last two fixtures have yielded four-try bonus points which is a million miles away from the performances at the start of the season.
That has to do a power of good to the players confidence in their ability to close out winnable games, but unfortunately time is running out in this league and a win has to come soon if there’s to be any hope of avoiding the drop.
So Saturday is massive as they host Stockton in the rearranged fixture from December and the visitors are only a point above Keswick in the battle to avoid the drop.
Keswick lost 24-22 at Stockton last week and were considered unlucky with key refereeing decisions said to have changed the outcome after they had led 22-7.
It’s a tough one on Saturday as they entertain Middlesbrough (ko noon), currently fourth in the table and every point gained from this one will be vital.
Aspatria, after their 45-31 win over Carlisle, are nicely established in mid-table – top of the bottom six in a distinctively split League. Indeed the Black Reds are nearer sixth (by six points) than they are eighth (11 points).
On Saturday they have a tough task in making any further advancements on the top six as they host Northern who are currently on a seven-game winning streak and lie third in the table.
In Regional 1 North West Kendal do not have a game but bottom of the table Kirkby Lonsdale, still seeking their first point are at home to fifth-placed Stockport.
In Counties Cumbria Conferences there are no games scheduled. Whitehaven had been due to play Cockermouth but that fixture has now been postponed again.
