Windscale make a delayed start to their Wearside League season tomorrow.
The west Cumbrians had no fixture in last Saturday’s opening programme and on Wednesday night their game at Farringdon was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.
They face an opening trip to Gateshead Leam Rangers who finished third in the League last season and this time round have already played twice, winning both.
It’s been an impressive start to lead the early table, having scored 12 goals and not conceded any.
Windscale’s joint manager Stephen Fawcett told Cumbria Crack: “Pre-season is always a challenge, more so this year as our season finished around a month later than usual as a result of us reaching the Alan Hood Charity Cup Final.
“Everyone was ready for a complete break after that having played over 40 games in the season giving everything we could for ten months!
“We’ve played four pre-season games and they’ve all been beneficial, each game has served its purpose.
“You cant replicate the league games in pre-season and it always takes a few games to fully get up to speed regardless as to how many pre-season games you play.
“The August fixture schedule is always busy and it provides the opportunity to get back into the rhythm of playing regularly and hopefully getting off to a good start.
“We’ve got a small squad again this year with around 20 regular first team players but we’re making good progress with our Reserves in terms of integrating some of those players into the first team squad where needed.
“We’ve brought in Lee Jolly, a goalkeeper we’ve been after for a while now and Leo Brennan has returned which was great news as he’s exactly the sort of player we need.
“Recruiting players to play National Feeder League football remains a challenge, primarily because of the travel demands and this is something that could be addressed through Cumbria having its own National Feeder League but there’s a few hurdles to overcome for that to be addressed.
“As for our aims this season, on the field it’s about trying to improve on the last two seasons, where we’ve finished respectfully in the top half of the table (8th), and push for a place in the top five.
“We came close to lifting a cup last season so there’s no reason why we can’t go one step further with that this season either.
“Beyond the first team I’m looking forward to seeing how our ever improving Reserves go this season and we’ve got a fantastic youth section with around 150 kids playing across a dozen or so teams showing real promise.
“So it will be great to see them continue to enjoy their football at Windscale and do well in their respective age groups.”
