Northern League: Easington Colliery boss wary of Kendal Town as promotion push continues

Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss is expecting an ‘unbelievably tough game’ when his side return to league action with a home clash against Kendal Town.

The Colliers are without a win in their last four league games following last weekend’s goalless draw at Newcastle Blue Star - but they did return to winning ways and found their shooting boots with a 5-0 win against Seaham Red Star in a League Cup tie in midweek.

James Watson led the way with a brace and there was a goal apiece for Craig Hennis, Ethan Ord and Dane Eltringham as Easington set themselves up for Saturday’s meeting with the Mintcakes. The Cumbrian outfit will arrive at Welfare Park sitting in the bottom half of the Division One table following their 2-2 draw at Newton Aycliffe last weekend and their pre-season hopes of a play-off push seem fanciful as it stands.

However, Hotchkiss revealed his admiration for Kendal’s style of play and insisted he players will have to be ‘the best version’ of themselves to get back to winning ways in the league.

He told The Echo: “Kendal will be an unbelievably tough game. I’ve built up a good relationship with Matt [Flynn, Kendal manager] and we speak quite regularly. I like what he does, I think he’s a great manager and he always has his teams set up really well. We will have to make sure we are at it, we need to be the best version of us we can be and we’ve got to start getting back to the goals. I think once we get another positive result on the board we will get a few goals because we have firepower in the team. We are really looking forward to, it will be a difficult game but we are back at home and we always enjoy being at home.”

Fixtures

North Shields v Marske United, Bishop Auckland v Birtley Town, Blyth Town v Redcar Town, Crook Town v Newcastle Blue Star, Easington Colliery v Kendal Town, Newcastle Benfield v Thornaby, Northallerton Town v Shildon, Whickham v Newton Aycliffe, Whitley Bay v Penrith, Yarm & Eaglescliffe v Carlisle City

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