Jarrow will look to round off a positive first week of the new Northern League season with a home win against Alnwick Town on Saturday.

Jarrow manager Kennie Malia has reflected on a positive opening to the new Northern League season - but warned his players they will face ‘a different test altogether’ when they host Alnwick Town on Saturday.

Malia’s men got their campaign off to a solid start with a 2-2 draw at fellow promotion contenders Chester-le-Street Town before they romped to a 5-0 win against their manager’s old club Prudhoe YC on Wednesday night. They now move on to their first Perth Green game of the season as a much-changed Alnwick side arrive on South Tyneside on Saturday - and Malia believes his side will ‘have to be at their very best’ to continue what has been a promising start to their push for promotion into the Northern League’s top tier.

Action from Jarrow's draw with Chester-le-Street Town (photo Kieran Gough) | Kieran Gough

placeholder image — Action from Jarrow's draw with Chester-le-Street Town (photo Kieran Gough) | Kieran Gough

He told The Gazette: “We are really pleased with the first two games overall because we had a tough battle for the first game of the season against a team who have built a really strong side and a lot of people have tipped to them go and win the league this year.

“Wednesday’s game was a solid professional job against a team who struggled in their first game so we knew this was going to be a different test altogether. Now we are really looking forward to Saturday because we love playing at home and we know we will have to be at our very best against another side with a new management team that have a lot of changes from last season.”

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