No pressure on Jarrow ahead of Horden clash as Boldon CA in confident mood
There is a busy weekend lying in wait in both divisions of the Ebac Northern League.
Kennie Malia has insisted there is no pressure on his Jarrow squad ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Division Two leaders Horden CW - but rebuked claims his side had surpassed expectations this season.
The Perth Green outfit head into Saturday’s game sat six points behind their visitors, who have lived up to their tag as one of the pre-season favourites to claim promotion into the Northern League’s top tier. For Jarrow, external expectations ahead of the campaign were more modest, despite Malia revealing his own target was to firmly focus on a push for the play-off places.
Securing a top-five spot is already well within their grasp and could formally be secured over the coming weeks - but the Jarrow does not believe any external pressure will dictate how his side fares between now and the end of the campaign.
He told The Gazette: “The positions in the league mean this is probably our biggest game in the season - but it’s one game at a time so we aren’t putting too much pressure on us. Any pressure is probably from us as a management team rather than what others think. It’s about our standards, we wanted the play-offs this season. Horden have been there before so the pressure is on them. We will just be us as we have been all season - but I don’t think we have surpassed expectations. We have quality in there, there is squad depth and that’s important, they’ve all stepped up and the standards have been met.”
Malia has a strong squad available for the game and will face a number of major calls before finalising his plans.
Boldon full of confidence after surge in form
In-form Boldon CA are ‘ready to take on anybody’ as they turn their focus towards Saturday’s trip to Division Two play-off contenders Ryton and Crawcrook Albion.
Dan Crooks and David Palmer’s men continued to impress over the last week after following up their away win at Alnwick Town with an 2-0 victory at Thornaby that took their side into the last eight of the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup. With a quarter-final in the Brooks Mileson League Cup also lying ahead, an exciting end to the season is on the agenda - and joint-manager Crooks has revealed the Boldon squad are high on confidence ahead of their visit to the Oldhaulage Stadium.
He told The Gazette: “Me and David both hold Ryton in a high regard and we know a few players that play for them so we know what they are about. They’ve had some dips in form that have stopped them competing right at the top of the league - and we know are playing a side on the same points as Thornaby and Esh Winning, who we have beaten. We have to go there with confidence because from Boxing Day onwards, we have won nine games out of eleven. We are very happy with the form and that has resulted in getting into the quarter-finals the League Cup and Ernest Armstrong Cup. We are ready to take on anybody at the moment because everyone is working really hard for each other.”
On-loan South Shields youngster Sam Watts has been ruled out with injury but Scott Purvis will be back in contention after missing the midweek win at Thornaby.