Cancelled game was blessing for Kendal Town as they prepare for Witton Albion today (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Cancelled game was blessing for Kendal Town as they prepare for Witton Albion today

10:00am Saturday 16th March 2013 in Sport By Scott Kirk, Reporter

KENDAL Town manager Steve Edmondson believes that the cancellation of his side’s match against Hednesford Town on Tuesday night proved to be ‘a blessing in disguise’ as the weather allowed his team a brief respite from playing two matches a week.

With as many as six players carrying injuries or knocks, Edmondson said the midweek break allowed his men the opportunity to recover for today's trip to promotion-chasing Witton Albion.

He said skipper Kevin Brown, Martin Grundy and Danny McGahon, who has impressed in a Black and White shirt in recent weeks, would all have played but struggled against second-placed Hednesford had the game gone ahead.

The knocks have come at a time when Callum Hoctor and Tom Williams have both been out with ankle ligament damage, and the duo are expected to be out for at least another few weeks. Defender Dean Overson, an absentee for around one or two more weeks to come, has also missed out for the Mintcakes with a blood infection.

“We needed that break to get a bit of rest into a few players so that match being called off came at a good time,” said Edmondson.

“Witton Albion will be a tough proposition and they are right up there in the table but we have to be confident, positive and upbeat that we will get out of this situation in terms of relegation and hopefully we can.

“We have tended to do well against the top teams such as Worksop Town, North Ferriby United and Marine so hopefully we’ll do the same again at Witton.”

After the weekend away game at Witton, who Kendal beat in the FA Cup earlier this season, comes a trip to the North East to take on Blyth Spartans. Edmondson said he hopes his side can gain revenge for the 3-1 loss sustained a couple of weeks ago to a side 16th in the table.

He said: “We should have beaten Blyth in the game at Parkside Road and it’s imperative that we get something from that game really.”

The matches come on the back of a bitterly disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Frickley Athletic on Saturday - a side who prior to the game had registered just one point all season from their travels and whose only shots on target against Kendal came about through two soft penalties conceded by the Black and Whites.

Edmondson watched the game from the stands to try to get a different take on his side’s performance, and he said he learned a lot about his team by not watching the game from the dugout.

“I got a different perspective on the team so I learned quite a lot from it and I wanted to watch it from afar to see if I was missing anything.

“Against Frickley their goals came from two penalties we conceded and we have to eradicate these individual errors quickly because it is costing us games.”

Kendal’s home tie against Hednesford Town has been re-arranged for Thursday, April 4.