Football - Kendal Town v Carlisle United (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Football - Kendal Town v Carlisle United

3:32pm Thursday 8th July 2004 in Sport By Dennis Aris

FOOTBALL kicks off at Parkside Road on Saturday with a prestige pre-season friendly between Kendal Town and Carlisle.

New Town manager Tony Hesketh will be keen to demonstrate that his high-profile close-season signings are the right way forward for his avowed intentions of winning promotion to the UniBond League Premier Division within two seasons.

Carlisle, still smarting from relegation from Division Three of the Football League, will want to show that they are equipped for a swift return from the Conference League.

It promises to be a cracker of a match with an early kick-off at 2pm and the latest indications are that up to 1,500 Carlisle fans would be travelling down to watch.

Heading the Kendal line will be Lee Ashcroft, the 32-year-old former West Brom, Wigan and Preston striker, who has signed a two-year deal which will also involve learning management skills as assistant to Hesketh.

Also on show will be his latest signing Kenny Mayers. Hesketh had wanted to land the 33-year-old midfielder for some time, but it initially looked as if the Barrow star would go to Bamber Bridge.

Lee Ward, Mark Thornley, Lee Pennington, Dave Woodruffe, Gary Major, Nigel Taylor, Dave Burrow, Paul Rigby, Stuart Cliff, Ricky Mercer, Lee MacNeil, Russ McKenna, James Shepherd, Dene Whittal-Williams, Dave Foster, Lee Ashcroft, Chris Bennett, Kenny Mayers.