MEMBERS of Kendal Town Independent Supporters’ Club have vowed to continue efforts to help the club as relegation fears mount.

The departure of star man Scott Harries this week was a crippling blow to the Mintcakes’ Evo-Stik League One West survival hopes and deepens the gloom for Town.

But the supporters’ group – who organised a bucket collection to boost the players’ wages at Saturday’s home clash with Mossley – say they remain willing to assist in pulling the club out of its predicament.

“We are here to help the club in any way we can,” said KTISC secretary Matt Tummey.

“I’ve supported the club for 20 years and I can’t remember things being this bad – but we will keep supporting the team.”

The bucket collection, which took place inside the Parkside Road ground, raised around £250 and Mr Tummey said the players and management team were extremely grateful.

However, the situation continues to worsen on the field, with a team which has managed just one win in 20 games now shorn of the talents of Blackpool-based wingman Harries, who has joined Bamber Bridge.

Harries scored both goals in Town’s New Year’s Day draw with Clitheroe and follows midfield man Brad Carroll – who joined Bamber Bridge’s Evo-Stik Premier League rivals Workington in a pre-Christmas move – through the Parkside Road exit door.

Harries’ departure comes in a week when Michael O’Neill, who was a coach at Kendal Town under the Lee Ashcroft regime, confirmed that a consortium he was fronting had ended its plans to invest “time, money and expertise” in the club.

Mr O’Neill released an open letter on the supporters’ website in which he said he and his associates had met with Kendal Town chairman George Gudgeon and another committee member.

He stressed in his letter that the consortium had studied the accounts, which were satisfactory. However, the group had concluded that it could not take its interest any further at this point.

“At the moment, with the situation the club finds itself in, we couldn’t invest capital into the club under its current regime,” said Mr O’Neill in the letter.

A meeting of members was held at the club this week, and Mr Gudgeon told The Westmorland Gazette that he came out feeling”very positive.”

“It was a good meeting and we looked at ways of moving the club forward,” he said.

Mr Gudgeon added that everyone within the club was unanimous in backing the aim of getting Town out of the relegation zone and working together towards a brighter future.