Dunston FC vs Kendal Town - Match Preview.

Dunston FC welcome Kendal Town to The UTS Stadium in The BetVictor Premier N/West Division this coming Saturday. The hosts had made amends for the loss away to Pickering Town with an impressive 2-0 win away to Mossley last Saturday, courtesy of a Cedwyn Scott penalty and a thunderbolt of a strike from Dunston UTS FC Supporters Club Man of the Match Micheal Pearson.

On the game, assistant manager Chris Errington said “We needed to perform and we had a good chat through the week to put things right. I thought we played really well in spells and got off to a good start with two goals in the first half. Mossley came back at us in the second half but defensively we were solid and Karl Dryden pulled off two terrific saves in the game to keep the clean sheet”.

Talismanic Dunston defender Craig Scott (pictured below) commented “I was really pleased with the performance and result at Mossley. After the disappointment of the Pickering game, nothing less than a win would be enough and all of the players were together on that. We just weren’t at the races against Pickering who were full value for the win, so we owed it to everyone at the club and most importantly the supporters to put a shift in last Saturday.” He further added “From a defender’s perspective, it was also great to keep a clean sheet as we haven’t had many so far this season and we were coming off the back of a 1-4 defeat.”

Dunston were forced into making changes in personnel and formation against Mossley, with Liam Marrs, Michael Hall and Jake Stafford carrying minor injuries. Those players will be assessed ahead of Saturdays game, and should they be unavailable, it then opens up the opportunity for Callum Elliott, Andrew Grant-Soulsby and Cedwyn Scott to further impose themselves on the starting XI. Chris Errington commented “I thought the lads who came in played really, really well. They know how we play and if we have all players fit heading into Saturday, it gives us competition for places which is what we want”.

The Mintcakes will have to contend with ebullient Dunston striker Scott Heslop. The crowd favourite picked up The Bowland Brewery Player of the Month award for the second month running following a string of impressive performances. Heslop stated “It was a much needed win after the disappointing display and result at Pickering. The Pickering game was collectively our worst team performance in my time here and it was important we bounced back. We’ve now won three games out of four and confidence is growing week by week. From what I’ve seen so far, I believe we have one of the strongest squads in this league and I really do think we can kick on from here”. 

Kendal have lost their last 3 league games and have found their travels on the road difficult this season, only managing to pick up four points from eight games.

Dunston’s victory last week meant they climbed one place in the table and maximum points on Saturday would see them move above Kendal Town in the table.

On the upcoming game Craig Scott declared “I’m really looking forward to Kendal Town on Saturday as home games have few and far between recently with the weather.  We need to put a run of wins together to move up the table, and this is a great opportunity to do that. Kendal Town are in a similar position to us having played more games, but we are under no illusion how tough every game in this league is. Another performance and result like Mossley would put us in great shape for the busy fixture schedule over Christmas”.

Chris Errington commented “You look at the games we’ve played, with the exception of Pickering, and there’s been one goal in it. We just need to get a run of games going. I know The committee have worked tirelessly to get the pitch in good condition so we can get the game on. It’s a strange league as nobody is running away with it. If we win our games in hand we’d be up to second”.

When asked on the the games in hand “We just look at each game at a time and go for the win, if we do that then our league position will take care of itself”

Report by: Danny Whalen