The beginning of the week saw a rather quick turnaround as far as Blue Star and their league schedule goes. Two away days in the space of 48 hours and two potential banana skins on the road to the title.
Thankfully after already disposing of Percy Main on Monday, it was another away victory on Wednesday. A trip to Wallington produced four unanswered goals and not only was it a comfortable win, but it was also a rather significant evening in the Northern Alliance Premier Division.
While Blue Star were chalking up further success, Alnwick were being held by Gateshead Rutherford. Our recent foes may not be our nearest rivals, but they are the only other team in the division that has applied for promotion to the Northern League.
Unfortunately for Alnwick, they have no way of surpassing Brian Smith’s men between now and the end of the season and with a top-five finish at the very least secured for Blue Star, it means they will act as the Northern Alliance’s representatives to move up the pyramid.
Such progress to Step 6 or the 10th tier of the English game still needs to be ratified and therefore, the champagne corks are not being popped yet. However, there is a sense that one major objective has already been achieved.
Now it is time to achieve another and that is to earn this potential promotion as champions. Just like in the previous preview, the gap stands at eight points between us and Burradon & New Fordley and time is whittling down if we are to be caught.
This weekend sees the league leaders return to NE15, as they welcome Newcastle Independent to Scotswood. The upcoming opposition were certainly in the title mix at the start of the campaign but have also lost some steam in recent weeks.
While the fixture computer has not been kind to Independent in the past week. A trip to the table toppers in just a few hours to go alongside the 3-0 loss that they suffered at the hands of Burradon on Wednesday.
However, this is a team that does like to test itself against the very best and they would love nothing more than to throw a spanner in the works. Therefore, they are not an opposition outfit that can be taken lightly.
Something which sets up Saturday’s clash rather nicely indeed. A warm welcome goes out to the traveling Newcastle Independent team and support and for those who lend their voice to the home team, make sure to bring the noise throughout.
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