Westoe hope for winning return
RARING TO GO ... Westoe skipper Gareth Nesbit.
WESTOE will be hoping that they can finally play for the first time this month when they travel to Otley tomorrow.
After three weeks without a game, the weather finally seems to be thawing and the prospects of a match look good.
The Shieldsmen have not played since they suffered a defeat away to Stockport on January 29.
Captain Gareth Nesbit will be hoping that his side show no signs of rustiness after the unforeseen extended break.
He said: “Hopefully, the lay-off won’t have affected our boys too badly.
“It’s the first game we have actually lost to the weather so there hasn’t been too much disruption.
“As long as it’s not every week then we can’t complain, and just have to get on with it.
“It’s part and parcel of the game, and with a squad size as small as ours it could help us.”
So far since Christmas, the South Tynesiders have won two of the four games that they have played.
Both of these wins have came at Wood Terrace with victories over Luctonians and the Preston Grasshoppers.
Trips to Nuneaton and Stockport have yielded just a solitary bonus point on their travels in 2012.
The defeat against Nuneaton was their first in eight games, and Nesbit is looking to rediscover that scintillating form.
He continued: “We want to get back out there and put in a good performance.
“With us having the extra week off, it means we haven’t played since Stockport.
“We are going to a ground that we haven’t been to before, so it could be a potential banana skin.
“It is our nearest game geographically as well, and you never know what could happen.”
When Otley made the trip to Wood Terrace earlier in the season, it was the Shieldsmen who came out on top.
A 35-12 victory kept Westoe on top of the table, but it proved to be the last win that they would pick up in four weeks.
Match report: Westoe 37 Preston Grasshoppers 6
Defeats away at Huddersfield and Caldy sandwiched a home defeat to runaway leaders Loughborough Students.
Nesbit feels that this run was pivotal in the season as the seven-game unbeaten run immediately followed after.
He said: “We beat them at home earlier in the season, but it wasn’t a great game.
“We still picked up the bonus point but it wasn’t a good performance or a good game for that matter.
“It was the beginning of a spell that resulted in three straight defeats, and was when our injuries were at their worst.
“Since then players came back, and we went through a purple patch.”
Otley go into tomorrow’s game in 14th place in National League 2 North just five points off the bottom of the table.
On the other hand, Westoe find themselves within a win of going second – just three points behind Huddersfied who occupy the spot.
Tomorrow’s game will also see Westoe come up against former player Peter Tennet.
The game takes place at Cross Green, and kick-off is at 2.15pm. For those using sat nav to get there the postcode is LS21 1HE.
Westoe from: Simon O’Farrel, Lewis Johnston, James Clark, Mark Bedworth, Tom Banks, Charlie Rayner, Peter Phelan, Gareth Nesbit, Richie Thirkell, Haydn Richards, John Younghusband, Ian Murray, Rory Duff, Ben Frankland, Ollie Stedman, Fraser Kirkley, Graham Smith, Rob Adair, Michael Booth, Joe Maw.
Twitter: @shieldsgazsport
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Weather for Jarrow
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
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