A FAMILY tragedy put everything into perspective when Kendal County's reserve-team keeper Nick Dent sadly lost his father Andy, who collapsed and died later in Victoria Hospital, Blackpool, on Tuesday, at the age of 50.

Andy spent a lot of years playing both cricket and football in the Westmorland leagues for Staveley, with his brothers Jake and Nick senior also representing the village sides, and later went on to manage the football club alongside Mike Bolton.

Described as a "larger than life" character, he will be sadly missed by all those who knew him.

Nick had been due to play for the first team that evening because the first-team regular Ollie Parry was working away.

In Nick's absence, reserve-team midfielder Dan Ferguson went into goal and County emerged with a 3-1 win against Ibis to add to the 4-0 victory over Greystoke on Saturday.

It extended County's lead at the top to nine points over Wetheriggs United, who squeezed three goals in the last 12 minutes to defeat Kendal Town Reserves 3-1, but did not play in midweek and have a match in hand.

Three strikes and a club fine was Jamie Close's reward this week and it featured a goal in either half in the Greystoke game.

Close latched on to Paul Grattan's through ball to smash a shot into the top corner and then provided a telling ball over a defender for Ollie Wilson to control with his first touch and fire into the bottom corner.

County carried a 2-0 lead into the second half before Craig Walmsley supplied a third goal, sprinting on to Kris Clough's pass and drilling the ball under the Greystoke keeper.

Close grabbed his second of the afternoon afterwards but spurned the chance of a hat-trick when volleying over in front of an open goal, a miss for which he will be fined!

County got off to a flying start with a goal after just 35 seconds against Ibis on Tuesday when Walmsley's cross found its way to Close at the back post and his volley went in off the keeper.

Gary Taylor scored the second with a neat finish against his old club and Walmsley scored the third with a smart volley from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.

County had plenty of controlled possession afterwards without adding to the tally, and a defensive mix-up allowed Liam O'Callaghan to grab an Ibis consolation.

"We are doing what we need without being spectacular," said County manager Dave Chambers. "Our sparkling early-season has not returned but importantly we are digging in just as Wetheriggs do and that is good to see."

County's schedule takes in a league derby with Town Reserves next Tuesday and then a showdown with Wetheriggs in the Westmorland FA Benevolent Trophy final on Wednesday week, April 11, at the Planet Conservatories Stadium in Kendal.

Kendal Town Reserves continue to work their way into mid-table security with a 3-2 victory over Sedbergh Wanderers on Tuesday.

After a scoreless first half, an own goal broke the deadlock when Sean Pooley's cross from the left came back off the post and hit a Sedbergh defender on its way into the net.

Sedbergh equalised directly from a free kick, which was neatly put away over the top of keeper Danny Roberts.

Town regained the lead five minutes later from a goalmouth scramble when David Glynn tucked away the ball into the far corner.

Another scramble led to the home team taking a 3-1 lead with Stephen Ellwood heading home from close range.

Sedbergh went straight downfield and pulled one back to make it a tense final six minutes for Town before they claimed the victory.

A trip to Wetheriggs on Saturday saw Town go down 3-1, but the scoreline did not tell the story of how the visitors were leading 1-0 with 12 minutes to go.

Exchanges were even for most of the first half and Steve Hodgson put Town ahead with a left-foot volley from Toby Hodgkinson's corner after quarter of an hour.

Wetheriggs came out and battered the visitors for 20 minutes, but Town seemed to have weathered the storm until caught flat-footed by a header from 16 yards out in the 78th minute.

Four minutes later, Wetheriggs were ahead when a shot came back off the keeper and on to a home player before it trickled in at the far post.

A breakway goal as Town threw men forward made it 3-1 at the end of play. The midfield pairing of Adam Towler and David Glynn did well in both matches.

Windermere SC are sitting in third place behind Wetheriggs United, but it might have been just a single point behind instead of three.

Things went smoothly on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Sedbergh Wanderers, but a goalless draw with Burneside on Tuesday was seen as a disappointment.

Goals from Jamie Parkinson and Kyle Hayton reflected Windermere's superiority before half time.

Afterwards, a Sam Fletcher cross was deflected in off a Sedbergh defender for an own goal and Windermere keeper Mario Capaccio got his wish when he came up to take a penalty and slotted it home after Parkinson had been brought down.

Windermere felt they had the better chances against Burneside in midweek without getting the ball in the net.

Coniston are getting their act together, which is too little, too late maybe but a 2-0 win over Burneside, with a goal in either half in a tight affair, was a good result.

After an evenly-fought opening, Coniston had a purple patch in the first half and went ahead when a corner was whipped across and took a deflection off Paul Walker before falling to Stuart Walker to hammer home from close range.

Burneside made a strong start to the second half but without squaring matters and Coniston added a second goal with five minutes remaining. Once again Stuart and Paul Walker were involved, the latter whipping over a cross which Peter Blair threw himself at and got enough contact to divert it into the net.

Two-goal hero Dan Robinson suffered a cruel end to what should have been a marvellous day for him when he badly broke an ankle during Carvetii United's 2-0 win over Kendal County Reserves in the top of the table clash on Saturday.

Robinson's agonising injury came in the 82nd minute shortly after he had scored Carvetii's second goal.

Carvetii manager Malcolm Metcalfe said: "He was full of jubilation after scoring and then it turned to devastation when he dislocated and broke an ankle.

"It was a bad break but it came in an innocuous-looking challenge. He twisted and his foot stuck in the ground and went down - there wasn't any blame attached to anyone."

There was a wait of over an hour for an ambulance to arrive from Penrith at Parrot Park, Kirkby Stephen, and the game, with still eight minutes to play, was not completed, although the result is expected to stand.

Left midfielder Robinson, a 19-year-old scaffolder who has scored a dozen goals in six matches, was taken to hospital in Carlisle and has had an operation and is expected to be out of football for a year.

Promotion-seeking Carvetii took a one-point lead at the top over County with three matches in hand, while Carvetii Reserves are in the Peter Daws Memorial Shield final with a 4-3 win over Burneside Reserves at Tebay. Striker Stephen Holmes scored a hat-trick and Scott Allinson the other goal. They now play the winners of the Lunesdale Reserves v Wetheriggs Reserves tie.