Home comforts can carry Carlisle Rugby Club to safety in their first season back in North One West.

Four of their last five league games are at Warwick Road, starting with tomorrow’s clash with Douglas.

To fit in with the Isle of Man side’s travel arrangements, the game will kick-off early at 1:30pm.

Carlisle and Manchester are both currently three points clear of the bottom three, with Altrincham Kersal the only side which has any reasonable chance of fighting clear of relegation.

They are the visitors to Warwick Road on April 7 when victory for Carlisle would go a long way in itself to securing North One West survival.

There’s also a re-arranged game in between, now on Easter Saturday, when Blackburn are the visitors.

The only remaining away game is on April 14 at Firwood Waterloo while, barring more bad weather, the league season officially ends on April 21 with a visit from Wilmslow.

Mind you, Altrincham Kersal only have the one away day – the trip to Carlisle on April 7 – but they do face another vital game tomorrow when they host Manchester.

They will complete the season with successive home games on April 14 and 21 against Douglas and Firwood Waterloo.

Manchester have three of the last five at home with Douglas flying in from the Isle of Man on Easter Saturday for a rearranged fixture.

Firwood Waterloo (H), Wilmslow (A) and St Benedict’s (H) will complete their season.

Penrith lost top spot in North One East when they lost the match of the day with Alnwick, going under 25-10 in the north east.

That victory moved them three points above Penrith with five games to go.

Although Penrith were outplayed, their fighting spirit was there to be clearly seen.

The young side had defended for all they were worth in extreme conditions where it would have been easier to hide.

They had made mistakes and sometimes given away the ball too easily but they had scrapped to the end.

In fact, the quality of the game was a credit to both sides in the finger-numbing freezing gale.

Alnwick now clearly have the advantage and look to have an easier run-in than Penrith but it is still all to play for.

This week, Penrith go to Bradford and Bingley while Alnwick host Huddersfield YMCA and the pair are fifth and sixth bottom respectively.

Penrith will then still have to play Morpeth (home, fourth, five points behind); Bridlington (home, sixth, 16 points behind with a game in hand); Driffield (away, third, level on points from a game more) and finally Cleckheaton (home, seventh, 25 points adrift from a game more).

If Penrith can get to the final game still in with a shout of first or second spot, it could be very interesting because Morpeth host Alnwick on the same day.

Penrith were only 14-7 down at the break against Alnwick.

A Dan Richardson try, converted by George Graham, had given them a 7-5 lead at one point. But all they could add in the second half was a Graham penalty.

De La Salle look strong favourites now to lift the North Lancs/Cumbria title which means the Cumbrian trio of Aspatria, Keswick and Wigton could be left to chase the promotion play-off place.

They currently have an eight-point advantage on Aspatria, who do have two games in hand, but the Salford side do appear to have a better run of fixtures to finish with.

A 24-7 win in south Cumbria at Hawcoat Park set them up for concluding games against bottom side Burnley (away), struggling Eccles (home), Fleetwood (away) before a big finish against Keswick (home).

Aspatria and Keswick didn’t help their causes last week when they lost respectively at Aldwinians and Tarleton.

The Black Reds, who go to Eccles tomorrow, lost 17-13 in Droylsden while Keswick suffered one of their heaviest reversals going down 34-12 at Tarleton.

Keswick’s form has stuttered in recent weeks and to keep their promotion hopes alive will need to beat Bolton comfortably tomorrow at Davidson Park.

It was left to Wigton to fly the flag for Cumbria on Saturday as they recorded a very good 34-29 win at Fleetwood.

That lifted them into second place in the table seven points behind De La Salle and also with only four games left.

It’s a tough finish as well with a trip to Tarleton tomorrow followed by Bolton (away), Trafford (home) and Aspatria (away).

But they will have been encouraged by the victory over Fleetwood, which was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

Fleetwood scored two of their tries in stoppage time.

The performance was felt to be extra special in view of the six players who were missing from the side which beat Keswick a week earlier.

To add to that, Josh Leeson had to leave the field with an injury early in the game.

Wigton also had new partnerships at half-back and in the second row.

Wigton had trailed 17-14 at the break but fought back superbly, and didn’t allow Fleetwood any more points until time added on.

Ryan Wannop got over for the first try, converted by Ryan, while a penalty try complete their first half points tally.

An early penalty at the start of the second half in front of the posts allowed Clark to put Wigton level.

Colin Sessford scored the third try while another penalty try gave them the bonus point. Clark helped himself to two further penalties.

The Cumbria League returns tomorrow with a full programme, and match of the day will be Cockermouth v leaders Upper Eden.

There’s a good derby at the Ellis as Workington take on second-placed Whitehaven. Egremont entertain Carlisle Crusaders, while Silloth host Furness.