Aspatria’s 12-6 defeat at Carlisle on Saturday virtually means the Black Reds are in competition with four other teams for the promotion play-off slot.

Carlisle are clear, with a catch us if you can mentality, and now 15 points ahead of De La Salle and a further two points in hand of Aspatria.

Also still in contention for the play-off spot are Hawcoat Park (level on points with Aspatria), Wigton (four points further back) and last of the hopefuls Bolton (currently eight points off second).

Carlisle can sit back and watch this weekend as they are without a fixture, but four of the chasers are playing catch-up.

Aspatria will expect to get back to winning ways when they entertain fourth-bottom Trafford but the big game is at Lowmoor Road where Wigton entertain Bolton – fifth and sixth in the table, and currently the last two of the five contenders.

Second-placed De La Salle are at home to Fleetwood, who have faded out of contention after leading the table very early in the season.

Carlisle scored two tries against Aspatria without having their own line breached, which was a very satisfying outcome for the Warwick Road side.

Aspatria’s Barney Clegg said: “The first up tackling of Carlisle was more than a match for us and, ultimately, it was this factor that delivered the home side a hard-earned victory.

"We are now in a scramble, which involves five teams fighting for one play-off place.”

Wigton beat Upper Eden 20-0 but, despite being short of some key players, it wasn’t really the big, convincing performance supporters might have expected.

Wigton had the lion's share of territory and possession and never looked like losing but it was a performance lacking in fluency, with skill levels and decision making preventing the Greens wrapping up the bonus point.

Coach Mark Lee will be looking for a more up-beat display tomorrow against a Bolton side who can blow very hot or ice cold.

Upper Eden have a big relegation game tomorrow at Silloth, who were beaten 29-0 at home by Hawcoat Park.

It’s looking more and more as though Silloth, Workington and Upper Eden will be the three teams going down in April.

Workington went down 36-26 at Aldwinians but the Zebras don’t have a game tomorrow.

St. Benedict’s are also playing catch-up in North One East with a home game against Birkenhead Park.

The Saints were beaten 33-11 at home by Burnage on Saturday after fading in the final quarter.

Birkenhead Park are unbeaten in 16 games and will pose problems for their hosts who are still likely to be without a number of regulars.

“The absence of so many first team players is making it really hard in a very competitive league," said Saints' Colin Murdoch.

“It’s also impacting on our second team, so we are really hoping that the injuries start to clear-up pretty soon."

In the Cumbria League, Keswick won the big game with Whitehaven 14-13 but still trail leaders Cockermouth by three points, although they do have a game in hand.