Gary Madine - Francois Zoko
Billy Gibson - James Berrett - Patrick Cregg - Jake Simpson
Sean McDaid - Ian Harte - Peter Murphy - Frankie Simek
Adam Collin
In front of a healthy attendance of 676, who endured another miserable night of Cumbrian weather throughout, the home side started brightly and had the first chance of the game in the second minute. A Gari Rowntree free-kick, following a Murphy handball, hitting the Carlisle wall before being played into the box by Shaun Vipond, Phil McLuckie's eight-yard header then proving an easy one for United goalkeeper Adam Collin to take.
Four minutes later and Berrett skied a shot over the bar for the Blues before in the ninth minute Madine, from a Cregg pass, hit a 20-yard effort straight into the arms of Reds stopper Aaran Taylor. It was Workington back on the attack shortly afterwards though when, following set-up play from Conor Tinnion, Vipond curled a right-footed shot from just outside of the box inches wide of Collin's left-hand post.
Play went back up the other end in the 16th minute with a chest down by Madine for Berrett, the former Huddersfield youngster slicing his 25-yard shot well wide though. Seven minutes later and Gibson cut in from his left flank following a Berrett pass into him only to dribble a weak right-footed effort straight at Taylor.
With 24 minutes on the clock Murphy was penalised for handball once more 25 yards out in the middle, Vipond having his free-kick deflected out for a corner, from which Vipond's delivery was punched well clear by Collin. Carlisle were giving plenty of set-pieces away around their own penalty area and another one came in the 31st minute after a Gibson high foot on Tinnion.
Vipond then quickly touching the ball off for a low Jonny Wright strike which was seen late but pushed round his near-post for a corner by Collin. The resultant Tinnion flag-kick in not seeing the best United defending as it hit an unsuspecting Kyle May and flew out for a Blues goal-kick.
Zoko was then denied a shot by an excellent May tackle on 37 minutes before sixty seconds later, Berrett and Cregg set up Zoko for a 25-yard shot that was deflected wide, Gibson and McDaid then working the short corner to no end product. Gibson then shortly afterwards having a long range effort deflected wide, with Simpson's two resultant flag-kicks, after the first had been cleared by May, again producing nothing for the Blues.
The last chance of the half again coming the way of Carlisle in the 42nd minute when Simpson stuck a good cross in from the right which was headed down by an unmarked Madine eight yards out. Taylor though, as the ball came up on the bounce towards his top left corner, making a fantastically instinctive save as he somehow pushed the ball over his own crossbar, Harte then from the partly cleared corner lashing a 22-yard left-footed half-volley over the top.
Carlisle then made five subsitutions during the interval and, in the absence of wingers Hurst and Robson, they also switched to a diamond formation, with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson again impressing in his role sitting just behind the front two. The United line-up for the start of the second-half being as follows :
Ryan Bowman - Francois Zoko
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson
Patrick Cregg - Tom Taiwo
Paul Thirlwell
Sean McDaid - Ian Harte - Peter Murphy - Tony Kane
Adam Colin
Like the end of the first-half, the opening chance of the second period was Carlisle's when Kane in the 47th minute fired a 22-yard right-footed half-volley wide of the Reds far-post. Workington came as close as they would do all night to scoring five minutes later though when Harte made a mess of clearing a long ball up and Wright was able to get a chip in from a tight angle over a stranded Collin, fortunately for the Blues though the ball bounced away to safety off the face of the crossbar.
After 55 minutes Reds substitute striker Aaron Taylor, one "a" different in name to the Reds goalkeeper Aaran Taylor, tried to score with his first touch of the game but his 18-yard shot was weak and straight at Collin. Bang on the hour-mark and Andrews seemed to be fouled by Cregg but Preston referee Lee Metcalfe waved play on with Cregg then supplying Bowman for a scuffed left-footed shot straight at Taylor from only 12 yards out.
From that moment on a raft of substitutions for both sides, with six for Workington and four for Carlisle made the game more bitty than it had been in the opening period. The next chance in the match coming in the 69th minute when Cregg had a 20-yard left-footed shot that looked to be going wide of the near-post fumbled even further wide by Taylor. Taiwo then sending in the subsequent corner which Andy Cook headed back across goal but wide from eight yards out.
United were having a strong spell of pressure now and with 79 minutes on the clock, Taiwo had a shot from the edge of the 'D' well blocked by May. Then up at the other end two minutes later Reds replacement Gareth Arnison sent a left-footed 22-yard half-volley slicing away wide of the Blues near-post past Carlisle substitute goalkeeper Mark Gillespie.
Just as it looked like the game was heading for a 0-0 draw, United grabbed a late winner in the 87th minute through 19-year old trialist centre-half Nick Wood. Cregg and Bridge-Wilkinson working a short corner which ended with Cregg crossing in to the Reds far-post for a completely unmarked Wood to have the simple task of heading down and into the net from no more than three yards out.
So, another local away pre-season friendly gone and another win, albeit a much tighter one that it was at Kendal on Friday. Newcastle at home on Saturday will prove a much tougher test though and it will be interesting to see what kind of team begins that game, it could prove to be an early pointer for the starting eleven against Brentford three and a half weeks from now.
Workington line-up :
Aaran Taylor, Dave Hewson (Andy Langford 74), Gari Rowntree (Alex White 74), Kyle May, Lee Andrews (Dave Hewson 87), Shaun Vipond (Tony Hopper 77), Stephen Hindmarch (Jonny Blake 55), Phil McLuckie (Gareth Arnison 77), Conor Tinnion (Rico Colulo 68), Matty Tymon (Aaron Taylor 55), Jonny Wright (Callum Ruttledge 74).
Unused substitute :
James Bryden (GK).
United line-up :
Adam Collin (Mark Gillespie 67), Frankie Simek (Tony Kane 46), Peter Murphy (Graham Kavanagh 73), Ian Harte (Nick Wood 69), Sean McDaid (Steven Swinglehurst 76), Jake Simpson (Tom Taiwo 46), Patrick Cregg, James Berrett (Marc Bridge-Wilkinson 46), Billy Gibson (Paul Thirlwell 46), Gary Madine (Ryan Bowman 46), Francois Zoko (Andy Cook 63).
Referee - Lee Metcalfe (Preston).
Attendance - 676.
Pre-Season Results 2010-11 : Click here