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You had to feel a bit sorry for new Cumbrians boss Neil McDonald as well really as he stood in front of his dugout surrounded by his loyal coaching staff of, erm, Neil McDonald. Billy Barr was a no-show and with that man Simpson saying a couple of days ago that he expected to have a new first-team coach in place at Preston by Monday, well, you didn't need a calculator to add two and two and make five.
A damn sight colder than last year it was as well, after the tropical Southend Road conditions of 12 months ago, having said that though, the warm weather had certainly helped the grass grow on the Penrith pitch, I could almost see Dan Kirkup's head over the top of the meadow at one point. Anyway, the United managerial team decided to play a different team in each half of the game so he could get a good look at his new charges in action, Carlisle kicking up the slope in the first-half.
So, lets get off to a nice easy start to the season, oh heck they've scored in the first minute. Hardly a picture-book finish though when a Dan Broadley free-kick from the left-angle of the box takes a wicked deflection of the top of the wall, wrongfoots Williams and flies across into the far corner of the United net, ho hum. Carlisle came back up the slope with some quality play hold-up by Hawley and Nade trying to get past his man down the right-wing undergrowth at the hub of things though.
Grand went close after seven minutes with a header from a corner which Holland did well to stop in the Penrith goal. Then a couple of minutes later Glenn Murray knocked the ball on past a bouncer-esque home defender only to go down under a challenge in the penalty box, spot-kick appeals came and went in vain though. Nade flew down the flank on 12 minutes and got a cracking cross in from the by-line, Hawley met it from close-range on the volley, and Holland could only parry it straight out to Glenn Murray who tapped the rebound home into the empty net to restore parity.
Raven was looking useful, using the ball intelligently and getting up well to support Nade down the wing, a good half of football from Grand too who was certainly putting it all in to impress the new boss. Penrith were huffing and puffing but with the long grass and slope in their favour on the bobbly surface they were resorting to too many long balls and were conceding possession all too easily.
Aranalde stuck in a good cross in from the left on 18 minutes which Hawley took down well, only for the hitman to lump his effort straight down the throat of Holland. At least most of his shots were on target though, as the United midfield again struggled to trouble the opposition keeper with drives away from goal flying all over the place. There was a bit of a goalmouth scramble in the middle of the half as Aranalde and Adam Murray swung crosses in, but with the home side defending in numbers it was difficult for Carlisle to make the pressure pay.
Just after the half-hour mark Hawley was once more in the thick of the action when set free by Billy, Holland was on-hand again to deny United's top scorer though with a good save low down at his far-post. Another goalmouth scramble went by with ten minutes to go to half-time, Glenn Murray, Billy and Nade all taking swipes at the ball but failing to force Holland into any work, Lumsdon had the final say but he could only send the ball over the perimeter wall. I can't remember ever going to a football match where the ball spent so much time out of the ground, we even ran out of balls at one point, until one came flying back over the wall in return.
Raven and Nade worked well together again late in the half but Lumsdon wasted the opportunity as he sent his shot on the volley flying well over the Penrith woodwork. Raven, Hawley, Grand and Livesey had all had a good 45 minutes for Carlisle, and Aranalde also showed good composure when beating his man on the left a couple of times.
So an all new United eleven trotted out of the changing rooms for the second period, the lads having to get kitted out in there during the first 45 minutes due to lack of space. The absence of an assistant manager and first-team coach was presumably the reason for Chris Billy and Kevin Gray to play in different halves, the two experienced pros doing the pre-match warm-up for either eleven. It could be an exciting opportunity for Paddockites next season if we are able to boo Billy for not taking the warm-up seriously, as well as being able to moan about him all game too.
The half got away quietly in all honesty, until Gall made a good run down the right and fed the ball all the way across to Bridges on the edge of the box. With seemingly hardly any backlift Bridges got a rasper of a drive in only to see it come pinging back out off the Penrith crossbar. Gall was looking impressive on his Carlisle debut as well, the ex-Yeovil man showed some good pace, was able to take his man on with skill and got a good cross in, only against Penrith admittedly but the early signs look promising.
Another good run from Gall saw a centre come in to the near-post, Holmes was lining up a close-range header but the ball just flicked off a defender on it's way into the box and made it hard for him to control his effort, the header going well over. Murphy, Hackney and Bridges combined well down the left too for the majority of the half, but Bridges was a bit off-radar as far as shooting was going, too often rocketing his efforts wide of goal.
United were struggling a bit to make the breakthrough in the face of some determined home defending but the second goal finally did come after an hour of play. Arnison got a low cross into the middle, after some good approach play between himself and Gall, only for the impressive Paul Murray to scuff his shot on goal from the penalty spot. Fortunately for Carlisle though the ball fell straight to the feet of Bridges and he was able to slam it low into the net from just six yards out to give United the lead.
It started to get a bit dull now, especially with play broken up every ten seconds due to either a Penrith substitution or the ball flying away over the perimeter wall and into the distance. It was pretty much all Carlisle though as the home side began to tire, with Holmes and Bridges both unable to find the finish when well-placed, Hackney, Gall and Paul Murray all performing well to provide the strikers with ammunition.
There was still plenty of time for a classic own goal though, and that's what we got with eleven minutes on the clock. Some dodgy defending by Penrith saw Gall racing towards a loose ball 18 yards out, home left-back Tom Brough got there first but he'll be wishing he hadn't after he curled a beautiful finish on his left-foot past his own keeper low into the corner of the Penrith net. Such a cracker of a own goal that even the majority of the home players were laughing at poor old Brough as they made their way back up the pitch for the kick-off.
That was the end of that then really, not much action to report form there up to the final whistle. It was certainly a useful run-out for the lads, with Gall, Hackney, Hawley and Paul Murray all looking particularly on their game, Raven showed enough to look like he is going to be a good signing as well. You have to feel sorry for Neil McDonald though, just starting his first managerial job and he's left without an assistant boss and a first-team coach at such an important time of the season, it's obviously something that needs sorting out very quickly.
United first-half line-up :
Anthony Williams, David Raven, Zigor Aranalde, Danny Livesey, Simon Grand, Chris Billy, Raphael Nade, Chris Lumsdon, Karl Hawley, Glenn Murray and Adam Murray.
United second-half line-up :
Keiren Westwood, Paul Arnison, Peter Murphy, Dan Kirkup, Kevin Gray, Paul Murray, Kevin Gall, Luke Joyce, Derek Holmes, Michael Bridges and Simon Hackney.
United unused substitutes :
Adam Bradley, James Earl and Pete Ferris.
Penrith squad (with numerous substitutes) :
James Holland, Martin Kirkby, Tom Brough, Phillip Thornton, Wayne Robertson, Martin Strong, Ryan Errington, Kevin Frampton, Andrew Wright, Dan Broadley, Will Paul, Darren West, Dayle Armstrong, Steven Rook, Lee Andrews, Lee Collins and Andy Keough (fans draw winner).