Cumbrian Youngsters Have Chips For Lunch

Carlisle’s YTS lads took to the field today not knowing quite what to expect against a Chipstead youth side who ply their trade in the Southern Youth League North Division. The "Chips" are having a good season though against stronger opposition in the table, with two teams in their division representing Conference South outfits, having won three and drawn one of their four games so far.

Other teams in the division have played eight games to date whereas Chipstead have only played four due to their excellent Cup run. Having beaten Lewisham Borough 6-0, Moneyfields 2-0, Thamesmead Town 4-2, Chesham United 3-2 and Folkestone Invicta 2-1 to reach the Third Round proper the Chips’ youngsters were full of confidence that they could be Cup giantkillers. Five of their side have represented Surrey under-18s and it was these players that Chipstead were hoping could lead them to glory.

The Blues put out a slightly different line-up to usual with Terry Stewart taking the place of the injured Matty Bell at centre-half and schoolboy Daniel Wordsworth coming in on the bench for the first time as defensive cover.

Both teams started out at a good pace but it was United who would create the first opening of the game in the third minute. Rob Bainbridge flicked the ball on from a huge Adam Bradley goal-kick into the path of Carlisle’s left-midfielder Andy Hardman but he could only slice his left-footed effort wide of target from 15 yards out.

Two minutes later Shaun Vipond laid the ball off to James Earl on the edge of the Chipstead box. United’s central midfielder hit a good first-time left-footed curler which he was unlucky to see flick off the side of the post and out for a goal-kick.

In the eighth minute the visitors took a surprise lead through striker Tom Pension who would later turn from hero to villain. Dean Harmsworth and James King linked together nicely and it was the latter who played the ball on to Pension who was running in to the United box down the right-hand channel. Pension hit a side-footed shot from there which seemed to take an eternity to bobble across Bradley’s goalmouth and into the far corner of the Carlisle net to give the Surrey side the lead.

Sixty seconds later the Cumbrians tried to get back in the game quickly but Earl sliced his 25-yard volley wide after Vipond’s initial shot had been blocked.

After 15 minutes stop-gap centre-half Terry Stewart headed a deep ball weakly into the path of King, fortunately for the Blues though the Chipstead midfielder scuffed his effort a long way post Bradley’s near-post.

Four minutes on and Carlisle went very close from a set-piece, a situation they would look dangerous from for the whole 90 minutes. Earl swung the corner in from the right and after a goalmouth scramble Bainbridge’s toe-poke was deflected wide with Steven Hindmarch just unable to get his foot on it at the back-post.

Shortly afterwards Bainbridge played the ball across the Chipstead box, Earl swung at fresh air and it was left to Carlisle’s right winger Richie Hoban to get a strike in but his curled effort was straight at Mark Nicholas in the visitors’ goal.

The game was to go through a very scrappy spell now as the Blues seemed incapable of passing the ball to feet on an extremely bobbly surface and Chipstead found themselves struggling to break out of their own half.

Just after the half-hour mark though and United eventually found a leveller with a goal from their skipper. Under pressure from Bainbridge visitors centre-half Jack Higgins gave away a free-kick for handball in a central area 25 yards out from his own goal. Dan Kirkup took his traditional Bob Willis run-up and smashed the ball like a rocket low into the bottom right-corner of the Chipstead net although Nicholas did seem slow to get down to attempt a save.

This was a good spell for the Cumbrians now and after Earl had hooked a volley wide from a Chipstead part-clearance the Blues missed a good chance to go ahead. Bainbridge played a lovely reverse pass into the feet of the onrushing Carlisle left-back Matthew Blake who took the ball on into the box. Blake has a powerful left-foot on him and should really have been selfish enough to shoot but he played the ball too strongly across the Chipstead six-yard line and Hoban and Earl were both unable to get on the end of it.

After 38 minutes Blake threw-in to Bainbridge who turned well and crossed in to Earl on the penalty spot but the young midfielder’s header under a physical challenge from Higgins sailed over.

Five minutes from the break and there was a lot of action packed into sixty seconds. The ball was cleared by Chipstead to the centre-circle where Blues right-back Martin Graham and Pension challenged for it with Pension ending up conceding a free-kick as he pushed Graham in the back. His involvement in proceedings didn’t end there though as when the ball bounced down he smacked it away and into the distance with his right hand in a clear show of petulance. Referee Duncan was left with little option but to yellow card Pension for dissent, an incident the Chipstead striker would live to regret.

Graham dusted himself down to pump the free-kick in and this time it was Vipond’s turn to be fouled as his shirt was pulled just outside the visitors’ box. Vipond touched the ball off for Kirkup to blast in on goal but his shot was sliced well wide with the Chips’ defenders flying out to block.

All-in-all it had been a poor first period of play from the Blues who had not really got out of second gear all the way through and coaches Billy Barr and Dave Wilkes were sure to come up with a stern interval team-talk.

After the break Chipstead came out strongly as King laid the ball off to left-back Liam Harwood but his left-footed drive from 22 yards out was always rising and flew over the wall at the back of the Waterworks end.

United were forced to make their first substitution after 49 minutes with Hoban limping off to be replaced by fellow right-winger Mike Stewardson.

A minute later a clearly hobbling Stewart headed a pass poorly into the path of Chipstead’s Jamie Jagdeo in the left-hand channel, Jagdeo rushed his shot though and blazed his effort into Bradley’s side-netting.

Shortly afterwards the Blues had to make their second substitution due to injury as Stewart was the latest player to limp off with Ashley Combe coming on to replace the Hexham born youngster at the heart of the Carlisle defence.

In the 55^th minute Kirkup went close for the Cumbrians when Earl swung a flag-kick in from the right which United’s giant skipper got on the end of only to glance his header narrowly wide from close range.

Two minutes on and a good one-two between Stewardson and Hindmarch resulted in Stewardson hitting a low ball in which Nicholas did well to collect on the bounce. The Blues were really beginning to put the pressure on now as the Chipstead part-timers visibly began to tire on a big and heavy pitch. The last half-hour saw a spate of badly-timed tackles from the visitors as their legs began to fade although none of the challenges seemed to be put in with any malice.

One of those bad tackles came on the 58 minute mark when Higgins brought down Graham on the United right and was booked by the official. Earl put the free-kick in but the ball was easily cleared away from danger by the tall Harwood.

Five minutes later and Chipstead were reduced to ten men when Pension lost his head and received a second yellow card. The young striker chased a long ball over the top only for the offside flag to be raised and the official clearly blow his whistle to signal the free-kick. Pension foolishly took the ball on a yard through before hitting a shot towards the United goal leaving the official with no choice but to show him a yellow followed by the inevitable red.

Any chance the tiring Surrey side had of hanging on for a draw seemed to disappear at this point as they were forced to play with one man light for the final 27 minutes. Chipstead seemed to be struggling with their temperament now and they found another of their players in the referee’s notebook three minutes later, bizarrely after they had just won a free-kick. Graham brought down substitute Koussa-Doua and King was booked for sarcastically applauding the official at the award of a decision going in the visitors’ favour.

On 69 minutes the Cumbrians finally got the second goal they had been pressing for with a cracking goal. Hardman’s low shot from a Bainbridge cross hit his own man in Hindmarch and flew straight back out to Bainbridge on the left-hand edge of the Chipstead box. Bainbridge took a quick touch before unleashing a beautiful right-foot curler into the top-right corner of the visitors net to relieve some nerves from the 200 or so home fans at last.

Koussa-Doua, who seemed as wide as he was tall, cut inside well from the left past Graham on 74 minutes but he was off-balance as he got his shot in and his left-footer sailed over. The young winger looked very tricky when he came on and caused United a few problems with his play down the left although he didn’t look particularly interested in keeping up with his defensive duties.

Gary Baker came on for Hardman on 77 minutes as Carlisle looked to inject some fresh legs into the midfield area. Seconds later Blake played the ball into Bainbridge but his 15-yard shot on the turn went across goal and wide.

With ten minutes to go Stewardson was unlucky not to get on the end of a nice ball in by Vipond from the left as he stretched to reach the cross but he was unable to stop it from going into the hands of Chipstead keeper Nicholas. A minute later and Koussa-Doua was the latest Chips’ player to see yellow as he went through the back of Graham out on the United right.



It was all Carlisle now as the visitors had nothing left to give and from a deep ball in by Earl, Kirkup, up in attack from his usual centre-back spot, glanced a mid-range header narrowly wide of Nicholas’ near-post.

With four minutes to go the Blues made it an unassailable 3-1 lead. Bainbridge laid the ball back to Blake on the United left and Carlisle’s full-back put in an excellent cross with his trusty left-foot. Baker ran in well on the cross and planted a powerful header over the top of Nicholas from ten yards out as both Blues fans and players alike breathed a final sigh of relief.

Only sixty seconds later and it was 4-1 to the Cumbrians with Chipstead dead on their feet and falling apart at the back. Hindmarch played in the pacey Stewardson down the right and as he took the ball on he quickly played in Bainbridge who was completely unmarked just short of the visitors' penalty spot. United’s youngster took the ball in on his chest and slotted his shot under the advancing Nicholas and into the far corner of the Chipstead net for his second and Carlisle's fourth.

The Chips’ to their credit still tried to make progress in the attacking third and with two minutes left King got a shot in from the edge of the United box but unluckily for him it was straight at an under-worked Bradley.

There was just time for Bainbridge to grab his hat-trick before referee Duncan blew the final whistle. Vipond played a low ball in from the left into a packed Chipstead box and the official judged that Bainbridge had had his shirt tugged back by Chipstead centre-half Gary Simmonds. It seemed a slightly harsh decision but the result was academic at that stage anyway. Bainbridge stepped up to take the spot-kick and he claimed the matchball by smashing his effort low and hard into the bottom right corner as Nicholas dived the wrong way.