Albeit a designated youth team friendly at Frenchfields today there were still five professionals on display for Carlisle in Mark Gillespie, Danny Livesey, Paddy Madden, Liam Noble and Steven Swinglehurst. So, with Jack Lynch back at Brunton Park on the bench for the first team that meant that there were eleven youth teamers on show at Penrith, and that with Dan Jones, Dillon Morse, trialist Brad Staunch, Dave Symington and Josh Todd all sidelined with short term injury problems.
That meaning that United lined up for the first-half of play as follows:
Paddy Madden - Mark Beck
Liam Noble
Alex Berhan - Brandon Gwinnutt - Adam Gill
Brad Potts - Steven Swinglehurst - Danny Livesey - Lance McGlen
Mark Gillespie
It was a quiet start to the game on a pretty good Frenchfields surface though with the first action coming as late as eight minutes in when Noble's corner in was punched away by home goalkeeper James Holland, the ball then pinging behind off an unsuspecting Livesey. Six minutes later and it was then Nicky Davidson that was looking to get on the scoresheet for Penrith but his left-footed drive from 20 yards out was easily taken in by Gillespie at his near-post.
With the home side slightly on top it was then their influential skipper Willy Paul in the 17th minute setting up Steven Ainsworth for a left-footed shot from just outside the Carlisle penalty area which was only dragged away wide of the near-post. Four minutes later Ainsworth turning provider when his pass found Grant Davidson for a close range shot with the outside of his right boot which was well cleared away by a retreating Livesey.
United's first real chance of the game then came in the 23rd minute when Noble fed Madden in one-on-one with Holland, Madden's right-footed 12-yard effort was straight at Holland's legs though, with Noble then volleying the rebound narrowly wide of the far-post from the edge of the box. The same two then combining again nine minutes later when home centre-half Simon Neary fell over and Madden was once more clear through, this time though the young Irishman shanking his right-footed effort from the middle box well wide of the target.
With 33 minutes on the clock Carlisle were then made to pay for missing their chances when Scott Allison broke through on the left and forced a good quick block from Gillespie on a 12-yard shot. The ball then pinging back out to Ainsworth for a close range right-footed shot into the net, despite the best efforts of United skipper McGlen on the line to stop Penrith making the scoreline 1-0.
Shortly afterwards and Carlisle were looking to restore parity however when Noble's 20-yard right-footed drive flicked off Neary on its way onto the home crossbar, Holland than kicking the ball away for a Noble corner which producing nothing for United. It was Noble again looking to grab a goal for Carlisle with 37 minutes gone when Neary headed out a McGlen cross straight to the young midfielder in the 'D', who then volleyed it with his right boot wide of the far-post.
Three minutes later and it was Ben Jackson for the home side trying his luck from distance but his left-footed shot from the left-hand channel disappeared away wide of Gillespie's left-hand post. United then going up the other end in the 42nd minute with Gill, from a loose ball, firing in a right-footed 20-yard drive which proved an awkward one for Holland to take on the bounce. Madden then, sixty seconds later, once more being set up by Noble to take a touch around Philip Thornton 15 yards out, only for the finish to be lacking again as he fired well over the top with his right boot.
Madden did equalise for Carlisle in the 44th minute though from an awful blind back-pass by Neary, that allowing Madden to round an already floored Holland before being able to walk the ball home into an empty net. The last action of the half then coming into the final seconds when Jackson's 15-yard drive pinged away off Livesey for a corner, Sean Elliott's ball in then seeing Neary head wide under pressure from close range before the whistle came to signal the interval.
So, into the second-half and Penrith made two substitutions during the break as Andy Wilkinson and Niall Berwick came on for Tom Clark and Allison respectively. Meanwhile for United Beck, Gill, McGlen and Potts all went off to be replaced by Berwick, Clarey, James and Minor, with the Carlisle eleven now therefore being as follows:
Paddy Madden - Jamie Clarey
Alex Berhan
Tom Berwick - Brandon Gwinnutt - Liam Noble
Dale Minor - Steven Swinglehurst - Danny Livesey - Will James
Mark Gillespie
After a similar slow start to the opening period it was Madden trying to get things going in the 51st minute but his right-footed shot from 20 yards out proved to be an easy one for Holland to take. Madden then doing a role reversal in the 53rd minute as it was his cross in from the left which Noble tried to volley goalwards with his right boot from just outside the box only for the ball to ping away from danger off the body of Thornton.
The home side then regained the lead four minutes later when a touch across the edge of the box from Jackson found Berwick in the right-hand channel 15 yards out, with Berwick from there cracking a right-footed half-volley across Gillespie and into the far corner of the United net. It was Carlisle's Berwick who was pressing just before the hour-mark however when his ball through for Clarey was just scrambled behind by a mixture of Holland and Thornton. Noble then knocking the corner in which Holland spilled at his near-post, only for Madden then from close range to attempt to hoof the ball at goal only to see it fly out for a throw-in on the far side.
It was then the usual combination for Carlisle with 64 minutes gone when a Noble free-kick in from the right was glance-headed well wide of the far-post by Madden 15 yards out. The home side then making another substitution two minutes later when Clark returned to the fray in place of Elliott. Clark had hardly got involved again though when the scoreline moved to 2-2 on 69 minutes, Noble's ball over the top seeing Clarey then send a low cross in from the right which was easy for Madden to volley home with his right boot from six yards out.
Noble was starting to stick passes over the top of an increasingly high Penrith back line all the time now and in the 74th minute it was Clarey in the clear but his right-footed drive from 20 yards out was sliced away high and wide of Holland's left-hand post on its way zooming over the fence. The home side then making another change in personnel during the break in play as yet another replacement ball was hoofed onto the field, with Dale Metcalfe coming on in place of Jackson.
Penrith were looking to take the lead for the third time in the game in the 77th minute when Clark set up Davidson for a turn and shot on the edge of the box, Davidson though dragging his right-footed drive wide of Gillespie's near-post. Carlisle then the ones making a substitution before play resumed as McGlen came back onto the pitch in place of Gwinnutt, right-back McGlen simply slotting straight into the midfield spot that Gwinnutt had been occupying.
Moments later and it was Noble supplying Madden over the top once more, but again Madden was unable to convert as he smashed his right-footed shot from 15 yards out straight at the legs of a sprawling Holland. Madden did make it 3-2 to United with ten minutes to go though when Berwick stuck a cross in from the left which Clarey, at the back-post, scuffed back along the six-yard line, that then leaving Madden with a tap-in to put Carlisle in the lead for the first time in the match.
Into the 83rd minute, and yes you've guessed it, Noble stuck Madden away over the top and in the clear once more, Madden's side-footer on his right boot from 15 yards out looking to be inching wide though before pinging away off the body of Holland. Carlisle boss Eric Kinder then making his final change of personnel for the day sixty seconds later when Berhan was replaced behind the front two by the returning Gill.
The last bits of action in the match then coming the way of the home side in the 86th minute when Clark set up Paul for a left-footed shot over the top from 20 yards out. The break in play then seeing Tim Clasper, son of Penrith manager John, enter the fray in place of Ainsworth. So, a friendly win, albeit a frustrating one, for what was essentially a reserve team for United proving useful for giving players of all ranks and ages a good run-out against a home side who competed very well throughout only to tire a little in the closing stages.
Penrith line-up :
James Holland, Tom Clark (Andy Wilkinson 46), Nicky Davidson, Simon Neary, Philip Thornton, Ben Jackson, Steven Ainsworth (Tim Clasper 86), Willy Paul (c), Sean Elliott, Grant Davidson (Tom Clark 66), Scott Allison (Niall Berwick 46).
Goals - Steven Ainsworth 33 and Niall Berwick 57.
United line-up :
Mark Gillespie, Lance McGlen (c) (Will James 46), Brad Potts (Dale Minor 46), Steven Swinglehurst, Danny Livesey, Brandon Gwinnutt (Lance McGlen 77), Adam Gill (Tom Berwick 46), Liam Noble, Alex Berhan (Adam Gill 84), Mark Beck (Jamie Clarey 46), Paddy Madden.
Unused substitute :
Jordan Parker (GK).
Goals - Paddy Madden 44, 69 and 80.
Referee - Scott Taylor (Cumberland FA).
Attendance - 150 (approx).
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