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When the wind is already near gale force the top of a hill isn't perhaps the best place to expect a good game of football, although it could have been a worse match in fairness. Both sides did take a while to get used to conditions early on though, United themselves with the wind at their backs in the first-half guilty of over-hitting the ball quite a few times.
With chances limited throughout on such a blustery day the first opportunity didn't come until the 14th minute when for North End Ryan Hall cut in from the right and laid the ball back to skipper Tom Owens 15 yards out. Owens left disappointed though as Carlisle right-back James Wood did well to hack the ball away from danger. Owens then wasting a good chance three minutes later, set up by Jamie Douglas, as his soft 15-yard side-footer was easily held by Mark Gillespie.
With Mark Sloan now pushed closer to Ryan Bowman upfront for the Blues there was a little bit more space down the United right, North End left-back Sam Hart using that to put in a fantastic cross with 19 minutes on the clock. The ball then hitting the body of Douglas and falling straight to the feet of Hall 12 yards out at the back-stick, Hall able to knock a right-footer back across Gillespie and low into the corner to give the visitors the lead.
Carlisle now started to put a little more pressure on North End and in the 26th minute Bowman, from a long throw-in by James Bonner - who featured in central midfield today, flicked a 12-yard header over the top. United shortly afterwards also having a couple of Matt Osmond corners which the Preston defenders did well to clear at their near-post.
As we ticked onto the half-hour mark Sean Law stuck a deep Carlisle free-kick in from the left which North End goalkeeper Ben Proctor misjudged in the wind, Proctor only able to scramble the ball wide for a corner. Osmond's flag-kick in then being cleared but as play went on Sloan was able to lay off possession to Blues captain Liam Davison who, under pressure, hammered a right-footed shot over the top from 22 yards out.
Four minutes later and Law found some space on the left-edge of the Preston box, sadly for Carlisle though his left-footed drive pinged away off a combination of Proctor and his centre-half Danny Devine. It was the Lilywhites attacking again though after 36 minutes when, from a Douglas touch off, Owens, from an excellent position inside the United penalty area, could only slice his right-footed shot horribly wide of Gillespie's far-post.
With 40 minutes gone Preston again did well to clear a useful Law corner in, then play was almost interrupted as what looked like a cairn terrier scooted around the edge of the pitch, the dog finding its eventual prey as it tried to chase Carlisle substitute James Reid up the steep hill on the far side of the pitch.
Unfortunately play was interrupted though a minute before the interval when Douglas and United's Ben Richards-Everton chased a loose ball in the middle of the park. Douglas ending up down in a heap from nowhere as he waved his arms in the air in anguish, the net result being a stretcher for a long-term knee injury and the referee sensibly blowing for half-time early to allow for treatment for the stricken North End striker.
It was Matt Dudley who came on for Douglas as the second-half began, but it was Carlisle having the first bit of possession early on when in the 48th minute Davidson put a poor delivery in from a free-kick which ended up being easily cleared, the set-piece having been won in a dangerous position on the right-hand angle of the box.
Despite the dire conditions and the injury to Douglas former Blue Jamie Hoyland, Preston's youth team coach, kept his spirits up by admonishing his goalkeeper for not getting a shot on target, Proctor's clearance from a back pass having travelled about 90 yards into the arms of Gillespie with the wind behind it.
After 55 minutes Osmond sent a corner deep to the back-stick which Richards-Everton headed high and goalwards, the ball eventually dropping out to him as he back-tracked out of the box, unfortunately though he showed a defender's finish as his 22-yard right-footed effort flew well over.
A few minutes later and I was helping stretcher Douglas away out of the cold wind and back to the relative comfort of the changing rooms, and on my return I was told that the only thing of note to happen was Proctor saving a Bowman shot. The next things I wrote down being a substitution for either side around the midway point in the half as Reid replaced Sloan for the Blues and Jordan Bent, son of former Bristol City man Junior, came on for Reece Hewitt.
With 71 minutes gone Osmond laid a good ball out to Bowman down the left-hand channel, Bowman skilfully nipping past right-back Scott Leather only to be disappointed with himself as he sliced his 12-yard left-footed shot over the angle of near-post and bar. Osmond then setting up Reid for a shot from a similar position sixty seconds later which a little unluckily deflected off the legs of Leather and went straight into the arms of Proctor.
That was the last action of the game for Osmond as he was replaced by Paddy O'Brien on 73 minutes, then three minutes afterwards the visitors all but ended the game as they made it 2-0. Owens feeding a pass down to the left-hand by-line for Bent who put a cross in low along the Carlisle six-yard box, Dudley then able to just find the net off the inside of the back-post as he slid in and got the end of his studs to the ball.
With seven minutes left to go in the tie Blues boss Eric Kinder made his third and final change as Phil Towler replaced Bonner in the United midfield. Carlisle then making it 2-1 just moments later with a hotly disputed penalty from a North End perspective, Towler seemingly being fairly tackled by Preston centre-half Fred Holtom only for the referee to point to the spot. Bowman easily sending Proctor the wrong way as he took the penalty right-footed while the North End coaching staff went nuts.
Nayim El Harratz had played well in the visitors midfield throughout and in the 87th minute he sent a ball through that put Bent one-on-one with Gillespie 15 yards out. Bent was stretching a bit though and he could only toe-poke his right-footed effort wide of the left-hand post. Carlisle's late huffing and puffing against the wind for an equaliser producing nothing as the only incident of note was Reid being rather harshly booked for handball as the Blues looked to break down the pitch.
So today ends a run of four home games in a row for the Cumbrians, things starting off well with wins over Bury and Blackpool in the league before two 2-1 defeats on the trot against Shrewsbury in the league and Preston in the cup have ended the quartet of matches on a negative note from a results perspective.
With the Youth Alliance Cup now gone today and any hopes of a league title challenge looking highly unlikely with a young, inexperienced side, it is now really all eyes on a good run in the FA Youth Cup, that competition starting for Carlisle around the end of this month.
United line-up :
Mark Gillespie, James Wood, Steven Swinglehurst, Jamie Cleary, Ben Richards-Everton, Sean Law, James Bonner (Phil Towler 83), Liam Davison (c), Ryan Bowman, Mark Sloan (James Reid 66), Matt Osmond (Paddy O'Brien 73).
Unused substitutes :
Jon Ball (GK) and Kieran Cahill.
Preston line-up :
Ben Proctor, Scott Leather, Sam Hart, Seanan Clucas, Fred Holtom, Danny Devine, Tom Owens (c), Nayim El Harratz, Ryan Hall, Jamie Douglas (Matt Dudley 46), Reece Hewitt (Jordan Bent 67).
Unused substitutes :
Dominic Comrie (GK) and Doyle Middleton.
Youth Team Results : Click here
Youth Team Squad : Click here
Youth Team Table : Click here