So, the last home league game of the season was already upon us and it was definitely shorts weather up at Creighton Rugby Club on a particularly warm afternoon, and it may have been a midweek fixture but the Easter holidays meant that United boss Eric Kinder, in the absence of all his second years, was able to field eight schoolboys in his matchday sixteen as he looks towards the 2011-12 campaign. One of the new faces being non-contract Eritrean-born frontman Alex Berham who, at the age of 16, plays for Walker Central over in the North-East.
Oldham also fielded a relatively inexperienced side and so it took both teams a little while to get things going, the first chance of the game coming on seven minutes when for the Latics Kyle Riley played in Jack Laird for a right-footed shot over the top from 20 yards out. Four minutes later though and it was Carlisle who took the lead when Dave Symington cut in from the left and thumped in a strike from distance on his stronger foot which flew across goal and straight into the far corner of the Oldham net, with goalkeeper Luke Simpson perhaps a little late in his attempt to get down to the effort.
Shortly afterwards and it was United once more when Mark Beck set up Berhan for a right-footed drive over the top from 25 yards out. In the 14th minute Symington tried a very similar effort to his earlier goal but this time Simpson was able to get right behind it, then up at the other end two minutes later Latics left-back David Mellor tried his luck from distance with a powerful left-footed drive that whistled just inches wide of Carlisle goalkeeper Jordan Parker's left-hand post.
Oldham then missed a good chance to level after 18 minutes when, from a long punt up by Joe Cooper, Carlton McIntosh, not for the first time in the game either, found himself clear down the middle only to lob poorly over Parker and the United goal with his right boot from the middle of the 'D'. Three minutes later and Latics skipper Matty A Carr fired a 22-yard right-footer wide of Parker's right-hand post, with McIntosh then repeating the dose sixty seconds later as the visitors had the better of the play.
Remarkably it was Carlisle who were 2-0 up after 24 minutes though when, following good approach play by Beck and Brandon Gwinnutt, it was Symington once more on the scoresheet as he fired an unstoppable right-footed shot in from 15 yards out which flew into the net over the top of Simpson. The two goal advantage only lasted sixty seconds though sadly as Josh Todd conceded possession and McIntosh cut in past Will James a yard before, from the edge of the Blues box, curling a left-footed shot across goal and into the far corner of the United net via Parker's fingertips.
On 29 minutes Alex Parkes then fired a right-footed half-volley over the top from 20 yards for the visitors, before the goals kept coming bang on the half-hour mark as Carlisle made it 3-1. Some dreadfully sleepy Oldham defending allowing United to work a short corner and Symington to cross in to the near-post, Will James then getting in there quickly to head home from only six yards out. With 36 minutes on the clock the Latics looking to respond when Danny Bell sent a weak right-footed effort from the edge of the Carlisle box straight into the arms of Parker.
Shortly afterwards and the Cumbrians were looking to make it 4-1 but, from a Berhan cross in from the right, Beck's header from eight yards out looped away wide of Simpson's far-post. The Latics then made a change in personnel as right-back Sam Fitzgerald was replaced by Jack Poxon due to injury, the reshuffle for the visitors from manager Tony Philliskirk seeing Poxon go in at centre-half as Parkes moved over from that position to take over from Fitzgerald on the right.
Six minutes before the interval and it was Carlisle attacking again however when Symington set up Beck for a left-footed half-volley from distance which Beck sliced away wide of the visitors right-hand post. The last action of the first-half coming in the 42nd minute when McIntosh once more cut in from the right but this time his attempted left-footed 25-yard curler across goal was way off target as Parker was easily able to watch it fail to draw back in on its way past his far-post.
Oldham received a hearty boost up the posterior from boss Philliskirk during the break and it worked too as almost straight from the kick-off they pulled a goal back in a half that ended up being a complete disaster for United, McIntosh the danger man once more with his pace as he got clear through the middle before thumping a right-footed half-volley into the net off the body of Parker from 12 yards out. Parker then producing a slight save for the cameras five minutes later as he pushed behind Laird's 25-yard left-footed drive.
Parker's Achilles heel is his height though and that came to pass from the resultant corner as, seemingly courtesy of a half-time coaching staff plan, Laird swung the ball in left-footed almost underneath the Carlisle crossbar for Riley to head home from just about on the goal-line. Oldham were really piling on the pressure in this spell now and in the 51st minute Ryan Burns had a 20-yard right-footed drive easily saved by Parker. To try to stem the tide Blues boss Eric Kinder made two changes as he brought on Tom Berwick and Jamie Clarey for Jack Lynch and Berham respectively, the visitors at the same time replacing left-back Mellor with Max Cartwright, Mellor appearing to be struggling a little with a back injury as he left the field.
Right on the hour-mark and the Cumbrians had the chance to regain the lead as Parkes made a mess of trying to control a Todd through ball, that seeing Symington race in down the left-hand channel before watching Simpson make a good sprawling stop from his right-footed 15-yard shot. The visitors then made their final change in personnel on 62 minutes when Chris Sutherland came on in place of Bell. Carlisle though having the next effort on goal when, from a Brad Potts free-kick up on the half-way line following a foul by Carr on Gwinnutt, Beck headed straight into the arms of Simpson from eight yards out.
Just before the midway point in the half and Beck sent a cross in from the left which was slightly behind Berwick just outside the Latics six-yard line and he could only drag a left-footed volley into the ground and up into the gloves of Simpson on the bounce. With 73 minutes on the clock Riley then pulling a right-footed 20-yarder wide of Parker's near-post, as during the break in play Carlisle made their final substitution of the afternoon as Dan Jones came on for Gwinnutt.
Moments later, and with United not really getting much going now upfront Lance McGlen, once more playing out of position at left-back, broke forward only to hit his right-footed effort from distance so far across goal and wide that it went out for an Oldham throw-in. Carlisle then went close in the 75th minute when Beck played in Symington for a left-footed shot from 15 yards out which looked to have a good chance of finding the Latics net only for Simpson to make an excellent save low down at his near-post.
Symington was then trying to do it all himself again shortly afterwards but this time he pulled his right-footed drive from just outside the Oldham penalty area wide of Simpson's near-post. United were probably having their best spell in the game now and they were quickly into action again when Clarey set up Jones for a right-footed shot that only went well over the top from 18 yards out. Jones then involved in a clash of heads with Carr in the 77th minute that saw Carr able to play on but Jones have a very short day at work as he had to leave the field with a bad cut to his nose, Carlisle then left to see the match out with just ten men having already used their three substitutes.
As play restarted on 80 minutes United almost got caught out straight away too as McIntosh fed in Riley for a right-footed drive from close range that brought a good save out of Parker, the attempt from Burns to swing the resultant corner under the Blues crossbar then coming as close to doing so as it could have done as it bounced off the top of the woodwork on its way over. And then for United it was a last seven, plus a never-ending six and a half minutes of injury time, minute nightmare as they shipped three goals at rapid pace to eventually lose 6-3 a match they had been leading 3-1 45 minutes earlier.
The 83rd minute seeing Oldham take the lead when McIntosh was well blocked out by McGlen in the Carlisle box, only for McGlen to then inexplicably try to dribble his way out of danger, that allowing Riley to rapidly nip in and smack a left-footed 15-yarder into the United net, once more via Parker's fingertips. Two minutes later the Latics having a quick chance to make it 5-3 when a Burns corner in was only part cleared out to Parkes in the middle of the Cumbrians 'D'. Parkes though lashing his right-footed drive from there well over the top.
It was then Symington or bust for the Blues in the 87th minute but, again cutting in on his right foot from the left, he dragged a shot from distance wide of Simpson's left-hand post. Two minutes later and the three points were definitely going the way of the Latics when, with the goal of many a game never mind just this one, Sutherland picked up on a loose ball 28 yards out before fairly lashing it with his right boot like a missile straight into the top right-hand corner of Parker's net.
The dagger then being shoved really deep into the United heart two minutes into injury time with the worst defensive goal of the lot, as a corner in from Burns saw no Carlisle players challenge for it, Parker flap a little and Laird head straight into the net from two yards out. The scoreline then almost getting worse for United before the end of stoppage time as first Parker had to beat away a 15-yard right-footed shot from McIntosh before McGlen made a timely interception on Sutherland's run in at pace from the right.
Thankfully the final whistle did eventually come to put us all out of our misery on the last day of what has been a gruesome home league campaign for Carlisle from a results perspective, a record of one win, three draws and eight defeats from twelve games rather telling its own story. Still, there's always next season and while an extremely likely bottom of the table finish with just Macclesfield left to play away from home next Saturday isn't what anyone wants at least Ben Mckenna and Steven Swinglehurst have come through the ranks to earn one-year professional contracts, which is what it's supposed to be all about after all.
United line-up :
Jordan Parker, Adam Gill, Lance McGlen (c), Josh Todd, Will James, Brad Potts, Jack Lynch (Tom Berwick 55), Brandon Gwinnutt (Dan Jones 73), Mark Beck, Alex Berham (Jamie Clarey 55), David Symington.
Unused substitutes :
Dale Minor and Dillon Morse.
Oldham line-up :
Luke Simpson, Sam Fitzgerald (Jack Poxon 38), David Mellor, Joe Cooper, Alex Parkes, Matty A Carr, Danny Bell (Chris Sutherland 62), Ryan Burns (Max Cartwright 55), Kyle Riley, Carlton McIntosh, Jack Laird.
Unused substitute :
Dale Connor (GK).
Referee - John Corkhill (Egremont).
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