Carlisle City found out at first hand the strength of Northern League First Division title favourites Redcar Athletic last night.
City were 5-0 down by half-time and it is to their credit that their damage limitation exercise in the second half was successful and the League leaders didn’t score again.
Manager Dan Kirkup admitted he was not as down after the game as he might have been because of the quality of the opposition.
Kirkup believes Redcar are the best side he’s seen in the Northern League and they will have the title wrapped up by Christmas.
“They have players who were operating at two or three levels higher and they are a class above the rest. I’m just pleased with how we played in the second-half and take positives from that,” he said.
Redcar had started on the front foot and went ahead after only nine minutes with a goal from Callum Guy – not the Carlisle United player.
The vastly experienced Asdam Boyes doubled the lead on 14 minutes and it was 3-0 eight minutes later when Bradley Fewster got in on the act.
Boyes then took over with goals in the 28th and 45th minutes to complete his hat-trick.
To hear what Dan Kirkup thought of Redcar and how his side responded to a first-half battering you can listen below:
