It was a bad day for Cumbria’s three representatives in the Northern League as they each lost to sides currently in the top five of Division One.
Kendal Town dropped to fourth in the table after their 2-0 home defeat top League leaders Guisborough Town.
Carlisle City’s three-match winning run ended at Boro Rangers where they were well beaten 4-0 and slip one place to eighth.
Penrith remain 11th after they were beaten 1-0 at Whitley Bay, who had been the early-season league leaders but are now in third place.
Kendal had been extra keen to put one over on Guisborough as they had lost 4-3 last week at second-in-the-table Shildon.
Guisborough had taken the lead on 17 minutes with a tidy finish from James Frazer and had deservedly led 1-0 at the break.
The advantage was doubled five minutes into the second-half with another smart finish, this time from Matthew Willshaw.
Manager Matt Flynn said: “I have to give credit to Guisborough because they were excellent but we weren’t at the standards we have set ourselves.
“It’s been disappointing but we’ve had three tough games in a row, losing the last two after a good win at Horden, so we just have to get ready for a busy Christmas/new year period and get back to what we do best.”
This is what chairman Michael O’Neill had to say:
Carlisle City started brightly at Boro Rangers but fell away and there were no complaints after the 4-0 reversal.
Stuart Rose, one of the most respected strikers in the Northern League, scored the first two goals in the 15th and 26th minutes, and also set up James Field for the third in the 59th minute.
City didn’t really look like getting back into the game and Mackenzie Crooks added a fourth six minutes from the end.
Hear Dan Kirkup’s verdict below:
One goal separated Whitley Bay and Penrith in their closely fought game.
Alfie Livermore was the scorer half an hour into the contest.
Here’s what Penrith’s Jim Nichols had to say:
