Football is back with a series of pre-season friendlies on Saturday for Penrith, Workington, Kendal, Holker Old Boys and Barrow.
At Frenchfield Reds had to come from behind to beat Penrith 2-1; Kendal put up a good effort against Morecambe before losing 3-1 and Holker were denied a goalless draw against their National League neighbours through two very late goals.
Billy Barr still had a number of absentees including returning centre-half Matty Douglas who is awaiting international clearance so his squad was a mixture of last season’s regulars, three trialists and a number of the club’s promising youngsters.
Penrith boss, Jim Nichols had taken his boys for a family treat at DSilverstone for the British Grand Prix so his number two Alan Ingles was driving the show for the Bonnyblues.
Ten players had links to Workington, including Reds’ Youth team’s player of the year, Harrison Telford.
Chances were few and far between and little for the goalkeepers to be concerned about although ex-Penrith sharpshooter Luke Hunter had Reds’ best opportunity but shot wide of the far post.
It was Penrith who took the lead just before half-time when a shot from Connor Hammell, which was on target, seemed to be blocked by Ceiran Casson’s raised elbow and the referee awarded the spot kick.
Hammell took the penalty himself and although Alex Mitchell guessed right and got a glove to the ball he couldn’t keep it out.
Both teams introduced a posse of substitutes in the second half but it took until the 71st minute for Reds to get level.
The 17-year-old Alfie McDonough did well to rise above his marker and head home Charlie Barnes’ cross.
Three minutes later Reds went in front. Keelan Leslie’s long ball freed Josh Palmer and he got away from his marker and then slotted the ball past Lewis Boyd for what proved to be the winner.
You can hear what Reds boss Billy Barr thought about the game below:
And here is Jim Nichols’ view of the game, plus his thoughts on Silverstone and the British Grand Prix below:
Holker Old Boys meet up with their neighbours Barrow every year as one of their pre-season games and it’s always a good day for the Rakeholme Lane faithful.
Joint managers Kev Watkin and Dave Round were well pleased with how their new-look squad coped with the full-time professional outfit.
It was only in the later stages when they appeared to tire that the Bluebirds really took full control and scored their two goals.
The Bluebirds made the breakthrough on 72 minutes when Kennedy Digie scored an eye-catching goal from an overhead kick.
That could have been it but just before the 90th minute Danny Rose doubled the advantage from close range when he struck home an initial blocked effort.
You can hear below what Holker joint boss Watkin thought of the encounter:
Kendal Town played their second pre-season game at home to Morecambe, set to play in National North this coming season.
Kendal did particularly well and after 60 minutes it was all square at 1-1 before Morecambe finished strongly to win with two goals in the final quarter.
Heber McDonald scored the Kendal equaliser after they had trailed 1-0 at the break.
Apart from a good performance against a side who were in the National League last season, the other big plus for the Parkside Road club was the attendance of 1,012.
That’s a bumper turnout and a valuable boost for the coffers, just reward too after Kendal did their bit for Morecambe last year when they were in financial trouble.
You can hear what chairman Michael O’Neill had to say about the game and the crowd by listening below:
