Carlisle United Ladies faced Bolton Wanderers Girls on Sunday at Creighton.
Carlisle came into Sunday’s game off the back of a string of positive performances and were looking to replicate those performance levels against a Bolton team that sat at the top of the table.
United knew they were in for a tough afternoon against a team that had picked up a maximum twelve points from their opening four games.
Not only were Bolton a team that were used to winning, but their team for Sunday afternoon’s tie contained four first team players, this made United’s task even harder.
However, another youthful Carlisle team that contained several development team players equipped themselves well.
It was a tough start to the afternoon for the Ladies as they paid their respects to Caroline, mum of United captain Chelsea Norris, with a minute’s silence before the match. Caroline never missed a game and was always there to help out. She was such a big part of the team, and everybody was visibly upset during the minute’s silence.
Astute defending from United’s back four made up of Nixon, Best, Blaylock and Norman, meant that United had a good foundation from which to build upon and look to attack the Bolton goal.
Quality play would be the only thing that would be able to break down a United side that knew how to protect their goal.
Some of this quality arrived on 12 minutes when the Bolton striker was composed in front of goal and slotted the away side into an early lead.
It would have been easy for the youthful United side to let their heads drop but this never happened, and the Blues stuck to their task.
The Cumbrian’s main attacking outlet was Norman, who constantly looked to offer a threat from the left-hand side and managed to create some chances that caused panic amongst the Wanderers defenders.
Winter and Beal were both a calming presence in the middle of the park for United and their endeavour and cutting of passing lanes meant that United were allowed to put a marker down on the game.
Kenyon was on hand to make sure that the Blues remained close to their Lancastrian counterparts and a mixture of intelligent positioning and great shot stopping kept Carlisle in contention.
United’s stubborn resilience was undone however on 21 minutes, when what looked like a tangle of legs between Nixon and the Bolton winger, was adjudged by the referee to have been a foul on the Lilywhites attacker and Bolton were awarded a penalty.
The resulting penalty was calmly slotted away by the Bolton player and the visitors’ lead was doubled.
This was unfortunately Nixon’s last involvement of the game, as the tangle resulted in the Carlisle defender having to leave the field with an injury, this was a loss to the Cumbrians, as Nixon’s leadership and defending has been invaluable so far this season.
Carlisle responded well to going 2-0 behind and had their own spell of pressure on the Bolton goal before the interval, but the ball just wouldn’t fall for the Cumbrians, and they went into the break 2-0 down.
HALF-TIME: Carlisle United Ladies 0-2 Bolton Wanderers Girls
The first real chance of the half came on 58 minutes, but the Bolton striker could only manage to hit the upright with a shot from just outside the area.
However, the Lilywhites were more composed in front of goal on 63 minutes and a real bit of quality from the Bolton striker ended in the ball being calmly placed in the Cumbrian’s goal.
United responded well again to going 3-0 behind and were resolute in both their attacking and defending.
A combination of great defending from Johnston and expert keeping from Kenyon meant that the score remained at 3-0.
The only other real chance of the game came on 88 minutes when Bolton had the Carlisle goal at their mercy but a heroic sliding tackle by Beal kept Bolton from adding to their lead.
Despite the result, this was another game that highlighted that there is real quality and perseverance about this Carlisle side.
The level of performance week in, week out, shows that once the final elements click for the Cumbrians, the points will start to rack up and the Blues will make their way up the table.
FULL-TIME: Carlisle United Ladies 0-3 Bolton Wanderers Girls
United: Kenyon, Blaylock, Best, Nixon, Norman, Winter, Murray, Beal Johnston, Cleasby, Messenger.
Substitutes: Riddet, Clapperton.
POTM: Emma Kenyon - Sponsored by Liam Irving Independent Estate Agents
