Burnley suffer against the pace of the Cumbrians

Last updated : 11 October 2009 By Tom Turner
Oliver Devenney - came close with an overhead kick
The Clarets were slow out of the blocks and seemed constantly threatened by the pace of Carlisle's young number 10 Mani Richardson, who but for a fine stop from Clarets keeper Danny McDonald would have put himself onto the score sheet within 10 minutes. As Burnley's usual fluent football faltered, Carlisle pressed forward in an attempt to gain an advantage, and were rewarded after just 15 minutes, when a mixture of poor defending, failure to clear a bouncing ball, and some neat footwork from Richardson put Carlisle one up.

Although the Clarets gained some composure on the ball after the goal, they were still being restricted to fruitless long balls, and there was never any doubt regarding the outcome of this strategy, as time after time Carlisle's impressive number 5 rose above Dom Knowles and assertively cleared.

Lightening fast striker Mani Richardson looked a constant threat as he darted around the Clarets' half, although he was temporarily quietened down, due to a powerful long ball forward from Ed Williams colliding with the forwards face, much to the amusement of the sizeable congregation on the sidelines.

After being back on the pitch for just a few minutes, Richardson threatened again and but for Steve Edwards, would have scored, after United once again dissected the Clarets' back line.

United's big front man Bowman was dominant in the air, although his foul mouthed antics made him rather unpopular with the spectators. His popularity soon rose considerably with the Clarets fans soon after as the big man failed to complete a flowing move, in a situation which it looked easier to score than miss.

Burnley somewhat pulled together after the half hour mark, and finally began to string some passes together, although without absent striker Liam Newman upfront, rarely troubled the United keeper. Dom Knowles was unlucky not to score however, as the Clarets gained more and more momentum. Apart from one theatrical dive by Richardson, and a fizzing King cross which evaded everyone, the remainder of the half went without incident, and it was a half time whistle that came at the wrong time for the Clarets, who had finally begun to find their feet.

After a spell of 'hairdryer treatment' on the touchline, the Clarets youngsters came out rejuvenated after the break, but with less than a minute gone of the second half, the Clarets found themselves against the ropes, and a neat through ball and some quick feet once again from United's forwards saw Burnley concede a penalty, as Danny McDonald was deemed to have taken down Richardson. Bowman confidently stepped up; McDonald redeemed himself perfectly with a smart save down to his left. You'd have been forgiven for thinking it just wasn't going to be Bowman's day.

The save seemingly fired up the Clarets, and once again they found their feet, and came close with a bullet header from Edwards, however, the home sided were landed another sucker punch just moments later. Some neat passing and clinical finishing put the Cumbrians 3 up, and it was the big number 9 Bowman, who finally found the net, after smartly rounding the keeper before slotting home.

Despite another knock, the Clarets again pressed forward, but still were restricted to opportunist efforts, such as Oliver Devenney's overhead kick, which was just inches away from sneaking under the crossbar, followed by a surging run and powerful shot by the ever attacking left back Jake McEneaney, which United's keeper could only parry.

As the Clarets ran out of ideas in the closing stages, Ryan Bowman once more found himself one on one with McDonald, and he made no mistake as he fired home from 18 yards. And the big man completed his hat-trick 4 minutes later, as McDonald found himself powerless to stop yet another Bowman drive.

With the game effectively over, the tempo somewhat slowed, although Joe Jackson was unlucky not to score from a header with just 2 minutes left on the clock.

Full time followed soon after, bringing to an end a game in which the scoreline most certainly flattered the away side. The importance of both pace and power was particularly highlighted, as the Clarets' centre backs found themselves chasing shadows on more than one occasion.

The Clarets now have a week to regroup, before a trip to Bury next Saturday.

The team was: Danny McDonald, Ed Williams, Curtis Woods, Steve Edwards, Jake McEneaney, Joe Jackson, Joe McKee, Oliver Devenney, Dave Lynch, Michael King, Dom Knowles.