This was the first trip to Cumbria to play Carlisle City with another bus trip over to Penrith next Saturday.
The third minute had passed when good inventive play by Dennis Knight saw him go past three defenders and he was unfortunate not to score, with the Carlisle keeper Lewis Boyd making a good save. Knight was again in the action a minute later when he went to take a penalty after a foul on Ben Dibb-Fuller, despite a strong effort on goal Carlisle’s keeper Lewis Boyd was up to the task, making a good save denying Benfield the opening goal.It was then the turn of the home team in the seventh minute to be offered great scoring opportunity which they didn’t refuse, a very rare mistake by the Benfield goalkeeper Andrew Grainger saw him go down to collect a long pass down the right wing, which he missed allowing Jordan Irving an empty goal, into where he rolled the ball to make the score 1-0 to Carlisle City.
Chances were coming Benfield’s way and a long cross field pass by Dennis Knight found Ben-Dibb-Fuller but he put it wide of the mark. It didn’t Benfield long however to get an equalising goal, it came in the twelfth minute when a good run down the wing by Dibbs-Fuller saw him play a pass to Layton Watts who hit a low 20-yard drive into the net making the scores level at 1-1.
Ben Dibb-Fuller seemed to be involved in all the Benfield attacks and it was his effort that was parried in the fourteenth minute by the Carlisle keeper Lewis Boyd, with the ball falling to Eddie Thomas who drove the ball home making the score 2-1 to Newcastle Benfield.
An equalising goal came ten minutes later when good work down the left wing saw a through ball find Carlisle’s Robbie Ivison, who went past two Benfield defenders before doing a reverse shot into the goal making the score 2-2.
Play then was even until an opportunity came in the fortieth minute, a pass to Sam Reid saw good defending blocking his shot, and Carlisle’s Dan Kirkup rolling the ball back to his goalkeeper, leaving the halftime score 2-2.
Newcastle Benfield had two good goalscoring opportunities in the first two minutes of the second half, in the forty-sixth minute Ben-Dibb-Fuller was thru on goal but his weak effort allowed the Carlisle keeper Lewis Boyd the opportunity to make a save. A minute later and Eddie Thomas was through one on one with the Carlisle keeper, and he saw his shot saved. Captain for the day Dennis Knight was the next player to hit a shot, but he was high and wide.
It was then the turn in the fifty-sixth minute for Carlisle to be indebted to their goalkeeper Lewis Boyd, who made a great save for a corner to deny a rocket shot from Dennis Knight, which came to nothing.Newcastle Benfield were now looking the most dangerous and were rewarded in the seventy-third minute with another goal, a strong right foot shot from Dibb-Fuller was blocked, with the ball falling into the path of Dennis Knight, who hit a right foot shot into the net, making the score 3-2 to Newcastle Benfield.
The last ten minutes brought Newcastle Benfield four good goalscoring chances, firstly in the eighty-second minute a long through ball found Ben Dibb-Fuller, but he put his shot over the bar when he should have at least hit the target.
Two minutes later in the eighty-fourth a good three man move ended with the goalkeeper saving an effort from Layton Watts, and good play by Eddie Thomas two minutes later saw a drag back create space for a shot, which was deflected for a corner.
It looked like Benfield were happy with a 3-2 scoreline, but things changed in the first minute of added on time, a strong run and pass by Archie Leonard found teammate Gerard Richardson, who hit his shot goalwards with it being deflected by a defender past a despairing dive from the Carlisle keeper Lewis Boyd, making the score 4-2 to Newcastle Benfield.
Man of the Match … Layton Watts.
Reporter: – Allan Young.