1st August 2010
Brunton Park, Carlisle.
Played before a crowd of just over three thousand, this was a case of ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ in terms of our weekend brace of pre-season entertainment. A full strength Hibs side lined up against their hosts and looked decidedly shaky from the start. A healthy following of (we estimated) around 1200 Hibbees occupied the Petteril End goal end and gave their boys a warm welcome as the teams entered the fray. Playing on a fantastic surface, Carlisle immediately looked the more accomplished side as Hibs looked a side short on confidence and short on ideas. The 3-0 defeat to Maribor of Slovenia in the Europa Cup the previous Thursday clearly hasn’t had any sort of reverse psychology effect on the side.
All told, the game was pretty dire - Carlisle were the better side but their forward play wasn’t scintilating. Without running the risk of berating lower league football based on Sky TV’s Premiership output, it just wasn’t a pleasant spectacle.
Admittedly, positioned with The Hibs contingent behind the goal and amongst the moans and groans, we felt the pain which accompanied every stray ball and failed Hibs attack. That said, any attempts to use this game to draw comparisons between the Scottish Premier League and the English League One would skew common thinking. It was difficult to tell who was the side who finished 4th in their country’s league and qualified for Europe, and who finished mid-table in the second tier of their country’s league. It would be churlish though to think of this as a measure for how football standards in England and Scotland can be measured. This was a pre-season friendly but that didn’t make it any easy on the footballing taste buds.
Hibs did sometimes look dangerous - in their own goal area… Meanwhile Carlisle bustled and created some decent chances - new signing Francois Zoko in particular looking a pretty handy. Hibs had a goal from a free-kick disallowed in the first half (offside) but otherwise never really looked threatening until the last ten minutes - the sight of Hibs fans leaving early was telling of the sort of performance they’d seen.
As the weather turned, Carlisle won it with a late goal but by the time the home side scored, the result didn’t matter. It was a dire, forgettable game and we were only relieved the heavens didn’t open too much. We made it to the pub without getting soaked, or arrested - the large police presence were out in force expecting “England vs. Scotland” style clashes between rival fans but that didn’t really happen.
From a personal point of view it was great to see Hibs in the flesh after so long - I think my previous game was at the end of the 2004-5 season where Rangers won 1-0 at Easter Road and clinched the title on the same day. I should really stop attending Hibs games - my previous game of note was the CIS cup final v. Livingstone the previous season and Hibs lost that one too.
A long season beckons for the boys in green.
Brunton Park, Carlisle.
Played before a crowd of just over three thousand, this was a case of ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ in terms of our weekend brace of pre-season entertainment. A full strength Hibs side lined up against their hosts and looked decidedly shaky from the start. A healthy following of (we estimated) around 1200 Hibbees occupied the Petteril End goal end and gave their boys a warm welcome as the teams entered the fray. Playing on a fantastic surface, Carlisle immediately looked the more accomplished side as Hibs looked a side short on confidence and short on ideas. The 3-0 defeat to Maribor of Slovenia in the Europa Cup the previous Thursday clearly hasn’t had any sort of reverse psychology effect on the side.
All told, the game was pretty dire - Carlisle were the better side but their forward play wasn’t scintilating. Without running the risk of berating lower league football based on Sky TV’s Premiership output, it just wasn’t a pleasant spectacle.
Admittedly, positioned with The Hibs contingent behind the goal and amongst the moans and groans, we felt the pain which accompanied every stray ball and failed Hibs attack. That said, any attempts to use this game to draw comparisons between the Scottish Premier League and the English League One would skew common thinking. It was difficult to tell who was the side who finished 4th in their country’s league and qualified for Europe, and who finished mid-table in the second tier of their country’s league. It would be churlish though to think of this as a measure for how football standards in England and Scotland can be measured. This was a pre-season friendly but that didn’t make it any easy on the footballing taste buds.
Hibs did sometimes look dangerous - in their own goal area… Meanwhile Carlisle bustled and created some decent chances - new signing Francois Zoko in particular looking a pretty handy. Hibs had a goal from a free-kick disallowed in the first half (offside) but otherwise never really looked threatening until the last ten minutes - the sight of Hibs fans leaving early was telling of the sort of performance they’d seen.
As the weather turned, Carlisle won it with a late goal but by the time the home side scored, the result didn’t matter. It was a dire, forgettable game and we were only relieved the heavens didn’t open too much. We made it to the pub without getting soaked, or arrested - the large police presence were out in force expecting “England vs. Scotland” style clashes between rival fans but that didn’t really happen.
From a personal point of view it was great to see Hibs in the flesh after so long - I think my previous game was at the end of the 2004-5 season where Rangers won 1-0 at Easter Road and clinched the title on the same day. I should really stop attending Hibs games - my previous game of note was the CIS cup final v. Livingstone the previous season and Hibs lost that one too.
A long season beckons for the boys in green.
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