They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but the cup defeat to the visitors was still warm in the memory of the Carlisle players, as they sought to reverse the scores and maintain their momentum in the league.

Carlisle kicked off into the sun and wind and had the early possession and territory, but were unable to convert it into points. Gradually the visitors got into the game, and some good rucking and a driving maul down the right gave them territory inside the Carlisle 22. Throwing the ball out wide from the back of the maul, the Upper Eden centre spotted a gap in the Carlisle defence and was just hauled down short of the 5m line, where Carlisle infringed at the breakdown. The resulting penalty was easily slotted over to give the visitors a 3 point lead after 10mins.

It was another 10mins before Carlisle had an opportunity to reply, as a 5m lineout gave them the opportunity to move the ball close to the posts. Sucking the visitors into defending the ruck, centre Luke Bell got on the end of a flat pass to drive over under the posts for Carlisle's first try, converted by Vince Lung for a 7-3 lead.

Five minutes later a scrum to the visitors on the right allowed them to work the ball right across the field at pace, and their left winger stepped through the last tackle to go over in the corner. Their kicker made no mistake from the touchline to put the visitors back in the lead, 7-10

The visitors then piled the pressure on Carlisle just short of the half hour mark, as their kicker confidently slotted a 40m penalty between the posts to increase the lead to 3-13.

With the memory of this kicker being the key to Carlisle's undoing in the last game, the home side were keen not to allow him to be the dominant factor in this one. They turned up the screw on the visitors, and a lineout on the Upper Eden 22, gave them plenty of opportunities to test their defence. Finally stretching it to breaking point, a lovely flat pass from Jake Whittaker to Finn Kennedy, allowed him the chance to repeat his try last week against Guisborough, breaking through the defenders by the post for Carlisle's second score, converted by Lung, restoring Carlisle's lead to 14-13.

Six minutes before half time, a Carlisle infringement wide right 40m out, gave the Upper Eden kicker another chance to restore their lead, but his effort just drifted past the post to the home crowd's relief. It was Carlisle that would finish the half strongly, as another 5m lineout catch and drive sucked in the visitors, and with a penalty for illegal entry coming for Carlisle, they threw the ball wide, and with some clever interplay between the backs, found Freddie Rawling with only a man to beat for Carlisle's third try, and a 19-13 lead at Half time.

It was Upper Eden's turn to face the wind and a low sun in the second half, and a dropped ball inside their 22 from a Carlisle high kick, gave the Carlisle pack a chance to dominate the scrum. With the ball taken out the back by Josh Holmes,driving on he was pulled up short of the line. Lung was quick to spot the opportunity to dive over from the back of the resulting ruck, securing the try bonus point, and converting the try for a 26-13 lead on the 46 minute mark.

Ten minutes later Carlisle squandered an opportunity to go further ahead as 30m penalty in front of the posts was pushed wide. They did however give Upper Eden very little chance to capitalise, as the visitors were pinned down in their 22m for some time, with the packs going through some scrum practice and line out drills whilst the clock ticked down.
Then a series of infringements by Carlisle allowed the visitors back into Carlisle's half, as they probed the home defence for any weaknesses. Carlisle stuck to their task and with Alfie Batty stealing a crucial lineout, the ball was punted deep into the visitors half. The Upper Eden scramble defence just managed to retain ball, but the kick out was poor. The Carlisle backs spun the ball wide left and Jonny Park and Robbie Prudham combined to good effect down the left wing, Prudham just being stopped short of the line. With the visitors unable to get across in numbers, Finn Kennedy latched on to the ball from the back of the ruck and drove over for his second, and Carlisle's fifth, try of the game to close the game out at 31-13 for Carlisle.

Another 5 point bonus win makes the league table respectable from a Carlisle point of view, cementing their mid-table position in 6th. This wasn't the most fluid of performances from Carlisle, and it was uncomfortably close at times, especially when the opposition have a kicker who can punish any infringements in your half. However they found a way to nullify that threat and some good individual tries, with Kennedy bagging another two, put this game well beyond the reach of Upper Eden.
Yet another Cumbrian derby awaits Carlisle as we make the journey to Bower Park next Saturday to face Aspatria.