Carlisle United 1-1 Charlton Athletic
EFL League One
by Jon Tait

AMERICANS haven’t been this welcome in Britain since GIs handed out nylons and chocolate in WW2.

The Piatak family, the new owners of Carlisle United, gave flags, foam fingers and clappers to fans making their way through the turnstiles at Brunton Park.

It’s some distance from their home in the sunshine state of Florida to darkest Cumbria, and although they were given a warm reception, there was a frost on the slate rooftops around the ground and the edges of the pitch.

The initial changes the businesspeople have introduced were evident from the pre-match music with some upbeat dance and rap, when they’ve been blaring out Madness for as long as anyone can remember, to add to the razzmatazz.

There were also more stars and stripes among in the crowd than a Captain America convention. A bloke even came on to do a half-time crossbar challenge dressed as him. They chanted USA as the Piataks came onto the grass and waved at the start.

The atmosphere was giddy as a kid’s birthday party with too much pop — though by around the 15^th minute, it had started going a bit flat.

Jordan Gibson fired well over from a half-cleared Owen Moxon corner. He skied another and dragged one wide.

But the Addicks were comfortable and unlucky not to go ahead just before half time when Corey Blackett-Taylor smashed a drive off the crossbar.

“I think it’s two points lost. We played well in the game and had a spell of 5 minutes where we looked like we were going to score in every attack we made — but ultimately it’s another point on the board with two home games coming up,” said Athletic manager Michael Appleton.

Blackett-Taylor did get on the scoresheet in the 54^th minute as he prodded in a low cross from Tennai Watson.

But Carlisle, who remain in the relegation zone, grabbed an equaliser within eight minutes as Jack Armer pulled back and Sam Lavelle took a touch before smashing in low from 10 yards.

“We’ve got to happy with a point. Charlton are a good side — as good as anybody we’ve faced this season. We’ve got to aspire to get to that level, because the truth is we’re not quite there at the moment,” admitted Carlisle boss Paul Simpson.

“It’s been a brilliant few days for the football club — I thought it was a real celebration and I often find on those days that you end up getting nothing out of it, so getting a point was big for us.”