Published at 12:21, Thursday, 19 July 2012

Celtic Nation 2 Carlisle United Youth 2: Fifteen-year-old Danny Hodgson was a last-gasp hero for Carlisle United’s youth team in last night’s friendly against Celtic Nation.

Celtic's Adam Boyd, left and Carlisle's Brad Stawnch

Hodgson struck in the dying seconds of the game to snatch a 2-2 draw in the boys versus men friendly against the Northern League Division One side.

United youth team coach Eric Kinder was delighted with the way his Brunton babes belied age and experience against a much older team, including several ex-pros.

Kinder said: “I was interested to see if they were going to be brave and make tackles and get into people’s faces – and they did. They stood up well against a decent squad which looks like it is going to be a pretty strong team in the Northern League.

“They were all aged under 18 and we had a couple of 15-year-olds in there so I was delighted with how they did against established semi-professionals and ex-pros.”

Connor Thompson, a 16-year-old trialist who is looking for a club after the demise of Darlington, did his hopes of winning a chance at Carlisle no harm when he opened the scoring on 15 minutes with a cool finish.

Celtic Nation player-manager Steve Skinner equalised six minutes later when he played a one-two with Adam Boyd, before firing home from the edge of the area.

Defender Dave Wallace put Celtic Nation – formerly Gillford Park – ahead on the stroke of half-time when he headed home Skinner’s free-kick. But Hodgson, who hails from west Cumbria, secured a draw for Carlisle right at the death.

Skinner said: “There were some good performances and the team played well but we can see where we have to improve.

“We have a lot of new faces but it will all come together.”

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