Darren Edmondson says Penrith’s spirited showing against Carlisle United is testament to their recent progress.
And the Bonny Blues manager says the focus is now firmly on pushing Penrith further into the top half of Northern League Division One.
Edmondson’s side made a good fist of things against a United side full of senior pros in the Fred Conway Cumberland Cup quarter-final.
The professional outfit eventually ran out 4-1 winners but Penrith gave United concerns at times in the game.
“I think if we'd been able to nick one, maybe in the first 20 minutes before they got settled into their rhythm, it might have made it more interesting,” said former United player and coach Edmondson.
“Unfortunately, the angles on our shots were a little bit too narrow to be anything really dangerous.
“Who knows if that would have made a difference to the whole game, but it would have just kept our positivity going.
“I thought, generally we did okay. Carlisle were comfortable for certain bits, and kept possession, but that's what we kind of expected, and we knew we wouldn't be able to go toe to toe fitness wise.
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“So it was a case of trying to take chances when we got them. They probably had four chances and scored all four, and I have to say I was really disappointed with the first two, if I'm honest.
“We had a lot of bodies in the boxes, but weren’t able to deal with it.
“But there are positives overall and I think it’s testament to where we are at the moment, as is the fact that Simmo and Carlisle brought the team down that they did.
“They knew they were going to get a game, and they got some good minutes into lads who needed it.
“I think we’ve got to take the plaudits for that and the fact we gave a good performance.”
Penrith went into the game in superb home form under Edmondson and assistant Richard Prokas (below) having won six and drawn one of their last seven league games at the Leo Group Stadium.
Their free-scoring run has lifted them to 12th in their division and Penrith will look to build on that when they return to home action against Guisborough Town.
Along with their strong form, Penrith are relieved to have their main stand back in full operation at Frenchfield Park.
The stand was closed for several weeks after a spectator fell through a section of the stand at a women’s game in October.
Investigations by the Health & Safety Executive followed but the club last week announced that it was reopening after repairs.
A good crowd watched the Carlisle game on Tuesday and Edmondson said: “Hopefully we had a few more locals down thinking, ‘We’ll go and watch again’.
“Hopefully they’ll see we’re doing alright and going in the right direction. It's short steps – we've just got to build things slowly.
“We’ve now got to try and get above mid-table, stay right and push into the top half.
“I know others have games in hand and if they win them we’ll drop down the table, but they're going to have back-to-back games, and some teams are going to be looking at probably Saturday, Monday, Thursday, Saturday games on pitches that are going to be difficult.
“What we've got to do is have another consistent month.”
On the reopening of the stand, the Penrith boss added: “It happened at pretty much the time we had just started playing back at our home ground [following the installation of an artificial pitch].
“It was a difficult situation for the chairman and the committee, and asking people to come down with no stand to go into since then has been difficult.
“So it was great to see the stand back in action and full [on Tuesday]. That’s great for us going forward. Now we've just got to make sure that we pick up points.”
Also in Northern League Division One, Carlisle City remain in strong form having picked up another win in midweek.
Jim Nichols’ side claimed a 5-2 victory over Tow Law Town at the Three Rivers Health & Safety Consultancy Stadium (Gillford Park) on Tuesday night.
Goals from Jordan Palmer, Tom Mahone, Jordan Holt, Rob McCartney and Sam Atkinson earned a fourth straight league win for the Cumbrians.
City are sixth in Division One and this Saturday take on Newcastle Benfield at home.
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