Leigh RMI v. Carlisle United preview

By Matt Lawton
October 5 2004

A travelling army of Carlisle fans is set to descend upon Hilton Park tomorrow evening when RMI face the Cumbrian outfit in the Nationwide Conference.

The diversities of the Conference are completely summed up in the make-up of these two sides, with Carlisle riding high in second place with a full-time side backed by massive average crowds of over 5,000 descending on Brunton Park, while part-time RMI continue to struggle at the foot of the Conference in front of barely 400 fans every week. Because of Carlisle's huge away following, tomorrow's game will be segregated, the first time this has happened since the epic 4-3 defeat against Wrexham in the LDV Vans Trophy at Hilton Park two years ago, with tomorrow's crowd set to be by far and away RMI's biggest of the season, with more than 1,200 Cumbrians expected to make the trip.

RMI go in to the game as rank outsiders following Saturday's 4-1 humbling at Gravesend & Northfleet, while Carlisle go in to the game on the back of a gritty 1-0 home victory over Crawley Town, although their two previous games had mustered a 2-1 victory over Football League side Grimsby Town and a five goal victory at Aldershot in the midst of a hot streak of five consecutive victories.

Leigh are boosted with the availability of a full strength side to choose from, although even that is unlikely to prevent RMI from slipping to defeat, a sad reflection of the times for the Railwaymen when the Leyth faithful go in to games almost expecting defeat.

Carlisle have a long injury list to contend with, with player-manager Paul Simpson "very doubtful" because of a knee injury, while Tom Cowan and Karl Hawley are both struggling with calf and knee injuries respectively and will face a pre-match fitness test and defender Will McDonagh is missing through suspension after being sent off in their aforementioned victory over Grimsby. Also missing for the Cumbrians will be Brian Shelley with an injury to his jaw, Carlos Roca with a knee injury, veteran former Blackpool and Bury striker Andy Preece with a foot injury and former Sunderland midfielder Chris Lumsdon with a thigh strain.