Penrith AFC's home tie at Carlisle United's Brunton Park

Penrith AFC are using the Blues’ stadium for their FA Vase clash with Pickering Town.

United offered the Bonny Blues use of the ground at a time Penrith’s own Leo Group Stadium at Frenchfield Park is out of action whilst it has a new artificial pitch installed.

Saturday’s first qualifying round will see former Blues player and coach Darren Edmondson back at his former ground.

Penrith boss Edmondson and his assistant Richard Prokas are both former Blues favourites.

And the Northern League Division One club’s manager hopes his team can make the most of playing at United’s League One home, on a day Paul Simpson's Blues are at Port Vale.

“We’re very thankful to United for letting us play there,” said Edmondson.

Darren Edmondson, the former United player and coach, is Penrith manager (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“I’ve been back there, worked and managed there, since I stopped playing and it’ll be nice for Richard to be back in a professional capacity this weekend too.

“We played there recently in the Cumberland Cup final, and we were punished by Workington Reds that evening because we didn’t compact the game. You forget how big the pitch is.

“The size is phenomenal compared to some pitches in our league and the quality of it helps you pass the football.

“Hopefully that experience will stand us in good stead. We still have a lot of lads who played that night so they know the size of it and know what’s expected, and how fit you need to be on it.

“It’s a cup game that’s made more exciting by the fact we’re playing at Brunton Park.”

Penrith have already staged a cup ‘home’ game at Carlisle City’s Three Rivers Health & Safety Consultancy Stadium, when they defeated Boro Rangers in the FA Cup.

Progresss being made on new pitch.
The installation of our 3G pitch continues to progress.
We are still on track to be playing here late September@CWHerald @bbccumbriasport @NLCumbria pic.twitter.com/yUYHs1WFT9

— Penrith_AFC (@penrith_afc) August 22, 2023

Their own ground is expected to be back in action in late September.

In the meantime Penrith are growing accustomed to playing on their travels, with their five league games so far coming on the road due to work at their home ground.

“It’s a game we must win both for revenue and the confidence of the lads,” said Edmondson of Saturday’s cup clash. “We had a couple of decent games against Pickering last year, and they’ve come out of our league now.

“It’s a game on paper we should potentially win, but that concentration over 90 minutes is what should see us over the line.”

Penrith have won one and lost four in the league so far, while they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Consett last weekend – a game that was switched to the north east club despite Penrith being drawn at home.

Edmondson said the start of the campaign has posed its challenges but believes his young side can grow.

“We’ve got a lot of young lads who, if they find themselves in the team all together, we struggle physically in certain games,” he said.

“And August is always the same – some of our more experienced lads are on holiday with their families, which leads to inconsistent selection, which leads to inconsistent performances.

Penrith AFC played at Brunton Park in May's Fred Conway Cumberland Cup final against Workington Reds (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“We’ve been in most games and I think we deserved two or three more points. We lost a couple of close ones through an individual mistake, and there was one we lost through a deflected shot that looped over [goalkeeper] Aaran Taylor.

“At Consett in the FA Cup, they had bigger players and had a strong spine for the league above. We played reasonably well in a 3-0 defeat and can take some positives from it.

“In other cases…without looking to make excuses, has six or seven away games on the trot got to us a little bit?

“It’s difficult when you have three midweek games away in eight days – Seaham is a long trip on a Saturday let alone Tuesday. You’re not getting into your bed until after 2am which for a non-league footballer is something that needs to be take into consideration.

“We remain positive. Once we get to September everybody’s holidays are done, so we can hopefully start selecting a consistent team, which will help us.

“In the meantime some of the young boys have had game time which hopefully gives them more experience and understanding of what’s needed.”

Edmondson said progress at Brunton Park this weekend can have various benefits.

“Any cup run is great for different reasons. If we can get two or three wins under our belt then it helps the club financially,” he added.

“As well as the pressure on the players playing away from home every week, the financial pressure on the club and the chairman is great as well, when there’s no revenue coming in.

“It would be nice to get a couple of cup wins for him and for the club, then if we get to the next round or the round after then hopefully our pitch will be ready.

“They’re putting the shock absorbing pad down now [at Frenchfield Park], and that means it’s the [artificial] grass next. Things seem to be on track.”

Kick-off at Brunton Park on Saturday is 3pm, entry is £6 for adults and £3 concessions, with Murphy's Bar open for refreshments.