More than a few wondered if we had done the right thing by accepting a preseason friendly against Scottish Tennents Premiership side Hawick.
George Graham is not known for being lenient, and any side coached by him were likely to give the Warwick Road side a tough day at the office.

It was Hawick that got off to a blistering start after just three minutes on the clock, as the pace in the backline caught Carlisle flat and a scrambling defence were no match for the green machine as they flew under the posts for a converted try.

However the ship was steadied and it was Carlisle that started to get front foot ball, with Hawick showing some determined defence. The first couple of scrums demonstrated that Carlisle have not lost their prowess there despite a number of changes in personnel in the pack this year.

Carlisle continued to move the ball at pace and their endeavours were rewarded on the 15minute mark,when first centre Dan Homes crashed the ball up just short of the line, and then scrum half James Telford finished the move off, with Grant Connon converting to level the scores.

Carlisle got their noses in front five minutes later, as a Hawick defended well from a Carlisle scrum on the Hawick 22m, but as their defence pushed up, centre Holmes again sped through the line, feeding winger Yousef Abdul-Sahib in for a walk in try.

Carlisle added to the scoreline five minutes later, as flanker Kyle Lindsay managed to squeeze over from the bottom of a ruck, pushing Carlisle's lead to 21-7 after 30minutes.

Hawick however grabbed a score back just short of the first break mark, to make it 21-12.

Hawick showed a bit more pace and intensity in the second period and Carlisle were pinned back in their 22, having to defend for all they were worth for the next 15 minutes. However the blue wall held firm, and Carlisle were next on the scoreboard as a break by Grant Connon down the right wing, saw him offload to centre Chris Auld, who finished the move off in the corner, Connon converting from the touchline to increase the margin to 28-12.

From the restart Carlisle moved the ball wide across the park, and Connon was again instrumental in the move which saw him, wrong foot the fullback, to go under the posts for Carlisle 5th try.

Hawick nicked one back just before the end of the second break, and then scored again six minutes into the final period to close the gap to 35-24.
However Carlisle were not finished and Abdul-Sahib pounced on a ball deftly threaded through the Hawick defence by fullback Max Connon, for Carlisle's sixth and last score of the game.

This was a cracking game to watch, with both sides keenly competitive. The conditions were testing in the heat, yet both teams managed it well. There will be some sore bodies today, but Carlisle can reflect on a successful couple of preseason friendlies, with today's performance up among the best the side have put together this year. They will not meet many more competitive sides than Hawick this season, and this is a marker for what the players can achieve.

Next week we meet Kendal in the first round of the County Cup at Warwick road. Kick off 3pm.