|
The Blues face a trip to the very south of Hertfordshire on Saturday afternoon, hoping to improve upon an average previous return from this fixture against the Bees. Of the nine games played, the Cumbrians have recorded two wins, and Barnet have come away with four victories.
The most recent encounter between these two sides was a rather feisty clash, less than a year ago, in April 2005, where the two sides shared the spoils courtesy of a 1-1 scoreline in a Conference match. There was plenty of well documented ill-feeling between the two sides last season and that came to a head on the night Barnet were presented with the Nationwide Conference title and United claimed the point they needed to be assured of a place in the promotion play-offs.
Carlisle went 1-0 up in the 31st minute through the on-loan Magno Vieira but it was in the 71st minute that the action really hotted up. From a Liam Hatch header the ball was apparently handled on the line by Tom Cowan who was sent off, although the red card was later rescinded by the FA, referee Ray Lee pointing straight to the spot. Simon Clist stepped up and fired straight over the bar for the home side from the spot-kick however. Then to make matters worse for the ten-man Blues another red card was immediately waved at Danny Livesey for foul and abusive language, leaving United down to nine men for the last 18 minutes plus three hours of injury time. The Cumbrians somehow managed to cling on until the sixth, yes sixth, minute of added time when a Giuliano Grazioli overhead kick finally found the net to notch an undeserved equaliser and break Carlisle hearts. Bees manager Paul Fairclough came charging onto the pitch to celebrate at that point, rubbing more salt into the wounds and worsening relations between the two coaching camps.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2005/2006 | Sat 13 Aug | Carlisle | 1 - 3 | Barnet | LGE2 |
| 2004/2005 | Tue 19 Apr | Barnet | 1 - 1 | Carlisle Utd | CONF |
| 2004/2005 | Sun 06 Feb | Carlisle | 4 - 1 | Barnet | FAT |
| 2004/2005 | Sat 16 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 3 | Barnet | CONF |
| 2001/2002 | Tue 27 Nov | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Barnet | FAC |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 17 Nov | Barnet | 0 - 0 | Carlisle | FAC |
| 2000/2001 | Tue 06 Mar | Barnet | 0 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
Barnet have been playing quite well at home recently, winning three, drawing two, and losing just one, the solitary defeat coming in a 3-2 reverse against play-off challengers Lincoln City in front of a paltry crowd of 1695. The goals for column just outweighs the goals against over this period at seven to five.
United have an average recent record on the road, with two wins, two draws, and two defeats, the last victory and defeat being a contrasting 5-0 success at Boston and 3-0 loss at Macclesfield. The Cumbrians have a narrow positive goal difference over these games with eight goals for and six against.
Barnet are currently lying in 20th place in the League table Two having mustered a points tally of 36 from their 32 matches played. The Bees sit only four points above the drop-zone although they do have two games in hand on the present relegation incumbents, Torquay and Rushden and Diamonds.
Carlisle are leading the way as they sit proudly at the top of the division, with their 34 games giving them a return of 59 points. It is such a tight league this season though that the Blues are only ten points away from missing out on the play-off spots or one defeat away from dropping out of the automatic promotion places.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Barnet | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 11 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
It has been an indifferent run of form for the Cumbrians of late away from home, but your FootyMad panel sees things improving, starting here at Underhill with United coasting to victory. Away win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Barnet | Not won in the two most recent games. |
| Carlisle | Not won in previous two away matches. Six games since last defeat. |