The only youth-teamer in there being Matt Duffy at left-back, Duffy having played the full 90 minutes at Field Mill just 18 hours earlier. Paul Thirlwell made a welcome return to action in the midfield engine room on his comeback from injury as he put on the captain's armband, and he was part of a Cumbrians eleven that took to the field as follows :
Jeff Smith - Paul Thirlwell - Luke Joyce - Neale McDermott
Matt Duffy - Peter Murphy - Paul Arnison - Shaun Vipond
Adam Bradley
United started brightly and within the first sixty seconds Smith and Graham saw 22-yard shots blocked by the Blackpool defence, Gall then going close shortly afterwards when his right-footed drive from just outside the box was fumbled around his near-post by 'Pool keeper Lewis Edge. A quite spell in the game then followed before a little bit of Carlisle pressure resulted in Joyce pushing a shot from 25 yards out wide of the far-post with his right boot in the 14th minute.
Visitors right-winger Adrian Forbes sent a dangerous cross in from the right on 17 minutes which striker Danny Mitchley was just unable to reach as he lunged in across the Blues six-yard line. Carlisle came right back though and two minutes later McDermott's ball in from his right flank was headed out by Seasiders skipper Ian Evatt straight to Joyce 22 yards out. Joyce then seeing his right-footed effort from there hit the heels of Graham and trickle just wide of the near-post.
With 25 minutes on the clock Forbes dallied far too long in possession on a Forrest Gump type run and lost the ball after he was quickly closed down by Graham, Gall and Smith. Gall being the beneficiary as he strode into the box down the left-hand channel only to blaze a 22-yard left-footer way over the top of the Tangerines crossbar and into an empty Waterworks end.
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Two minutes later Scott Metcalfe sent a 'Pool cross in from the left, Bradley raced from his line to try to punch the ball away in traffic from the penalty spot area, he didn't get there in time though and Michael Flynn's under-pressure header drifted wide of the Carlisle near-post. The game was starting to get going now and there were a couple of half-chances for the Cumbrians on the half-hour mark.
Evatt first fouling Gall 35 yards out before hoofing the ball away in the direction of the East Stand in disgust at referee Paul Curry's decision. McDermott's resultant free-kick in was headed out by Ben Burgess with Smith then sending an inswinging left-footed flag-kick into the box from the East Stand/Waterworks corner. This time Scott Metcalfe headed clear, with play going on for another twenty seconds before Gall's right-footed curler flew straight into the arms of Edge.
Graham, in a challenge with Ashton Bayliss, took a knock to the ankle shortly afterwards which took a little bit of running off in the cold conditions, but he soon seemed to be back up to full speed. On 37 minutes Metcalfe and Mitchley combined well playing in from the right, Mitchley seeing his left-footed shot on the turn from 15 yards out deflect off the legs of Murphy for a corner.
Sixty seconds later Phil Marsh's weak left-footed drive from distance was an easy one for Bradley to save, then in the 40th minute, following a foul on Marsh by United right-back Vipond, John Hills's 30-yard free-kick in from the left was wasted as it flew out at the Carlisle back-post. Two minutes on and it was the Blues pressing again when Gall, in the left-hand channel, took Thirlwell's excellent diagonal ball to him down well, only for the ex-Yeovil man to then fire a left-footed effort from 20 yards out into Edge's side-netting at his near-post.
After 43 minutes Marcus Bean's lovely slide-rule pass into the left-side of the Cumbrians box saw Mitchley break the United offside trap, Bradley doing well to race from his line and block Mitchley's 12-yard drive with his legs. The last chance of the first-half also coming the way of the Seasiders when a completely unmarked Mitchley wastefully sent Forbes's header over the top of the bar from close range.
It seemed like a shorter half-time break than usual and I was still swigging my soup and looking at the pitch through the Sporting Inn window when the Blues created a chance straight from the kick-off. Duffy feeding Graham down the left-hand channel, Graham then cutting the ball back for Gall, who, on the turn, saw his left-footed shot from the penalty spot area expertly headed off the line by the back-tracking Hills.
Burgess, who impressed upfront for Blackpool throughout with his touch and aerial ability, flicked a goal-kick from Edge in the 48th minute on into the path of Mitchley, the young Seasiders striker then firing a left-footed drive over the top from 12 yards out. Three minutes later and the visitors took the lead when Flynn' s neat pass in the box was hammered across goal, under the dive of Bradley and into the net at the far-post by Mitchley's left boot.
'Pool had taken the lead in one of their best spells in the game and just sixty seconds later Flynn was looking for a goal when his left-footed drive from 18 yards out flew straight into the arms of Bradley. Smith was the one doing the most at the time to find a Carlisle equaliser and in the 53rd minute his shot flew well over the top from distance before, two minutes later, his pacey cross in from the left along the six-yard line just evaded the onrushing Gall.
Blues boss Eric Kinder made his first, and only, change of the game in the 58th minute when a shattered Duffy was replaced by another youth-teamer who had played the full 90 minutes last night, that being Matthew Brown. Bang on the hour-mark and Mitchley and Marsh combined well on the left before Smith pulled Mitchley back on the left-angle of the United box. Smith being booked before Hills again wasted the 'Pool free-kick with his ball in once more flying out at the Carlisle back-post.
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The visitors did make it 2-0 in the 62nd minute though when Mitchley found Burgess running down the right-hand channel, Bradley raced out to try to block but the big striker showed some good composure as his right boot lifted the ball over the sprawling dive of Bradley and into the back of the United net from 15 yards out. The rain was really starting to lash down like a monsoon now and a midfield battle ensued for ten minutes before the Cumbrians pulled a goal back in the 71st minute.
Smith sending a good cross in from the left to the back-post which Joyce met perfectly from close range running in as he was able to head home for his eighth reserve team goal this season. Three minutes later Brown was fouled by Bayliss 35 yards out on the left, Dominic Morella then replacing Forbes on the 'Pool right before Seasiders keeper Edge was able to confidently catch Smith's left-footed free-kick in.
Carlisle were pushing strongly for an equaliser now and with 15 minutes to go Joyce knocked a good ball over the top but sadly Graham's first touch was too heavy and the ball ran safely through into the waiting gloves of Edge. Mitchley again getting in the thick of the action for the Seasiders sixty seconds later when his lofted left-footed effort on goal from 15 yards out was pushed over the top by Bradley.
Moments later Arnison fouled the busy Mitchley just to the right of the 'D' 25 yards from the United goal. Burgess trying a left-footed curler from there which flew over the angle of back-stick and bar. The Cumbrians notched a levelling goal in the 78th minute when McDermott's corner in was headed back across the box from the far-post by Joyce to Murphy, the United centre-half smashing a left-footed drive in from 12 yards out which was easy fare for Graham to tap in from almost on the Blackpool goal-line.
With ten minutes to go Mitchley was looking to restore the lead for the visitors but his shot with his right foot from 20 yards out was first parried by Bradley before Murphy hacked the ball away from danger. Seasiders coach Steve Thompson making his second substitution of the match moments later when Ross Lloyd came on at right-back in place of Metcalfe.
In the 82nd minute Gall almost scored the goal of his career when, straight form Vipond's cross in from the right, he sent a rasping right-footed 20-yard volley thudding onto the face of the 'Pool near-post, the ball pinging straight back to his boot only for him to blaze the rebound way over the top and into the Warwick Road End pie hut. The visitors going close themselves two minutes later when, from Marsh's corner in, an under-pressure Burgess headed wide from 12 yards out.
After 85 minutes Arnison took a risk at the back and lost out as Burgess robbed him, the 'Pool striker curling a right-footed 18-yarder just wide of Bradley's near-post. Three minutes before the final whistle the Cumbrians were looking for an unlikely late winner after Gall had been fouled bang on the right-angle of the box. McDermott's ball in starting a spell of penalty area pinball before Joyce's right-footed 22-yarder was easily saved by Edge.
The last chance for either side to find a winner in the game came in the first minute of injury time when Smith's corner to the back-post saw Gall, fresh with his confidence from his earlier volley, try the same trick only to this time completely miss the ball. The final whistle soon coming on a game that only really sparked to life in the second-half, a draw probably being a fair result in the end.
United line-up :
Adam Bradley, Shaun Vipond, Matt Duffy (Matthew Brown 58), Paul Arnison, Peter Murphy, Luke Joyce, Neale McDermott, Paul Thirlwell (c), Danny Graham, Kevin Gall, Jeff Smith.
Unused substitutes :
Grant Carson (GK), Gary Madine, Stephen Hindmarch and Tom Aldred.
Blackpool line-up :
Lewis Edge, Scott Metcalfe (Ross Lloyd 80), John Hills, Ashton Bayliss, Marcus Bean, Ian Evatt (c), Adrian Forbes (Dominic Morella 74), Danny Mitchley, Ben Burgess, Michael Flynn, Phil Marsh.
Unused substitutes :
Kyle Clancy (GK), Dale Warburton and Stefan Laird.
Referee - Paul Curry (Morpeth, Northumberland).
Attendance - 60 approx.
Results in the division today :
Accrington Stanley 2-3 Bury (2pm)
Carlisle United 2-2 Blackpool (2pm)
Chester 1-1 Burnley (7pm)
Morecambe 1-3 Wrexham (7.30pm)
Preston North End 3-1 Tranmere (7pm)
Rochdale 3-3 Manchester City (2pm)
Fixtures in the division next Wednesday, all 7pm :
Blackpool v Preston North End
Burnley v Morecambe
Tranmere v Chester
Wrexham v Bury
Reserve Team Results : Click here
Reserve Team Table : Click here