late leveller |
That meant Keiren Westwood starting behind a back-four of Paul Arnison, Peter Murphy, Kevin Gray and Danny Livesey. The four men doing the midfield graft were Chris Billy, Chris Lumsdon, Michael Bridges and Brendan McGill. The forward line was the usual duo consisting of Karl Hawley and Derek Holmes as Simpson was loath to break up an in-form partnership.
It was the same position as at Rushden for United loanee Bridges as he played the majority of the game on the left side of midfield pushing up to join the strikers when he could. In a similar vein to Tuesday Bridges would look better in his more typical striking position in the latter stages of the game as he moved upfront following the substitution of the pacey Simon Hackney for targetman Holmes.
Very little happened in the opening stages of the game as both sides took stock of the formation the other was playing. Young Posh midfielder Jamie Day went down injured after an even challenge with Lumsdon but the magic sponge from Peterborough physiotherapist Neil Sullivan had the desired effect and Day would last the whole 90 minutes.
After 12 minutes the home side went very close from a flag-kick. Day and midfielder Ryan Semple worked a short corner well which Semple took on into the box to curl a lovely effort around Westwood as the shot looked destined for the far corner. Fortunately for the Cumbrians though Arnison was well stationed on the post to clear and deny Semple his third goal in three weeks.
Three minutes later and this time it was South African centre-half Mark Arber who was to nearly put the Posh one goal up. Livesey brought down ex-Fulham striker Calum Willock out on the left and Day stepped up to swing the free-kick into the United box. Arber timed his run just right and met the ball cleanly but he could only head narrowly wide of Carlisle’s far-post.
The first of two first-half Billy long-range efforts came in the 25th minute as United looked to find a foothold and carve out some chances. Bridges made a good run down the left channel and laid the ball back to the Blues’ central-midfielder just outside the Posh box. Billy got in a low shot which bobbled away off the poor pitch and into Peterborough goalkeeper Mark Tyler who gathered the ball at the second attempt.
Bang on the half-hour mark and a sublime piece of skill from one-time Premiership star Bridges nearly brought the opening goal of the game. After having the ball given to him by an off-song McGill the ex-Leeds man dribbled past three Posh defenders before cutting into the box and hitting a sweet strike which Tyler did well to push around the post for a corner. No-one could have denied Bridges the chance of getting a shot in but with top scorer Hawley looking better placed for a short pass it was perhaps a missed opportunity for the Cumbrians.
Shortly afterwards the hearts were in the mouths of the 595 travelling Carlisle fans due to a poor Westwood clearance. United’s glovesman tried to boot the ball away down the pitch but got a bad connection off the bumpy pitch. The ball smashed back off Peterborough’s loanee from Watford, Jamie Hand, and the Blue Army were relieved to see the ball go wide of the United goal.
A chance for either side came in a sixty second spell on the 35 minute mark although it was the Cumbrians who would go much closer to breaking the deadlock. Firstly Willock broke away and played in ex-Norwich youngster Danny Crow who saw his effort well blocked by United man-of-the-match Danny Livesey.
Then it was the unlikely figure of Billy who was to have the best opportunity of the half after Crow’s shot as the game swung straight up to the other end. Bridges made another strong run from his berth on the left-hand side of midfield and laid the ball back to Billy 22 yards out from the Posh goal. Billy got in a ferocious effort which looked it was going nowhere but the top-right corner of the net until Tyler somehow stretched out his fingertips to tip the ball around the post. It was a superb save by the 28 year-old Tyler who is currently in his testimonial year with the Cambridgeshire outfit.
Peterborough enginereed a couple of half-chances before the break as Crow hit a shot straight at Westwood after good link-up play with Willock then centre-back Sean St Ledger put in a header which dropped just over the Carlisle bar.
Referee Steve Dorr from Worcestershire blew the whistle moments later on an opening period which the home side had the best of with the Blues looking dangerous on the break through the movement of Hawley and incisive play of Bridges.
Two minutes into the second-half and left-back, and former Northern Ireland international, Peter Kennedy, broke forward for the Posh but his long-range strike flew well over the United bar as the period started in the same quiet fashion that the first had.
After 56 minutes the home side got the opening goal of the game as the Blues conceded a disappointing goal defensively. Day and Hand worked a gap well inside the left-hand edge of the United box that ended with Hand sending a deep cross in to the Carlisle far-post where Semple was lurking. Semple got in a good first-time volley which was blocked by Gray only for the ball to come back out to the unmarked Crow who blasted in from close range despite the attentions of Westwood, Arnison and Lumsdon on the United line.
Seven minutes later Hackney came on for Holmes as the Blues looked to get back in the game with some pacier play down the left, Bridges being moved upfront to partner Hawley. Just sixty seconds later and the Cumbrians made their second substitution of the game as Adam Murray came on for the hobbling Billy with United now needing a goal to grab a point.
Midway through the half Gray cleared a Semple cross to the edge of the Blues’ box, Hand got on the end of the loose ball but his half-volley flew wide of the Carlisle goal. In the 73rd minute Semple was invloved in the game in the wrong sense as he was shown a yellow card by the official for petulantly kicking the ball away.
Following that booking for the home side Blues boss Simpson made his final change of the afternoon as he brought on the direct Raphael Nade for the tiring McGill. Nade was heavily involved in the last fifteen minutes as his height and strength caused Kennedy more problems than he faced in the rest of the game.
Shortly afterwards Hackney sent a half-volley inches wide of the Posh post from a Nade flick-on as the Cumbrians really started to up the pressure as they looked for the equaliser that would keep their three match unbeaten away League run going.
That leveller didn’t take long to come as ten minutes from the end of the game loan-star Bridges bagged his second goal in as many games for Carlisle. Hackney was brought down on the Carlisle left which Lumsdon swung in sweetly with his trusty right boot from tight on the touchline. Hawley was first to meet the cross short of the near-post and his flicked header found Bridges who was left with the simple task of nodding the ball home from, at the very most, two yards out.
It was a deserved equaliser for the Blues who had really taken the game to the Posh after the home side had taken the lead. Infact Carlisle nearly took all three points back to Cumbria as they had Peterborough on the back foot for almost all of the latter stages of the match.
Lumsdon had an opportunity for United in the 82nd minute but he blazed his effort well over then four minutes from time Bridges nearly stole a win for Carlisle. Nade drilled a powerful cross in from the right which was met by the head of the ex-Sunderland man and Bridges was desperately unlucky to see his header from ten yards out bounce back off the Posh crossbar.
Sixty seconds on and Hackney was brought down on the Peterborough by-line. Lumsdon sent the free-kick in which Tyler did well to block away from his goal, the ball eventually being booted away from danger by a hard-pressed home defence.
As the game ticked into stoppage time the Posh almost gave themselves the win again through the ever-dangerous Crow. Day sent a cross in to the near-post to Crow but fortunately for United the young striker’s pacey curling effort flew into the Carlisle side-netting.
Moments later referee Dorr brought proceedings to a close on an entertaining 1-1 draw which takes the Blues up to a heady third in the table. Who would have thought that when we lost 1-0 at home to Forest Green in the Conference in early April that just eight months later we would be third in League Two?
Credit must go to Simmo and the lads for their superb efforts in taking us five wins away from the relegation safety mark by mid-December and in with a genuine shout of making at least the play-offs.
Post-match quotes :
Peterborough boss Mark Wright claims he is not disappointed with his side's present league position saying :
"It's where we are in April that is important and right now we have a team with five or six youngsters who are learning all the time. Overall I was pleased with the showing against Carlisle after we controlled the first half and did well in the first 20 minutes of the second, Then we dropped off, stopped playing football and should have dealt better with the free kick that brought their equaliser."