good performance |
Paul Arnison’s calf injury meant a place in the starting line-up for David Beherall at right-back and a back five of Beherall, Keiren Westwood, Kevin Gray, Danny Livesey and Peter Murphy. Raphael Nade, Simon Hackney, Chris Billy and Chris Lumsdon made up the midfield with Derek Holmes and Karl Hawley continuing their prolific partnership upfront.
It was an eagerly anticipated clash as fifth placed Carlisle locked horns with a Wycombe side who were top of the table and unbeaten in their 18 league games so far. More spice was added with the return, as Wanderers manager, of ex-United player from the 1970s glory days John Gorman.
Wycombe started in the fashion that they would continue to do for the whole of the opening period as the Blues midfield dropped too deep and allowed veteran Rob Lee to have all the time in the world to dictate the pace of play.
Three minutes in and Charlie Griffin, signed from Forest Green in the summer, took the ball away from Lumsdon 30 yards away from the Carlisle goal, his early shot was pulled well wide of Westwood’s goal though.
Lumsdon was to go close in United’s first attack shortly afterwards, Hackney laid the ball back to Billy who played in a good pass to the ex-Sunderland schemer on the edge of the Wycombe box. Lumsdon took the ball on and hit a good half-volley but it went straight down the throat of Iain Turner in the Wanderers’ goal.
After 13 minutes, the ever-dangerous Kevin Betsy picked the ball up on the United left and cut in easily past Murphy, he soon got a rush of blood to the head though and his 20-yard shot never tested Westwood.
It wouldn’t be the last Murphy would see of Betsy in the game as the ex-Barnsley winger’s pace caused the United left-back a lot of problems. Betsy looks a real handful in this division and Murphy will be glad of a two-week first-team break after the last two league games have seen him come up against Betsy and England Schools sprinter Chris Hackett.
A lot of people around me were having a go at Murphy for having a tough afternoon but it’s hard to blame him for not being as quick as a very pacey winger. When Hackney flies past an opposition right-back we don’t blame their player for being slow, we heap praise on Hackney for being fast – if only some of the Paddock whingers could see it the other way round.
Turner, in the Wycombe goal, looked a bit of a flapper throughout the match and in the 17th minute he failed to collect a Hackney cross under pressure from Nade. Fortunately for Wanderers centre-half Mike Williamson was on hand to boot the ball away from danger.
The young keeper is a Scottish under-21 international on loan to Wycombe from Everton after signing for the Merseyside giants from Stirling Albion at the age of 18 for £50,000. He was being tracked by a lot of the big fish before he signed for the Toffeemen but on the evidence of yesterday he looks a bit over-rated.
Three minutes later Gray and Livesey left the ball for each other 20 yards out from the United goal allowing Mooney to sneak in and blast a goalbound effort from which Gray did well to recover and block the ball out for a corner.
Mooney was a threat all afternoon as he continually dropped off the front two to collect the ball from ex-Newcastle star Lee. With either Livesey or Gray often following him out it meant one of the United centre-halves being dragged well out of position to leave a big gap in behind for Wycombe’s crisp passing game to exploit.
Betsy was again in the thick of the action on 24 minutes as the Wanderers missed their best chance of the game so far. The winger went away past Murphy down the right and crossed in for Joe Burnell, the one-time Bristol City midfielder failed to hit the target from just ten yards out though as his half-volley flew well over.
The Blues carved out a chance of their own bang on the half-hour mark which was partly wasted by Hawley. Lumsdon played a good ball out to United’s top scorer in the right-hand channel but Hawley shot early straight at Turner when Holmes was far better placed unmarked in the middle waiting for a cross from his strike partner.
After Paul Simpson has drummed in to Hawley the need to get a shot off early it was actually one of those unfortunate situations where he would have been better off being less selfish and laying the ball off to Holmes. It was a good effort on target by Hawley but the ex-Raith man has to make sure he doesn’t get trigger happy and keeps an eye on everything going on around him.
Just sixty seconds later Mooney almost hammered in a goal-of-the-season contender. The ex-Swindon striker, while falling to the ground, blazed a 30-yarder that flew just over the top of Westwood’s bar at light speed with United’s keeper looking well beaten.
In the 36th minute Mooney went close again as he enjoyed a real purple patch in the game. The burly frontman tried a left-footed curler from the edge of the United box which flew inches wide of the far-post with Westwood again struggling as he scrambled across his goal.
Two minutes on and Griffin headed poorly straight into the arms of the busy United keeper as Carlisle tried hard to cling on until the half-time break when the inevitable tactical changes would come.
The whistle for the interval eventually came with Wycombe completely bossing the opening period as the United players gave the visitors far too much time on the ball to play their patient passing game. More pressure on the Wanderers defence would have to come in the second-half if the Blues were to get anything out of the game.
A lot of the United faithful were expecting one change at half-time but perhaps not two as both wingers were withdrawn when Bridges and Adam Murray replaced Hackney and Nade. It was a change to the 4-3-3 formation which many had speculated on in the days building up to the game.
It was the visitors who had the first chance after the break though as they started up where they had left off. In the 48th minute, Wanderers’ impressive and pacey right-back, Danny Senda, swung in a lovely corner which Wycombe skipper Johnson blasted on goal only to see it blocked away by his opposite skipper Gray.
Five minutes later Burnell again wasted a good headed opportunity as he could only plant his effort straight at Westwood following an excellent run and cross by Senda.
Carlisle finally started to get a foothold in the game from then on as they really started to crank up the pressure roared on by the majority of a noisy 7033 crowd, only a paltry 206 of those making the journey up from Buckinghamshire.
In the 57th minute Murphy curled in a sweet delivery from a free-kick which Hawley managed to get a head onto under pressure. The ball seemed to spend an eternity in the air before dropping onto the bar and eventually being booted away to safety by a hard-pressed Wanderers back-line.
Half-time substitute Adam Murray was the next to get an effort in on goal shortly afterwards as the Blues had their best spell of the game. The ex-Derby man picked the ball up 25 yards out and unleashed a rasping drive which Turner did well to parry away in the Wycombe goal.
Bridges looked like he was away on goal moments later after he was put through by Hawley but an excellent last-ditch tackle by Clint Easton sent the ball out for a corner. From the resultant set-piece the ball pinballed around the area before finally being cleared on a day when it seemed it just wouldn’t drop right to the foot of a United player.
The Blues heaped pressure on the Wycombe goal once more in the 65th minute but again the final delivery just wouldn’t drop in the right place. Bridges and Hawley worked the ball well down the Wanderers right, eventually laying a pass in to the onrushing Adam Murray. The ball was just inches behind Murray though as he ran into the area unmarked and his failure to control it as he dragged his leg back saw the ball cleared away by Johnson.
It was all Carlisle now and 13 minutes from time Lumsdon was put in by a Bridges touch through. Lumsdon had plenty of time to take a touch and steady himself but he inexplicably hit his half-volley from the edge of box straight away only to drag it well wide when he had far more time than he thought.
Three minutes later and a deflected Hawley effort from 25 yards out looked in all the way as it flew over the head of Turner in the Wycombe goal but it fell the wrong side of the post much to the dismay of a pumped-up Brunton Park.
Adam Murray was the next man to get a chance on goal as Turner flapped at a Lumsdon corner into the Wycombe box. The Everton-loanee only managed to punch the ball out to the edge of his area where Murray was lurking to plant a diving header narrowly wide of the Wanderers goal. With two or three visitors defenders guarding the line it’s unlikely the ball would have gone in though even if it had been on target.
Betsy and Mooney looked dangerous in the last fifteen minutes as Wycombe continually stretched the United defence with their pace on the break. Betsy was particularly dangerous down the right in the closing stages as he often got the by-line only to play in a poor final ball.
Carlisle hearts were eventually broken two minutes from time as the visitors bundled home a last gasp winner. Argentinian womens football star Sergio Torres broke away down the United right and sent in a dangerous low cross which Livesey smuggled away for a Wycombe corner.
The corner came floating in and Mooney was the first to react only to see his volley crash back off the United post. The relief was short-lived for the Blues though as Johnson was quickly on-hand to slam home the rebound as the two benches argued about a Murray foul on Lee moments earlier. Murray was booked by referee Darren Drysdale for the challenge which ex-England international made a big meal of and it was sad to see him smurk at the Paddock as he got up following the challenge.
It was extremely disappointing for the Cumbrian faithful to see Carlisle concede so late on after the way the tactical change at half-time had seen them dominate for long periods of the second-half.
The visitors saw out the remaining two minutes and the three added minutes of injury time with little trouble as United resorted to pumping high balls into the Wycombe box which were easily headed away by Wanderers’ two tall centre-backs.
The final whistle soon came on a game in which Carlisle played a team who will more than likely be in the top three come next May. The Blues’ performance after the break will give them heart though when they return to League action in ten days time away to relegation threatened Rushden and Diamonds.
Post-match quotes :
Wycombe boss John Gorman said after the 1-0 win at Carlisle:
"It was fantastic, that was a complete performance. It was almost too one-sided in the first half. The crowd really inspired Carlisle today and I wish that we could get our fans behind us like that at home. I didn't think that it was going to be our day today but we've got the goal and it was a great win."