United travelled down to the Matchroom Stadium with Kevin Gray passed fit following a calf injury sustained in the 1-0 win over Kidderminster on Saturday. Player-manager Paul Simpson had to drop out though following a similar knock and Peter Murphy took his place in midfield with Tom Cowan returning to the starting line-up at left back. An amazing 875 Carlisle fans packed into the away end in amongst a 4,182 holiday attendance. Orient forced the first corner after six minutes when Murphy got the last touch to deflect the ball over the dead ball line. Gray was on hand to clear it. On 10 minutes good approach work by Farrell and Duffield set up Mark Boyd who drilled high over the bar. McGill made a good darting run on 19 minutes when he put in a cross towards Preece that was superbly cleared. Warren Hunt went into the book for an over-zealous challenge on Cowan, which led to a bit of fisticuffs after the event. McGill wriggled through cleverly on the half-hour to feed Murphy whose shot was well claimed by keeper Lee Harrison. Farrell then did well to find a shooting position but fired wide. Cooper was booked for a rough challenge on Preece. Farrell went on an adventurous run and drilled straight at Harrison when Preece was in an unmarked position to his left. Glennon made the save of the half from Wayne Purser when he tipped over his left footed effort from Scott's cross. A frustrated Preece was booked two minutes from the interval after a series of baffling decisions went against him. On the stroke of half-time Boyd fired narrowly over the cross-bar after a challenge by Farrell. The second half began with a controversial booking for McGill who was booked for blocking a quickly-taken Purser free-kick when he had no chance to get out of the way. Alexander drilled the free kick wide with a help of a Kevin Gray deflection. The game was still being marked by ugly challenges as Andy Scott crumpled Shelley to became the fifth player to receive a yellow. Sure enough within seconds Hunt was ordered off for a crude two-footed foul on Murphy only for Gray to follow for a retaliatory challenge. Farrell had a great chance soon after this when he was waved onside but wasted the opening by scuffing his shot and saw it cleared. Duffield snatched at a shot to miss the target on 59 minutes. Richie Foran made a surprise appearance for Duffield as Simpson tried to change things to give United fresh attacking impetus. Alexander drove just wide with his left foot from an angle on 68 minutes. The warning wasn't heeded. Alexander had another chance a minute later from eight yards and he drove home a half-volley with Glennon stranded on his line and the defence flat-footed. Glennon had to be alert to save from sub Kieran Toner with 19 minutes to go. The break United desperately needed came with 10 minutes remaining when Foran threaded the ball through and pacy McGill went through and rounded Harrison to tap the ball over the line. Within seconds Orient went close as Billy Jones fired narrowly wide from 25 yards. McGill made another break but was unable to find Foran as the visitors attempted to snatch the lead. Cowan became the sixth player to be booked. Foran tried a clever lob as the seconds began to tick down but the ball fell narrowly wide. Cowan made a good saving to tackle to deny Ibehre on the edge of the box. The game was becoming end to end as the the clock showed one minute remaining. Ex-Scarborough forward Chris Tate replaced Ibehre. Three minutes were added and Alexander even had time to buy a free kick with a blatant dive before the final whistle went. Al's verdict: This was a rough old game which in the end worked out Ok for us although the sending off of Kevin Gray could hurt as he'll miss one of the closing four games through suspension. Having wound us up and got Gray sent off, Orient took advantage of a bit of slack defending to score. We needed to show mettle to get back in it and it was a delight to hear little Bren going through to grab a precious equaliser, all the more precious as three of the four teams immediately above the relegation zone blew half-time leads to lose. This result means we've played three away games without defeat which shows how much we've improved. We'll need to win our remaining two home games I reckon, and it still looks like going right down to the final match. Extra underpants all round, I think! |
