The match survived a 10.40am pitch inspection after overnight frost. Approximately 2,000 United fans had got tickets, some of them in the home end of the ground, amongst a Conference-best for Morecambe of 4,660. Christmas Eve signing Daniel Livesey made his debut in defence, with Kevin Gray out for up to three months with knee trouble. Michael Twiss had a wild left footed effort that cleared the stand inside the fourth minute. McGill worked a chance for Murphy who drilled wide with a right-footed half-volley two minutes later. A Wayne Curtis 25-yard effort dipped dangerously on 7 minutes but Matty Glennon tipped over to concede the first corner. United broke through on 15 minutes when McGill had a shot deflected out for Vieira to shoot and the ball bounced up for Hawley to nod home at the far post and collect his 12th goal of the season. Hawley set up Vieira after 22 minutes but the Brazilian's shot was slightly scuffed and rolled wide. Vieira ran through again but tried a shot when a pass to Hawley would have been better. United still won a corner. Chris Blackburn punched away from Simon Grand's head as Morecambe cleared it. Murphy headed down well from a free kick but Chris Billy's shot was too high. United thought they had gone two-up when Vieira headed home from a corner but the goal was disallowed, presumably for a push. Within seconds McGill fired off the post and Vieira following up saw his shot was deflected out for a corner. The Shrimps forced a series of corners in the last minute of the half but Carlisle held firm and would have gone in at the interval well pleased to be a goal to the good. In many respects they could have been more goals ahead. Lee Elam went close to equalising early in the second half when he fired over after beating Livesey in the air. Moments later Blackburn got to the byeline and centred for Twiss to get the final touch and level things up. Murphy volleyed towards the top corner but Sollitt pulled off a brilliant save with a tip over. Twiss collected a booking soon after a foul on Tierney. Vieira skated away downfield to set up Murphy whose shot was blocked by Sollitt's knees. Wayne Curtis's shot was blocked by Grand and Glennon followed up with a good save from a header as Morecambe put United under a bit of pressure. Sollitt fell to the ground after a clash with Grand. The keeper remained motionless and a stretcher came out. After extensive treatment reserve goalie Ryan Robinson came on. Tierney and Hawley almost set up a chance as the game moved into the closing 10 minutes of normal time. Glenn Murray came on for Vieira. Tierney did well to make a block with two minutes of the 90 left. Gary Thompson replaced Danny Carlton for the Shrimps. Morecambe had United on the back foot as five minutes of added time commenced. The Cumbrians then rallied and forced two corners themselves. A hand ball decision handed Carlisle a free kick 20 yards out in the closing seconds. Murphy's shot was straight at Robinson. Al's verdict: A rather disappointing outcome. United were well on top for long stretches in the first half, should have scored more than once and in the second period, dropped their guard to let Morecambe back in. After that, the home side made life difficult but there weren't that many clear-cut chances and the bad looking injury to Sollitt cast a bit of a shadow. With Barnet having their long-expected bad patch, it's important to cash in and four points from a possible 6 at least keeps them in our sights. We now need to win our next two home games as the Bees can't be expected to go on losing. |
