Shrews Cruise As Blues Lose

Chris Lumsdon

That meant that taking the field were the normal back five of Keiren Westwood, Peter Murphy, Paul Arnison, Danny Livesey and Gray. Across the midfield were Zigor Aranalde, Chris Lumsdon, Brendan McGill and Billy while Karl Hawley and Michael Bridges remained the chosen two to lead the front-line. There was a place on the bench for 17 year-old keeper Adam Bradley who came in as the substitute glovesman for Anthony Williams who had gone on loan to Bury earlier in the week. Keeping the youngster company were perennial substitutes Derek Holmes, Simon Hackney, Adam Murray and Grand.

For Shrewsbury ex-United loanee Kelvin Langmead was on the bench, ex-Blues defender Stuart Whitehead was playing at centre-half and one-time Carlisle manager and current Shrews coach Mick Wadsworth was involved on the sidelines. The only survivor in both starting line-ups from the 2003 game that saw the Blues condemn the home side to the drop and assure themselves of survival with a 3-2 win courtesy of a Brian Wake hat-trick was Blues left-back Peter Murphy.

United started by far the brighter of the two sides and had the first opening in the fourth minute after Shrews left-back Ben Herd had given the ball away with it eventually ending up at the feet of Aranalde. The Spaniard put a good cross in which Bridges just managed to get to first but Whitehead closed him down quickly to block the effort which then only dribbled into the hands of highly-rated home goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Shortly afterwards a nice move involving Murphy, Bridges and Aranalde ended up with Hawley getting on the end of a low ball into the box from Carlisle’s tall left-midfielder but his clipped effort from six yards out went narrowly wide.

The home side started to come into the game a little though, particularly through the excellent wing-play of pacy youngster David Edwards down the right-hand flank. In the 13^th minute ex-Livingston man Colin McMenamin sent him racing away on that side but Westwood came out to collect his low ball in off the toes of Livesey who was poised to clear. It took the United keeper two goes to take the cross though after initially fumbling the centre.

Five minutes later came the first and second controversial moments of a match which referee Keith Hill of Royston in Hertfordshire will surely want to forget after his poor display of officiating. Westwood launched one of his typically long kicks out of the United box which Bridges got a slight touch on into the path of the onrushing Hawley. Carlisle’s top scorer knocked the ball past Hart only for the Shrews keeper to bring him down as Hawley tried to round him. Then came the first moment of controversy as the official only showed Hart a yellow card when the chance had surely been a clear goalscoring opportunity and a red card offence.

In all honesty that incident was probably the turning point of the game as the home side should have been down to ten men for the remaining 72 minutes but it wasn’t to be as Hart stayed on to face the spot-kick. Lumsdon stepped up to hit his effort to Hart’s right but the keeper got down well to save, although the official then ordered the kick to be retaken after judging that Hart had strayed off his line before the penalty had been taken. Lumsdon made no mistake the second time however as he hammered home down the middle to put the Blues one up much to the chagrin of the home fans who let referee Hill know their feelings when to be fair they should have been thanking him for keeping the match at a 11-a-side.

Unfortunately that was as good as it got for the Cumbrians as the incident seemed to galvanise the efforts of the home side from then on. The Shrews fans really had cause to give the official the full going over three minutes later though when they were denied what looked like a clear penalty of their own. Home defender Kevin Sharp swung a good corner in which bounced in front of Billy and appeared to strike the United midfielder on the arm, referee Hill waved play on however as the crowd went apoplectic.

They didn’t have to wait too long to get a spot-kick though as a clumsy challenge from Arnison in the 32^nd minute brought the Shropshire side level. Sharp laid the ball over the top of Arnison into the path of McMenamin who was looking to make room away from goal when the Carlisle right-back clipped the back of McMenamin’s legs and sent the young Scot sprawling to the turf. McMenamin took the penalty himself and calmly slotted it home to Westwood's left as the young keeper dived the wrong way to bring the score back to parity at 1-1.

In the 40^th minute an out-of-sorts Aranalde received a yellow card after he brought down Edwards who was scooting away down the right once more. It was a booking that the Spaniard would live to regret later in the game. The match seemed to quieten down a little towards half-time as the pitch started to cut up extremely badly and the ball spent a lot of time being hacked around the midfield areas.

Two minutes before the break Lumsdon tried a long-ranger which was deflected out for a flag-kick and before the period ended there was time for Hawley to have a short-range volley blocked and curl a 20-yarder straight into the midriff of Hart.

It had been a pretty even opening 45 minutes but it had to be the Shrews who were happier heading down the tunnel at 1-1 after going behind and dodging a bullet when Hart was only booked.

The home side brought that renewed confidence straight out with them in the second-half and almost took the lead only sixty seconds in but Gray did well to block the shot of Shrews midfielder Jamie Tolley. Shortly afterwards Sharp sent a deep cross in to the back-post which Edwards did well to get to but his header flew just wide of Westwood’s post with the United keeper rooted to the spot.

The match really was struggling to find any momentum though as both teams struggled to hold on to possession and carve out any chances on a pitch which was making the Brunton Park surface look like green baize on a billiard table.

The Blues did manage to work a good chance just after the hour-mark through Bridges and Hawley which Hart saved well. Murphy played the ball into Bridges who dummied to turn one way before going the other, leaving him with room to send a pass into the path of Hawley. United’s hot-shot took his effort quickly but Hart scrambled across sharply to hold the shot low down at his far-post.

Straight from the hands of the Shropshire side’s keeper Shrews right-back Ben Herd played a deep ball up to McMenamin on the edge of the United box. McMenamin, with his back to goal, laid the ball back cleverly into the run of Tolley but his 20-yarder flew well over Westwood’s bar as the cobwebs were finally blown off a tepid second-half.

In the 67^th minute Langmead came on to replace McMenamin in the first substitution of the game as Shrewsbury boss Gary Peters looked to inject some fresh legs into the proceedings. Three minutes later Carlisle’s Bridges was booked for dissent, bizarrely after he had been fouled himself by Edwards in the middle of the home side’s half.

Far worse was to follow for United however as the home side took the lead in the 75^th minute with the third penalty of the game. Edwards hit a good ball over the top of the Carlisle defence from the right-hand side which Langmead and Murphy chased down into the box. The ball first came off Murphy's thigh, there was a tangle of bodies, Langmead went down, and that was the signal for the official to point to the spot yet again, referee Hill also booking Murphy for the offence. With McMenamin already substituted it was Sharp who put his head on the chopping block as he volunteered to take the spot-kick. He hit his penalty hard to the United keeper's left but Westwood just managed to get a hand on it although sadly for the Blues it still found the net via the inside of the post.

In the 79^th minute the Cumbrians once more had a player booked for dissent after winning a free-kick, this time it was Billy after he had been brought down by Shrews striker Glynn Hurst. Sixty seconds later United boss Paul Simpson made a double change as he looked to get something out of a game in which his side had taken the lead, Holmes came on for Murphy and Adam Murray came on for McGill as Carlisle went to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation.

That formation proved to be extremely short-lived though as four minutes on the Blues were reduced to ten men late in a game for the second away match in a row. Aranalde put in a challenge from behind on Edwards in midfield which sent the Shrews winger flying to the ground theatrically with the Spaniard actually seeming to get a good touch on the ball. The official, not for the first time in the game, saw it differently though and brandished Aranalde’s second yellow card of the afternoon, leaving Carlisle with a mountain to climb if they were going to claim a point at most.

United tried to get a goal back but it was the home side who went closest to going further ahead in the closing stages as Carlisle left big gaps at the back in their quest for an equaliser. In the 88^th minute Edwards got in behind the Blues defence and sent in a lovely low cross which Hurst somehow managed to spoon over the bar from only six yards out. That was the end of the action for Hurst who was replaced immediately for veteran front-man Mark Stallard as the Shrewsbury coaching staff looked to run down the clock.