The goalless draw was United's fourth draw out of six, leaving them temporarily in fifth place having played a game more than the other sides at the top. Although the Cumbrians did most of the pressing throughout the game, particularly in the first half, as the game wore on their attacks contained less menace and the visitors looked fairly comfortable by the end. Andy Preece had a fair chance in the first minute but lobbed his shot about a yard too high. On 12 minutes the industrious Chris Billy tried his luck from 25 yards but the ball arrived at a comfortable height for Brewers keeper Daniel Crane to save. On 17 minutes came the chance of the match for Karl Hawley. The 22-year-old went into the game as the Conference's top scorer but he had cause to regret his poor finish after Burton stopped, thinking there might be an offside flag. He pushed his shot past Crane but it rolled an inch or two wide of the far post when a goal looked certain. Two minutes later Hawley got in behind the Albion rearguard and put in a cross that appeared to be on a plate for Andy Preece in the centre of the box but Magno Vieira had a poke at it first and simply deflected the ball out of harm's way. Referee Foster's rather fussy style was beginning to grate with the fans as well as Carlisle centre half Tom Cowan who was penalised for what looked like an unchallenged header, bringing a rebuke for the exasperated Scot fom the Newcastle-based match official. Finally his patience snapped with Burton's Chris Hall who was booked for unsporting behaviour following a tangle with Preece. On the half-hour Kevin Gray headed across goal and a yard wide from a teasing Murphy corner. A Craig Dudley cross near the interval brought a half-fumble from the underworked Matty Glennon. United went in at the break all square but the home fans would have been forgiven for thinking they would engineer a breakthrough in the second half. Unfortunately it didn't turn out that way and rarely looked like doing so. On came Carlos Roca for Vieira as Paul Simpson tried to unsettle Nigel Clough's well organised side with a bit of pace and unpredictability. Roca forced a corner within a minute of coming on as Carlisle began the half strongly. A Brendan McGill cross tested Crane but again the young keeper handled it well. The tricky play of Roca brought a yellow for Burton's Dale Anderson on the hour, but the game was becoming scrappier and play was constantly being interrupted, Mr Foster not helping things along by refusing to play advantages. On 63 minutes the impressive Billy made a dart to the edge of the box and fired narrowly wide from 20 yards. However it was one of the few goal attempts the Cumbrians could muster in a disappointing second half display. They began to pump long balls up toward Preece who began to tire as the minutes ticked by. With 21 minutes left the hard working Preece was replaced by Craig Farrell. Farrell has not hit form this seaon and if anything, his introduction took some heat off Burton as Preece proved more effective at holding the ball up. A succession of United corners, taken by Chris Lumsdon and Peter Murphy failed to come to anything as Crane and his defenders marshalled the box impressively. Lumsdon tried his luck from distance with 8 minutes left but drilled well over. As time began to run out frustration got the better of skipper Kevin Gray who collected a soft booking for what appeared to be dissent. Another Gray header sailed harmlessly wide and three minutes of stoppage time was not enough for Carlisle to make the breakthrough. Al's verdict: A disappointing and frustrating stalemate. Burton won't be the only team to come here this season and play for a point. After taking one point from five games, seeing us score seven last week and having a host of first-team players out, Nigel Clough wasn't about to throw caution to the winds. They defended their box well, but we helped them out by running out of inspiration during an insipid second half. If Hawley had taken his golden first half chance, the game could and should have turned out very differently. However after five goals in five games he was bound to miss one eventually. The main thing is that we still haven't lost and we kept another clean sheet which at least keeps us bubbling and in the mix. However Simmo may have to look at his formation and decide whether a more conventional 4-4-2 might now work better. |
