On a snowy night at Brunton Park they crashed 2-1 to a well-drilled Stevenage Borough side who were helped on their way by a Matty Glennon howler. The Cumbrians clawed back a goal through a late Chris Lumsdon penalty but time ran out on them and they fell another position to 9th in the table. They have now gone EIGHT league games without a victory. The pressure is mounting on boss Paul Simpson who again had little answer to a poor display. The home side never convinced in the first half although they had more of the play. After Borough's shock two-goal burst just before half-time, a double change at half-time with Chris Billy and Glenn Murray coming on saw a slightly improved second half performance, but it was not enough to prevent Stevenage go above them in the table. Peter Murphy fired in the first shot in the 3rd minute but it was always heading wide of the right post. Then on 12 minutes lively Magno Vieira fired in a long range shot that keeper Alan Julian parried and there were claims for a penalty as Brendan McGill tried to latch on to the rebound. The 21st minute saw the best home effort of the half with Karl Hawley trying a snap shot from 30 yards out but Julian reacted sharply to palm the ball round the post to concede a corner. As the snow began to fall heavily, the pitch became a little trickier. For all that the visitors had not really threatened United's goal until 35 minutes into the game when Darryn Stamp stunned them with a clever overhead kick from 15 yards out that looped over a stranded Glennon and into the left corner of the goal. The conditions then caught out Glennon just 70 seconds later when his attempted clearance was charged down by Stamp who had a simple task to prod the ball home past the errant keeper from the edge of the box to double the visitors' lead. It was a woeful end to the half for United who tried a quick riposte with a 20-yarder from Murphy, but Julian again claimed with comfort. Anthony Elding, a star of England's semi-professional side a week earlier, drove wide from 30 yards for Borough. Billy and Murray replaced Brian Shelley and McGill for the second half. The snow began to ease off. Carlisle's football visibly improved. They added a bit of pace and urgency and Billy drove in a low shot that tested Julian as United managed a bit more pressure at last. Robert Quinn tried a speculative effort for Stevenage seven minutes in. Then a Hawley cross found the head of Murphy and the ball came back off the bar. As United piled in to try and force the ball home, the referee blew up for a foul on the keeper Julian. Glennon clung on to a Dino Maamria effort as the visitors began to look dangerous on the break. A sharp turn and shot by Murray brought an unorthodox punched save from Julian, who was coping well with the pressure United were beginning to put him under. Murphy had two shots, one held by Julian and the next blocked by defender Barry Laker. With 11 minutes left, Carlisle finally had some joy. Vieira snaked to the edge of the six-yard box but was upended by Laker. Referee Lewis pointed to the spot. Lumsdon stepped up and despatched the penalty into the left of the net with the minimum of fuss. There was time still for United to claim something from an uninspiring night in front of the lowest gate of the season, 3,146, but their efforts in the closing minutes lacked real conviction. Stevenage clung on tenaciously for a deserved victory. Al's verdict: It's not getting any better. A poor pitch and a snowstorm made playing constructive football difficult but we gifted them the goals and couldn't recover in what was a much better second half. Billy introduced some bite in midfield and Murray again looked lively after they came on. Hawley is also looking sharper than he was, and his first half effort was the best of the match. Unfortunately after two poor goals given away, this was always going to be a struggle and we again showed that we missed Kevin Gray, who will need 3 more weeks before getting back into contention. |
