Rivals Halifax Town had defended stoutly throughout and looked to have done enough to earn a point when goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin was penalised for handball in the final minute of normal time. Fellow sub Magno Vieira was on hand to take Glenn Murray's free kick and slot home into an unguarded net. The match up to that point had been largely incident-free with few clear-cut chances for either side. Defences were on top with neither keeper really extended. Carlisle ultimately made a bigger push for victory but they still must have been counting their lucky stars after referee Pollock who had earlier denied them a penalty for handball, turned extraordinarily charitable. Five minutes in the visitors came very close when Greg Young's cross was met by John Grant who headed over when he should at least have tested Matty Glennon. Two minutes later Chris Lumsdon's corner was half cleared only to Karl Hawley whose header hit the side netting. Tom Cowan's 12th minute cross picked out Lumsdon but his shot missed left as United looked to push more men forward and keep possession. Halifax began to get a grip in midfield and they had more of the play as the half wore on. Grant brought a parry out of Glennon with an 18 yard effort on 25 minutes. Hawley shot tamely over 2 minutes later as chances were at a premium. 10 minutes from the interval Peter Murphy fouled Ryan Sugden. Dean Howell's floated free kick into the box was met by defender Young but Glennon did well to palm away for a corner. Then late in the half a Murphy free kick found the head of Danny Livesey but Dunbavin saved comfortably. The second half saw even fewer real openings carved out. Seven minutes in though Cowan almost got on the end of a Murphy free kick at the far post as he went for the ball with Dunbavin. The battling Scot went down in a heap and was carried off on a stretcher, to be replaced by Glenn Murray. Glenn's namesake Adam Murray was having a fairly quiet home debut although Chris Billy alongside him was as combative as ever, winning a fair number of important tackles as the game opened out a little as it went on. Sugden tested Glennon on the hour with a shot from the edge of the box but the visitors were getting little change out of Livesay and Kevin Gray at the heart of the home defence. Vieira came on for Hawley with 22 minutes left on the clock. Nine minutes later Vieira drew a foul out of 'fax sub Gordon Chin. Lumsdon lined up the free kick but he couldn't quite keep his curling effort down and the ball flew a yard over the bar. A minute later Adam Murray drilled in a shot from the edge of the box but it was straight at Dunbavin. It looked like it might be United's last real chance to win it, but a minute from time came the dramatic incident that decided the match. Dunbavin was shoved by Glenn Murray and appeared to react by taking a kick at the striker. Referee Pollock intervened and just when it seemed he was giving Halifax the free-kick, he appeared to penalise the visiting keeper for walking out of the box with the ball in his hands and awarded a free kick to Carlisle instead. Dunbavin was stranded and Murray side footed the ball to Vieira who stabbed the ball into the empty net with Dunbavin scrambling in vain to grab the ball off his foot. Town players surrounded Pollock and eventually he was persuaded to have a word with his linesman but he wasn't about to change his mind and the goal stood. At the final whistle, angry Shaymen again surrounded the referee who needed an escort off the pitch. Al's verdict: A dramatic game-deciding incident apart, this was a very tight match with little between the two sides, although I thought they'd settled for a point with 10 minutes to go and we might just have deserved it for our effort and commitment in the closing stages. It was hard to tell what the referee had given in all the chaos in the closing minutes, but it looked like Dunbavin had gone for a wander with the ball in his hands and as the ball wasn't yet dead, that was a foul. It was quick thinking by Murray and Vieira to set up the winner, although I'd have been unhappy if it had been against us. Still, the breaks sometimes go your way and this result makes us clear favourites to clinch second spot. There are still some important games coming up though and nothing is decided yet. |
