In front of an impressive 7,296 attendance, with the East Stand sold out, United came through with a 78th minute shot from Craig Farrell that extended his recent run to five goals in seven games. However it had been an afternoon of frustration up to that point with a series of chances wasted by the home side who pushed forward throughout the game. They spent most of the first 20 minutes camped in the Harriers half of the pitch. A Peter Duffield shot that flashed wide of the far post and a flicked Andy Preece header that missed the far post by a few inches were as close as they were to come to breaking the early deadlock. Farrell curled a free kick over the wall but keeper John Danby was equal to it, this after an earlier Simpson effort was blocked. After Kidderminster came a bit more into the game, Brendan McGill made a decent run that produced a shot well saved by Danby from 20 yards out. Wayne Hatswell brought a save out of Glennon with a header. Carlisle were still the main attacking threat. Mark Yates headed over from a Scott Stamps inswinging corner. Simpson tried his luck from over 40 yards out when he saw Danby off his line but the Harriers stopper managed to claw the ball away. United needed to up the tempo as the second half got under way. However the visitors threatened early on when they took a quick free kick by the goal-line and Lee Andrews had to clear from a cross that got past a stranded Glennon. Duffield brought another save out of Danby as United looked constantly to shoot on sight. Simpson was so close in the 55th minute when his left footed drive from outside the box caught the left hand post. On 65 minutes Kiddy's substitute Jesper Christiansen brought a crucial save out of Glennon when he lobbed the ball over his head and smashed his shot on target from 15 yards. The burly stopper's reaction save was to prove vital in the context of the afternoon. The hard working Farrell produced a long range effort comfortably saved by Brock. McGill made mazy run and shot that was a relatively easy stop for the busy Danby. McGill appeared to be felled inside the area but referee Laws turned down vehement appeals from the home side. Simpson was close again when he made a great run to meet Preece's pass but screwed his shot wide. Kevin Gray was taken off, seemingly nursing a leg injury. Preece was soon off the pitch to be replaced by the lanky youngster Kelvin Langmead. Soon after this switch, the goal finally arrived. The new man was key to it. McGill's cross was laid off by him for Farrell to arrive a drill a low left foot shot into the bottom far corner past Danby's reach. It now needed cool heads from Carlisle to preserve their lead. In the event the visitors rarely threatened despite a couple of late corners. Simpson, McGill and Shelley all worked hard to get the ball into the corners and time expired. Al's verdict: A great team effort, with a lot of patience shown and a very well taken goal by the in-form Farrell who has magnificently responded to the challenge since the return to Walsall of Matt Fryatt. I felt we might miss the big man Kev Gray when we went off but thankfully we spent most of the rest of the game in their half and the goal was richly deserved. We have five games to go and a mere 3-point gap to close. We just need to keep on producing performances like this and hope the other results favour us. It looks like going right down to the wire, yet again. |
