However they will be kicking themselves that they couldn't hang on to a precious lead given them by Andy Preece's 55th-minute strike. The Cumbrians had looked sharper than the Tigers in the first half and any neutral fan would have been hard pressed to tell which team was top and which bottom. Even so, Carlisle at least had the satisfaction of ending Hull's seven-game winning streak although the home support were brassed off to see unpopular Stuart Green grab the late equaliser that earned his side a draw. Carlisle set off like an express train and took the game to Hull from the first whistle, playing at a fast tempo in the hope of catching Peter Taylor's charges out cold. Paul Simpson had an early shooting chance but hooked his left-footed effort horribly wide. On 10 minutes though they came extremely close to breaking through. Tom Cowan's floated left foot cross found the head of Preece who found the top of the cross-bar. Matt Fryatt followed up and struck the post and Hull scrambled the ball away to safety. Later Billy forced keeper Myhill to tip over from Murphy's corner. After the early flurry of United pressure, the game rather slowed down and there were few chances for either side until Hull finally reminded the 7,176 crowd why they were top of the table with a swift move down the left. Marshall's shot struck the inside of the near post and flew away from danger. On the stroke of half-time Green should have put City ahead but after racing through a rather square Carlisle rearguard he inexplicably pulled his shot wide left when it looked easier to score. The second half saw the drizzle that had been falling since mid-way through the opening period ease a little. United again made a strong start and it was from a free-kick that the breakthough goal had its genesis. Simpson fancied his chances of repeating his wonder effort against Bury last week but his left foot shot curled away from the wall and keeper Boaz Myhill leapt well to turn it aside for a corner. From the resulting kick, the ball eventually fell kindly for Preece who waited to pick his spot from six yards and beat Myhill all ends up into the far corner. It was no more than Carlisle deserved for a totally committed performance in which the back four had held firm and Fryatt in particular had worked his socks off, fighting the ball into the corners and winning a lot of throw-ins and corner kicks for his efforts. Hull seemed to visibly up the pace and Matty Glennon was forced into two saves, but still the Cumbrians looked to have the measure of their clearly rattled opposition. Both United full-backs Paul Arnison and Tom Cowan went into the book but Hull were far from angels themselves and a crude foul by Green on Cowan earned the ex-Carlisle man a yellow too. The save of the match from Glennon kept United ahead when he turned Ben Burgess's effort on to the far post with 20 minutes to go. Then Fryatt had two openings to score inside four minutes. He fired over the bar from the first and then when set up by Preece from the left side he shot inches wide of the far post. They were to prove costly misses. With 9 minutes left Lee Andrews was too slow to cut out a ball near the goal-line and Green got into space on the left of the penalty area to shoot across Glennon and in off the far upright. Having been roundly booed throughout the contest the West Cumbrian midfielder had the chance to let the home support what he thought of them, albeit briefly. Carlisle continued to look for the three points and they were pushing towards the finish after bringing on Richie Foran for Simpson in the last five minutes, the firebrand Irish striker's first appearance in a blue shirt for more than two months. However Arnison wasted a late opening by firing way over the bar at the Waterworks end. Al's verdict: A really good performance from United, one which should have convinced any remaining doubters about the turnaround in their form since the week before Christmas. We actually looked the better team for long stretches and although Hull could rue their luck with the woodwork struck twice, one of those was down to a great save by Matty and we too hit the frame of the goal on two occasions. In the battle of the two old boys, Glennon had an excellent game against his old charges and to be frank Green was a major disappointment against his until his late strike atoned for his dreadful miss earlier on. We battled for every ball and in Fryatt had a superb foil up front with the young lad producing his best effort in a blue shirt. Billy won man of the match, which was perhaps hard on Fryatt although our revitalised midfielder was again excellent. The gap at the bottom has grown but we still look more than capable of closing it on this type of performance. |
