The Cumbrians went ahead with an exquisite free-kick by defender Peter Murphy earlier in the half but after seemingly having wrested control of the game from the Lancastrians, United had it snatched from their grasp. Roddy Collins was forced to leave out the recently recovered Richie Foran due to suspension but was able to give a debut to on loan Paul Robinson, who was nominally down as a striker alongside Craig Farrell but ended up playing more of a midfield role. Carlisle forced an early chance when Ryan Baldacchino crossed and Farrell headed over the bar. Bury were sporadically dangerous, with the pace of Jon Newby always evident but they were mostly reduced to shooting from distance. Chris Billy's long range effort brought a brief spill from Matty Glennon but he quickly fell on the rebound. The closest either side came was when Farrell beat the Shakers offside trap and advanced on Bury keeper Glynn Garner but his shot was blocked. He pulled it back for the advancing Robinson but he was unable to hit it first time and his follow-up effort was blocked. Roddy Collins would have wanted a bit more from his players at half-time. Although playing some decent football the visitors were fairly comfortable in defence and were closing down the more creative Carlisle players, in particular wingers Baldacchino and Brendan McGill. The second half saw the home team up the pace a bit and gradually assume control. Bury went close however as the dangerous Newby got in a shot that brought a reflex near-post save from Glennon. Then Carlisle broke through when Baldacchino won a free kick on the right edge of the box and Murphy swung his left foot to great effect, curling the ball beautifully into the top corner beyond the despairing dive of Garner. United at this stage did seem to have the three points in their grasp as the visitors had rarely threatened. But on 72 minutes and against the run of play the match swung dramatially when player-manager Andy Preece went down rather theatrically just outside the United area. Preece himself took the kick left footed and despatched it into the far corner, curling it away from Glennon, a strike every bit as good as Murphy's. Carlisle had barely recovered from that hammer blow when they were hit by another as Billy got hold of the ball after a challenge on Newby and crossed to the far post and Lee Unsworth managed to slip his header inside the far post past a flapping Glennon. Carlisle needed a dramatic fightback and Collins brought on Brian Wake and Mark Birch. They thought they had got back into it when Wake challenged the keeper and Darren Kelly knocked the ball home but referee Webster blew up for a foul. Late in the game Summerbell went down in the box as if he had been hit in the face but nothing was given. Newby should have sewn it up for the Shakers but he drilled wide of the left post when clean through on goal. In the closing seconds a goalmouth scramble saw Osman denied with a good block as Carlisle just failed to salvage a point. Al's verdict: A point would have been deserved for our display which improved in the opening stages of the second half and Murphy's goal was an absolute peach. However two hammer blows inside a few minutes took the game away from us and we could not recover. The referee took some stick (as usual) but he managed to avoid showing any yellow cards, which is a rare occurence this season. An improving team are bound to suffer some setbacks and this was one of those setbacks and it will be interesting to see how we respond. |
