Two sucker punch free-kick strikes hauled the Iron back from a goal down to clinch the points. Richie Foran had nodded the Cumbrians ahead after just 14 minutes. In front of the lowest attendance of the season, 3,124, this could prove to be a crucial blow, United's 10th home loss of the campaign coming on the same night that Macclesfield lifted themselves out of the bottom two with a 3-1 win at home to Leyton Orient. Foran could have put the Cumbrians ahead as early as the 7th minute but he drilled narrowly wide of the far post after sprinting through Scunny's square-looking defence. Then on 14 minutes Paul Raven headed a Stuart Green corner towards Craig Farrell who hooked on and Foran was on hand to nod home from two yards out and put United ahead. The lead lasted barely 4 minutes. Martin Carruthers had already been denied by a good Matty Glennon block when the Iron won a free kick on the edge of the box. Peter Beagrie's perfect delivery into the top left hand corner was too good for United's wall and Glennon. 1-1. Scunthorpe had a spell where they took the game to United and big gaps again appeared in the home midfield. Nathan Stanton, Carruthers and Paul Hayes had further chances as Carlisle rocked and rolled. When Foran again was put through by a Farrell chip last man Mark Jackson made a fantastic tackle to deny him. The Cumbrians earned a free-kick of their own in a dangerous position, but Rundle's effort was way too high. The second half started promisingly for the Blues with United camped in Scunny's half. Foran was again profligate with another missed opportunity. Mark Birch was getting forward well down the right side. Farrell too brought a save out of Evans. But it was the visitors who again punished Carlisle for lax defensive play. Raven brought down Hayes just outside the area and was booked. The free kick was rolled left to Andrew Dawson whose low drive flew into the left corner, beating Glennon. The defence was a bit slow to block, expecting a direct Beagrie effort. Brian Laws' dual substitution with Carruthers and Ridley going off and Calvo-Garcia and veteran Bob Taylor coming on, had worked wonders. United tried to raise their game but with Farrell taken off, they had nobody to act as target and their attacks mostly petered out on the edge of the box. Al's verdict: This was like a rather horrid flashback to the early part of this season with United throwing away a lead thanks to an inability to defend set-pieces. If Foran had taken his first-half chances, this game would have been virtually over by the interval. Stuart Green had a quiet game and failed to make much impact in midfield, where Summerbell worked hard but Scunthorpe held sway. Birch had a good game bombing forward and showed good commitment but our defence looked vulnerable once again. It looks as though we're going to have to rely on our away form to keep us up. |
