It was bad news for ex-Carlisle boss Ian Atkins, whose out of sorts side failed to win for the sixth game in succession. They were knocked out of the top three as a result, whilst United are now just two points behind Macclesfield and seven behind Rochdale who were held 0-0 at home by Bury. Paul Simpson was missing again so the team which started was the same as the one who defeated Huddersfield on Tuesday night. Oxford's top scorer Steve Basham was also out and it showed throughout in a game in which the visitors rarely troubled Matty Glennon. Carlisle dominated the opening 25 minutes without creating any real chances. Andy Preece and Brendan McGill both had sniffs. A Farrell through pass from the left just eluding the pacy McGill as Andy Woodman came out to save at his feet. Preece struck a free kick straight at the Oxford wall whilst from another dead ball opportunity Peter Murphy went closer with a curler that just went wide of the far post. Only in the closing stages of the half did out of form Oxford get out of their own half. As they pushed more men forward, the Cumbrians were held back and there were some anxious moments for Glennon who came for crosses without his usual conviction. However, the score was still blank at the interval. United needed a strong start to the second half to get back on top and that's exactly what they got. Seven minutes in, they went in front. Full back Cowan began and finished the move. He skipped away down the left wing to deliver a deep cross that eluded everybody. Farrell chased it down and put in a better cross from the opposite flank. As the ball cleared the defenders at the near post, the alert Cowan had scampered over into space and he headed experly into the corner past a flailing Woodman. Oxford inevitably showed greater urgency and there were some more anxious moments as Glennon showed uncharacteristic frailty again. He failed to come out quickly enough for a ball into the box and as Cowan tried to head back to him, the agile Mark Rawle nipped in front and shot just wide of the far post. Chris Hackett was the outlet down the right as the visitors tried to apply more pressure but the Cumbrians held firm with the mighty Kevin Gray again a tower of strength. Goalscorer Cowan had to go off 20 minutes from time with what looked like a tweaked hamstring, to be replaced by Lee Andrews. Preece had time to convert a McGill cross but his header was straight at Woodman. The second and fatal blow was struck in the 75th minute. Chris Billy won a good tackle in the corner of the pitch and released Murphy. Last season's player of the year went on a long and mazy run which appeared to have been interrupted when the ball spun out to the touchline. However as the Oxford defence switched off, the ball stopped dead and Preece collected, ran to the byline and crossed for Farrell to convert from three yards. There was no coming back from that, even though referee Frazer Stretton added on four minutes. Al's verdict: On this evidence, we are more than capable of pulling off the Great Escape to end them all. We made a promotion contending side look ordinary, even if they have been clearly off-form in recent weeks. However with seven points against Hull, Huddersfield and now Oxford (and it should have been 9) we have proved our worth at Brunton Park and another 20 points in the closing 11 games should see us safe. Will McDonagh deserves praise for an improved display which earned him Man of the Match although I thought Farrell and Preece up front were excellent with Farrell making the first goal and scoring the second. Roll on Northampton. We need to keep winning and in this kind of form, we surely can. |
