The damage was done immediately after the break when Karl Hawley notched up his seventh goal in 8 games to put the Blues in front. Defender Simon Grand, on his home debut, rose majestically to nod home a second inside the last 20 minutes. The Lambs late consolation from a deflected Bob Taylor shot was more than they deserved after doing little of note up front to threaten United's defence. The first half though was somewhat disappointing. Tamworth were keen to get behind the ball as Burton and Canvey Island had done, but once or twice they gave Carlisle a problem or two at the other end. Kevin Gray hauled down the dangerous looking Rory May and was fortunate to escape a booking as the visitors gained a free kick 40 yards out. United's first real effort was a poke from Karl Hawley after he had turned well inside the box after a ball in from Peter Murphy. Although United were starting to dominate possession, their final ball was once again poor with Brendan McGill in particular unable to pierce the Lambs defence in which man mountain Matt Redmile was never likely to miss much in the air but was looking vulnerable on the ground against the pacy pair of Hawley and Magno Vieira. A clever ball that found Tom Cowan's head almost brought reward on 11 minutes but the Scot's floated effort was fractionally too high. The game became disjointed and frustrating as the visitors had two men booked and looked to disrupt United with petty fouls and obstructions. The only effort towards the end of the half was a speculative Chris Billy shot from 25 yards that never looked like troubling keeper Ryan Price. Paul Simpson would have some few choice words to say at half-time and whatever he did say, it worked wonders. Vieira took the ball from Aaron Brown and powered his way into the box with a good run but appeared to have lost possession when his outstretched foot took the ball off Redmile. The ball ran across the box to Hawley who with his poacher's instincts well intact, clipped the ball home to open the scoring. With a goal in the bank, United showed just what a good side they can be. Peter Murphy in particular ran riot down the left side, getting into the box on several occasions. His finest moment came on the hour when he dribbled past two players and shot across Price only to see the ball cannon back off the far post. As Tamworth began to wilt, another goal began to look inevitable. Gray had a header blocked on the line by David Bampton when he rose powerfully to meet Lumsdon's corner. McGill failed to take advantage of a low cross from Murphy when his close range effort was blocked. Craig Farrell entered the fray for a tiring Vieira who had run his socks off. Farrell almost scored from a similar position to McGill's and the rebound fell to Lumsdon who smashed wide. However the second goal that the home team deserved arrived with fifteen minutes remaining when Murphy's left-wing corner was met by the unmarked Grand who powered home a header past Price and into the corner. Carlisle were totally in control and were looking likely to add a third but in the closing seconds it was the visitors who scored a surprise goal when veteran Taylor drilled a shot that took a deflection off Grand and beat Glennon low down to his left. Al's verdict: A game of two halves, this one. The first was not much better than the second half against Burton. But in the second, once the opening goal went in, we were totally in control and made Tamworth look decidedly ponderous and ordinary. Our set-pieces are starting to look more dangerous and Gray, Cowan and finally Grand all made a big impression in the opposition box. It was good to see us keep the ball mostly on the floor and looking to exploit the pace and nimble footedness of our front two. Having said that, we did definitely miss Andy Preece's height up front. Murphy had his best game of the season and should have been made Man of the Match for his second half display. Hopefully Tuesday night will see more of the same. |
