In addition, Barnet lost at home to Tamworth to allow Carlisle to close the gap to 10 points with a game in hand. United had skipper Kevin Gray and left-sided midfielder Peter Murphy back in the side. Mark Tierney made his home debut at left-back with new signing Glenn Murray starting on the bench. The first 10 minutes saw no direct chances although Carlisle were looking to push forward against a strong looking Woking defence. In the 11th minute Magno Vieira let fly from 25 yards with his right foot but fellow Brazilian Adriano Basso in the Cards' goal made a comfortable save. Scott Canham fired over the bar for the visitors with their first effort four minutes later. The pattern for the first half was one of weak United shots and a general lack of confidence in front of goal. Woking had few efforts but kept the ball quite well through midfield. Murphy fired well wide from 30 yards for the home side but the visitors were keeping them at a distance. Billy had a wild shot then Hawley tested Basso from the edge of the box. United's play still lacked real penetration but Brendan McGill took down a high ball played to the left edge of the box and his first-time lob was only a few inches over the cross-bar as the Cumbrians looked for somebody to provide that elusive spark of inspiration. On 35 minutes Hawley managed to break free of the offside trap but his right foot shot from close range was lacking in power and brought a comfortable save for Basso. Justin Richards had a shot on target for Woking with five minutes to the break then Canham brought the save of the half from underworked Matty Glennon who tipped his 20-yard effort over the bar. The half-time break saw no goals and a distinct lack of quality play from either side, even though United had held a clear edge in terms of territory and shots on goal. But United made the worst possible start to the second half when two minutes in, they conceded the first goal. Jefferson Louis threw in a ball from the left wing and some clever play by Richards saw him slip inside two defenders to scoop the ball into the right corner past a stranded Glennon. Carlisle's response was rapid as Hawley slipped away down the left and crossed low into the six-yard box but Vieira was an inch away from tapping home the equaliser. Within three minutes Gray had to go off, to be replaced by Lee Andrews. Raphael Nade looped a header over for the Cards as United's disjointed play brought aggravation for the 5,159 attendance. Vieira fired a low shot well wide as the Blues began to lose their grip on the game. On the hour Murray came on for his debut, replacing Vieira. 67 minutes in a foul by Luke Oliver on Chris Lumsdon set up a free-kick opportunity 25 yards out. Lumsdon and Murphy both lined up but it was Murphy who hit a low left footer past the wall but it was claimed well by Basso on his line. A minute on Murray had his first real opening when he got a shot in from the edge of the box but the solid Brazilian keeper was again well behind it. With 17 minutes remaining, Paul Simpson's last throw of the dice was to take off McGill and put on Andy Preece as he switched to 4-3-3. The next effort on goal though saw Louis force Glennon into a fumbling save that conceded a corner. With 8 minutes left, United finally gave the home fans something to celebrate. Lumsdon's left-wing corner was deep and curling and Grand rose at the far post to nod the ball over the line and make the score 1-1. There was a suspicion that Lumsdon may have scored direct as the ball might have been already over the line. Nevertheless the Cumbrians now began to believe they could take all 3 points. Preece got in a firm shot that Oliver blocked to concede another corner. Lumsdon again delivered from the left, Grand rose highest from 8 yards out and the ball cannoned off the underside of the bar and down. It looked to have possibly bounced over the line but for a few agonising seconds it seemed no goal would be awarded. Then up went the referee's assistant's flag to signal a goal for Grand and a scoreline of 2-1. That wasn't the end of it by any means as the dangerous Louis slipped past a challenge down the left edge of the Carlisle box and forced a save by Glennon with his legs as time ran down. Al's verdict: This could have been a really depressing defeat, especially with Barnet suffering a shock loss on the same day. Somehow we pulled a win from the jaws of the defeat, mainly thanks to Simon Grand who has proved more than once to be very dangerous in the air at set-pieces. It was all a bit hard on plucky Woking who played some decent football and were as solid and well organised as I had expected them to be. Nevertheless they appeared to have their hearts set on time-wasting during the second half and perhaps there was some form of justice that they ended up with nothing. We didn't play well by any means and our strikers are not playing with confidence, especially Hawley who looks out of sorts down the left. Murray may not be the answer either, he looked like a clone of Craig Farrell when he came on but he should get more chances to prove me wrong. A word of congratulations to Matty Glennon who reminded us just what a good keeper we have with a good display and he made a crucial late save to preserve the points. |
