With left back Lee Maddison out with a hamstring pull, Dessie Byrne came back into the side. In addition Jon McCarthy missed out in midfield so Will McDonagh regained a starting place. It was the home side who called the tune for much of the opening half and they were celebrating inside the opening 10 minutes. A lovely move down the left channel saw Adam Rundle and Mark Hudson combine to set up Richie Foran who produced a spurt to take him past Adie Smith and shot low under keeper Fraser Digby. United looked capable of extending their lead but top scorer Craig Farrell missed a great chance after a flick by Foran. Somehow Farrell contrived to place his shot wide of the left hand upright with Digby beaten. Kiddy had not produced much in the way of attacking football but they drew level on the half hour when striker Bo Henriksen beat the home offside trap and got to the ball before a stranded Matty Glennon, clipping the ball past him and into the far corner of the unguarded net. The goal gave Harriers confidence and their midfield bossed the game for a spell as United began to lose their way. Referee Leake who was booed off at the interval made himself unpopular for booking Brian Shelley who prevented a throw-in from being taken. Farrell's second glaring miss of the half came shortly before United regained the lead. He ran on to a Rundle left wing cross but failed to get over the ball properly and headed well clear of the cross-bar. But the error didn't hurt the home side for long. The lively Rundle running on to a ball through the middle of the pitch to poke the ball home past Digby. 2-1 to the Cumbrians at that point. There was no way Roddy Collins would repeat his midweek antics at the interval and the hard-working home players got to sip their half-time cuppa this time from the warm interior of the dressing room. However the visitors supremo Ian Britton would have a few things to say to his defence and Kiddy looked a tougher proposition after the break. McDonagh tested Digby with a speculative shot from distance early on, but overall United didn't offer the same attacking threat and the ubiquitous Foran eventually began to tire and was taken off. First of all defender Darren Kelly who had been dominant in the central area of the pitch had to come off. He was replaced by Lee Andrews, who received a large cheer from the home supporters after a long spell on the sidelines, controversially left out by Collins. John Melligan saw a header narrowly clear the bar as Kiddy sensed they could still get something out of the game. Andrews fitted in well but the warning signs were there for Carlisle without the commanding aerial presence of Kelly to cope with set-pieces. Sure enough eight minutes from time Harriers won a corner and the tall Scott got to the ball in front of Glennon and his defenders and headed home to square the game again. As the game moved into its final few minutes Farrell had one final chance to atone when he had a clear shot at goal eight yards out but his shot was blocked by Scott and that was just about that. Al's verdict: First of all, this was a 100 times better than Tuesday night's fiasco but we could have been a million times better than that and still not won. So it proved. Despite some very impressive forward play with Rundle, Foran and Farrell outstanding in the first half, we took our foot off the gas and let the visitors back into it. Unfortunately for Farrell he had an off-day in front of goal after scoring 4 times in his last 3 outings. Glennon seems to have lost confidence and there must now be a case for bringing Peter Keen back in. Six goals against in two home games is a worrying slide in form for what looked to be a vastly improved defence. |
