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Out of action in a very threadbare Robins squad were Grant McCann, Ashley Vincent, Michael Townsend, Damian Spencer, Steven Gillespie, David Bird, Shane Duff and Brian Wilson all with various injuries and ailments. McCann though was away on international duty this weekend, the 26-year old set-piece specialist being an unused substitute in Northern Ireland's disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Iceland on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues got away brightly to get the majority of the 7,248 strong crowd behind them right from the off, 180 away fans making the long journey up from Cheltenham. Holmes and Karl Hawley combining straight from the opening whistle to send Kevin Gall chasing onto a Hawley ball down the middle, Town keeper Shane Higgs was quickly of his line though to snuff out the danger.
In the first of numerous bizarre decisions in the match referee Neil Swarbrick from Walton-le-Dale near Preston gave a free-kick against Simon Hackney on three minutes for a nothing challenge on right-back Jerry Gill in the Town box. Sixty seconds later an on-form Hawley made some good space for himself on the left-angle of the visitors box, only to end up sending a poorly-hit shot wide of Higgs' near-post from 18 yards out.
Hackney was running on well from the midfield as the Robins struggled to cope with the pace of the Cumbrians going forward and in the eighth minute he skipped past Gall to play in Hawley, the Hitman was just unable to control the ball though and the chance was gone. JJ Melligan stuck a cross in from the right shortly afterwards which was cleared out by Peter Murphy for a corner. Melligan and experienced left-midfielder Mickey Bell worked a short corner from there but Bell's attempted curler from the right-angle of the United box flew well over Westwood's crossbar.
One feature of the afternoon, and of the season so far to be perfectly honest, is the amount of times the Cumbrians have been caught half-asleep from opposition short corners, it really is something that needs working on in training before it costs us a goal. Anyway, after ten minutes, as it was still pretty much all Carlisle, Craig Armstrong was well placed at his own back-post to head away from Gall after a nice cross in by Hawley.
Sixty seconds later Chris Lumsdon and Paul Murray tried a "Sheringham corner" but it came on Murray's right foot and his shot was pulled well wide. Moments later Hawley, who showed some fantastic close control throughout the 90 minutes, turned well just outside the visitors box and fired in a powerful drive which Higgs did well to tip over his own crossbar. Carlisle skipper Kevin Gray was first to the Lumsdon corner in but it was an easy effort for Town centre-half Jamie Victory to hack away from danger.
The Blues were having problems of their own at corners though and in the 14th minute Town went close to scoring themselves when a flag-kick in from the right by Bell was headed goalwards by Victory. Lumsdon was there defending strongly however and he was able to boot the ball out from a yard or two short of his goal-line. After 23 minutes, as the match began to quieten down a little, David Raven tried to fire a shot in from fully 30 yards out but it had to be a blockbuster from that range and it only ended up dribbling into the gloves of a grateful Higgs.
In the 25th minute some tigerish chasing by Hawley saw him send a ball into Holmes inside the Cheltenham box, the big Scot was unable to get a strong finish on his close-range effort though and his flick at goal went wide of the target. Sixty seconds later, as the visitors tried to find their feet in the game, Melligan sent a shot towards Keiren Westwood but it was extremely weak and the Blues keeper could have thrown his gloves on it.
Straight from the hands of Westwood came the move that led to United grabbing the opening goal of the match in the 27th minute. Holmes and Hawley combining well to send Hackney racing clear down his old left-wing position. The Blues speedster sending in a pinpoint cross to the back-post with his trusty left foot for Gall, running in, to head confidently home from just six yards out, a lead that Carlisle certainly more than deserved on the balance of play.
United were passing the ball around well and playing some nice possession football, Hawley just unable to get a firm header on a useful Zigor Aranalde cross in on the half-hour mark. Moments later Hawley was again working hard as he fed possession into Gall, the ex-Yeovil man firing wide from 16 yards out when he was well placed for a better finish though. In the 41st minute Melligan was awarded 5.9 for artistic impression when he was just clipped by Murphy, only to theatrically swandive to the deck about an hour after the original challenge.
Such amateur dramatics didn't concern the Blues though as they went two goals to the good just before the half-time whistle. Holmes showed some great perseverance to put pressure on Victory as they chased down a long Lumsdon ball up into the Waterwors/East Stand corner, Holmes' hard work paying off as Victory slipped to the turf and left the big Scot all alone with the ball. Holmes quickly feeding play back to Lumsdon on the right-edge of the box who crossed in for Hawley to hit his half-volleyed effort from 12 yards out back across Higgs and into the bottom corner of the Town net with his right foot, it wasn't a crisp finish by any means but the goal was all that counted. Two quick minutes of time added on by referee Swarbrick followed before the two sides headed back down the tunnel with United holding a well-earned 2-0 lead.
The first of the action of the second-half saw Robins manager John Ward make a double substitution as he tried to haul his team back into the game. Teenagers Michael Wylde and Sosthene Yao coming on for Adam Connolly and Bell respectively, Wylde moving in to the left-back slot with Armstrong pushed into central midfield and the pacey Yao playing out on the left flank.
Despite that the Blues were making chances straight away though, Hackney racing away down the left-hand channel beyond Gill and hammering in an 18-yard effort which whistled across goal and just wide of Higgs' far-post. Shortly afterwards Lumsdon played Gall in but Town centre-half Gavin Caines was able to just take the ball off the toes of United's top scorer, Lumsdon's resultant corner in being cleared by traditional Carlisle nemesis Kayode Odejayi.
In the 51st minute Westwood, who had a poor afternoon by his own high standards, misjudged a free-kick in, after Gray had brought down Yao, which allowed Odejayi to head goalwards, Aranalde being well placed to put the ball behind for a Robins corner. From the flag-kick in by Melligan from the right, Murphy was only able to clear the ball straight to Victory, fortunately for the Cumbrians though the Town defender blazed his volleyed 18-yarder high into the Warwick Road End.
Three minutes later Gall pushed the ball across to the overlapping Raven down the right, Raven sending in a wicked low cross which Holmes met with a side-footed half-volley six yards out. His connection wasn't the best though and although his effort was destined for the bottom corner of the Cheltenham net it was slow enough to allow Higgs to dive across and make a good save as he palmed the ball around his own near-post.
After 56 minutes, as United started to cut down the pace a little and Cheltenham huffed and puffed with zero end product, Higgs had to be alert to claim a long Westwood goal-kick which Hawley was looking to chase down. Then sixty seconds later Hackney outpaced Gill again down the left and got in a cross which Higgs took just as Holmes was looking to get a header in. Higgs wasn't as confident shortly afterwards though when he flapped at a Lumsdon corner in, Gray wasn't able to get on the end of the loose ball however and the chance was gone.
Just after the hour-mark Yao took a rather theatrical tumble in the Carlisle penalty area under minimal contact from Murray, referee Swarbrick waving the protests away which didn't come from any of the Cheltenham players apart from the seemingly embarrassed Yao. In the 65th minute Raven was forced to head away over his own crossbar from the livewire Yao after Melligan had put in a dangerous ball from the right, Wylde nodding the resultant Melligan flag-kick well over the Cumbrians goal as well.
Six minutes later Hawley pushed a ball through the middle for Gall to run onto, but the ex-Yeovil man was flagged for offside as he ran clear on goal, all too often in the second-half the United midfield waiting too long to play the killer ball as Cheltenham played a high line and dodgy offside trap. After 73 minutes Town central midfielder John Finnigan brought down Murray 30 yards out, Murray touching the free-kick off for Murphy to pull a very ambitious left-footed effort well wide of Higgs' far-post.
Straight up the other end and it was Murray himself who was the fouler, bringing down Melligan 25 yards away from the Cumbrians goal in the left-hand channel, as the ex-Wolves man looked to make a run into the Carlisle penalty area. Yao stepped up to take the set-piece but his attempted curler was weak and drifted away on the bounce past Westwood's near-post and out for a Blues goal-kick.
After 77 minutes Aranalde, who got some good crosses in from the left during the course of the afternoon, set Hawley free down the left-edge of the Town penalty area. Hawley turning quickly and firing in a low cross from the by-line for Gall, it was a tight angle for Gall though and his close-range effort flew into Higgs' side-netting. United were getting a little bit casual with the ease of things now in the match and some of their passing was getting rather sloppy as they allowed to Cheltenham to get a good foothold in the game late on. With eight minutes to go in the match Odejayi pushed the ball inside to Melligan, but Melligan's 20-yarder was a poor effort that went straight at Westwood and it was an easy save for the Blues keeper to make.
Two minutes later Armstrong was the next Town player up to the plate as the the visitors had their best spell in the game with Carlisle sitting a little bit too deep, Armstrong got well under his 25-yard shot though and it flew well over Westwood's crossbar and into the empty Waterworks end. Sixty seconds on and Luke Joyce made his debut first-team appearance for the Blues when he came on in place of Hackney, the United flyer having gone down with cramp after going into a strong 50-50 challenge with Finnigan. After 88 minutes Murphy received the only booking of the game for shirt-pulling on Odejayi from referee Swarbrick, who seemed to let some bad tackles go, while blowing his whistle for the most minimal of contacts at other times.
The free-kick in by Melligan from 40 yards out on the right found the head of an unmarked Caines just six yards out from the Carlisle goal, Westwood making an excellent point-blank save with his legs. The ball rebounded straight to Caines but Westwood was on-hand again to block the side-footed effort of the Town man. Gray was able to complete the clearance as he hacked the ball out of the box but from a Cheltenham perspective Caines really should have blasted the rebound home.
The last chance of the game came the way of United just as the clock ticked onto the 90 minute mark, Murray and Lumsdon combining before Lumsdon fed the ball into Hawley on the left-angle of the edge of the visitors penalty area. Hawley turning sharply outside then inside before firing a powerful right-footed shot across goal which Higgs did very well to get a hand on as he pushed it round his post for a corner. Three minutes of injury time followed but the game was over and the final whistle signalled a 2-0 win for the Blues in a match they bossed pretty much from start to finish.
Post-match quotes :
Carlisle manager Neil McDonald commented :