Roddy Collins carried out his plan to field a much-changed team as he brought in Brian Shelley, Lee Maddison, Lee Andrews, Will McDonagh, Craig Russell and Brian Wake. Richie Foran started again in midfield, alongside McDonagh. All the summer signings found themselves out of the starting XI, with no place even on the bench for Paul Simpson. United's 'shadow squad' made a promising start and McDonagh was the one to catch the eye early on with some ambitious shots on goal, none of which troubled the Saddlers keeper. For Walsall, summer capture Paul Merson, the ex-England star who scored a brace on his debut against West Brom on Saturday, was the man to shine. He had a free kick early on which he popped over the wall but from the chance that followed, Steve Corica missed the target. Foran was getting through a ton of work in the middle of the park and almost set up Wake with a clever through ball that the tall North Easterner just failed to read. However United made a stunning breakthrough on 32 minutes that they richly deserved. A lobbed ball to the edge of the area was collected by Russell who lobbed the keeper to find the corner of the net. Unfortunately the celebrations amongst the travelling army of some 200 United fans had barely abated when the classy Merson collected Aranalde's pass, cut inside Andrews and shot past Glennon to level things up. Foran had an effort on target for Carlisle as the visitors failed to be overawed despite improved attacking play from the home side with strikers Corica and Leitao starting to click. Merson continued to impress with his forward raids. He was looking a man in confident mood despite his decision to quit Portsmouth and turn his back on the Premiership last month. Wake almost made a dramatic start to the second half but his flashing shot caught the underside of the cross-bar. It proved crucial as within two minutes Merson fed Leitao with a lovely reverse ball. The striker then coolly lifted the ball over a stranded Glennon to put the home side in front. Leitao went close as Walsall started to gain the upper hand. Merson headed narrowly over the bar as the ex-Arsenal man continued to play some fine football. Adam Rundle had a chance as the game drifted into injury time as he fired a shot at the keeper. Vinny Samways found Mathias who forced a corner. Al's verdict: A match we were expecting to lose, but in the end a very fine display, showing that things are improving at Brunton Park. It was a pity that two minutes after going ahead, we conceded the equaliser. Then after Wake's effort hit the bar, within a minute Walsall had gone ahead. The game could have gone either way and United were not disgraced by any means. Remember this same team smashed West Brom 4-1 at the weekend. A big improvement on Saturday. |
