Carlisle’s Hope Extinguished…
Morecambe welcomed northern neighbours Carlisle United to the Globe Arena today for the first game at this venue since November 12th. On that occasion, their visitors were… Carlisle United.
My, how things have changed since then…
Steven Pressley was sacked after his team – winning 0-1 at half-time in the FA Trophy tie – were beaten 3-1 in Derek Adams’ first game in charge as the Shrimps’ Manager. (Even though the Match Programme didn’t give him a credit on the `Teams’ page: it inexplicably suggested that Barry Roche and Kevin Ellison are still in charge. It didn’t give a mention to number 28, Da Silva Gomes either. Who is this guy?) Since then, Derek has seen his new charges come from behind again at Crawley in the League and then lose disastrously by five goals to nil against Dave Artell’s high-flying Crewe two weeks ago. Today, the Cumbrians arrived in twenty-first position in League Two with Chris Beech taking charge of the Blues in a League game for the first time. The team he took-over for his first match – a commendable draw in the FA Cup at Forest Green last Saturday – had lost two, drawn two and won just one of their last five League contests. Morecambe’s record, on the other hand, was even more dire: the bottom-of-the-table team with the worse goal difference in League Two had lost three of their last five, won one and drawn one.
In their previous seventeen meetings in all competitions, the internet tells us that United have won three times more games than today’s opponents: nine victories as opposed to three for the Shrimps. Perhaps more reliably, Carlisle’s own website suggests that there have been twenty previous meetings with the Cumbrians winning just seven and Morecambe three.
It was overcast and drizzly with low cloud by the North Lancashire coast before and as the match kicked-off. Morecambe went straight onto the front foot and for the first quarter of an hour as the game was played almost exclusively in the Carlisle half. There was lots of tippy-tappy football with Lewis Allesandra catching the eye with clever movement and impressive control. (Which was spoilt later in the half after a forward’s lunge at Hallam Hope for which he was booked). But the noisy contingent from over the Cumbrian border and visiting goalkeeper Adam Collin in front of them were equally spectators: the nice play had no penetration and there were no efforts on goal. United then dominated the play for about five minutes before again going onto the back foot for most of a pretty dull first half. Mark Halstead had three saves to make – one at his far post from impressive winger Nathan Thomas, who shot wildly over the bar a few minutes later. At the other end, Collin did well to keep out an effort from Aaron Wildig after half an hour: Steven Old headed over the bar from a corner – and that was about it. There was more action in the opening five minutes of the second period than there had been throughout the first one. Just three minutes were on the clock when Thomas made a clever interception on the half-way line and played a superb forwards pass. Old was caught flat-footed, thought better of hauling down Hope as he got beyond him and was powerless as the burly Carlisle forward steered the ball faultlessly past Halstead to send the massed ranks from Cumbria in front of him into noisy ecstasy. But the cheering had barely died down before the hosts were level. Allesandra seemed to be over-elaborating on the left flank from his point of view as he wriggled his way into the penalty area; the ball found its way to Wildig who took what looked like a wild shot but John O’Sullivan was in the right place at the right time to head the ball home from the right-hand side of the goal. Morecambe dominated the play after that with lots more tippy-tappy passing and some really good approach play at times. Allesandra made space for himself with just over an hour played but spun and sent a speculative shot way over the target. After 82 minutes, the Shrimps came as close as they would to actually win when – following ping-pong in a panic-stricken visitors’ defence, O’Sullivan’s fierce shot was blocked just in front of the United goal-line. As the away supporters fell silent for long periods, their team was guilty of far too many unforced errors. They wasted their set pieces; they gave the ball away when pressed; they were unable to create any sustained pressure. But Morecambe also made bad mistakes – notably when a typically agricultural hoofed attempt at a clearance by New Zealander Old hit his own Captain Alex Kenyon and went for a Carlisle corner. But the home team dominated the play and when Wildig clearly deliberately headed the ball diagonally across the Blues’ area after eighty-three minutes, all it needed was a touch. I believe there’s a boxing match going on in Saudi Arabia later tonight. If this had been one, Morecambe would have won on points. But in the end, the points were shared and Chris Beech will probably be happier about this than his opposite number. Carlisle fell to twenty-second in League Two as a result. Morecambe remain bottom of the EFL as the team between them – Stevenage – managed a goal-less draw at home against Crawley to stay level on points but with a superior goal-difference (and a game in hand). One last thought to finish: the Referee. The EFL seem to pride themselves on providing men in the middle who are not fit enough to keep up with play, like blowing their whistle at every conceivable opportunity and enjoy spraying white paint all over the place. Today, we all endured another one of this seemingly endless supply at the Globe Arena in the (ample) shape of Darren Handley. He was hopeless. There was almost a comedy moment at the end when he got in the way of a Carlisle counter-attack just outside their penalty area. He blew his whistle and waddled off towards the half way line. Captain Collin was about to clear the ball but the Man in Black blew his whistle again and waddled back towards him. I was expecting him to book the goalkeeper for time-wasting (which would have been harsh) – and I suspect the player himself did too. Why else would he come all the way back? Answer: to drop the ball for Collin to kick. Otherwise it would have been a standard dead ball kick and therefore against the Laws Of The Game. Which would have meant that world would have stopped spinning immediately. So thankyou Mr Handley on behalf of the Globe in every meaning of the word for saving us all. Some things are more important than football after all…
Morecambe: 21 Mark Halstead; 27 George Tanner; 12 Ritchie Sutton; 5 Steven Old; 3 Luke Conlan (Y); 14 Tom Brewitt; 4 Alex Kenyon (C); 15 Aaron Wildig (24 Shaun Miller 89’); 7 John O’Sullivan (33 Jordan Cranston 84’); 9 Cole Stockton (10 A-Jay Leitch-Smith66’); 8 Lewis Alessandra (Y).
Subs not used: 6 Andrew Tutte; 11 Kevin Ellison; 23 Tyler Brownsword; 28 Da Silva Mendes.
Carlisle United: 1 Adam Collin (C); 17 Byron Webster; 23 Jarrad Branthwaite (Y); 6 Aaron Hayden; 14 Gethin Jones; 8 Mike Jones; 10 Stefan Scougall (24 Olufela Olomola 63’); 5 Jon Mellish; 9 Hallam Hope (Y); 25 Ryan Loft (31 Elias Sorensen 83’); 7 Nathan Thomas.
Subs not used: 4 Canice Carroll; ; 22 Louis Gray; 2 Christie Elliot; . 27 Nathaniel Knight-Percival; 28 Mo Sagaf.
Ref: Darren Handley.
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