If only if only if only, the Plainmoor experience could be like it was today for every home game, we would then not be talking about the missing 1000’s, we would be talking ground extensions to get all our fans in. Today was one of those rare occasions you ended up so glad you made the right decision to go to the match and so happy and pleased you were part of a fantastic and unbelievable afternoon at Plainmoor. So good was it that if the club had asked the fans to pay on the way out instead based on enjoyment and entertainment value, I would have been happy to pay £30 or more.
I decided to go over the lodge area when I first got to the ground around 1.40pm to talk to a few Carlisle fans to ask their views on what sort of game they were expecting and what they thought the final score would be. The ones I talked to all thought they would win the game two nil, well I suppose as their club were the first division team, they might have expected such a score line.
I also spent a good ten minutes talking and hugging a very heart broken and tearful Nina and intend to find out the reasons she is being made homeless by the club, but until I hear the reasons why, I’ll refrain from making any comments about the situation.
As I ended up talking too much once inside the ground I was unable to stand in my normal place and ended up further down near the singers and the drummer awayday. I took the opportunity to introduce myself to him and have a chat with him and also had my first meeting, hug and good chat with Southamptongull, not half as scary in real life is he.. Love or hate drums, Awayday played such a big part in generating one of the best atmospheres inside Plainmoor for many a year and if the players felt they needed a 12th man today, they sure got one.
One or two on here nearly came close to falling out this week as we discussed should we start with 4-4-2 at home and not the 4-4-1-1 we did against Oxford. To tell you the truth I ended up not caring how we lined up, all I knew was that Paul Buckle was so right to make sure he had one certain Eunan O’Kane in his starting eleven
Having Guy back made the big difference in our defence and we looked so solid for the whole game and it was clear even Bevan must have felt better with the players in front of him as he displayed a very confident performance of his own.
Onto the game and with a low sun still catching the goal area at the Babbacome End, Carlisle decided to kick 0ff toward the Ellicombe end, meaning Scott Beven had the sun in his eyes for the fist twenty minutes or so.
Carlisle actually started very brightly and for the first five minutes we never really got a touch of the ball and just for a short while I thought we were going to be outplayed and not have a great deal of the match ourselves.
How wrong that turned out to be and the match day sponsors must have had a real hard job deciding who their man of the match was, because every single player deserved to win it. It was during those first few minutes that Bevan was called into action and he did so well to come off his line and block a shot that would have seen us go behind very early in the game.
Danny Stevens was at his very best and went on a very good run and when he got into the box had a shot at goal, I thought he should have done better than he did, but just seconds later he played a big part in our goal that won the match for us.
Once again on a run down the left wing he cut inside and looked to pass the ball. I’m not sure the ball was meant for Eunan O’Kane, but their left back slipped up and fell on his bun and O’Kane ran onto the ball and straight into the box and hit a very powerful shot. It looked to me the keeper got a hand on the ball but was unable to keep it out.
I felt we started getting on top and were reasonably well in control of the game, but Carlisle were still creating the odd chance or two. Bevan did well to push a header over his bar and out for a corner that eventually came to nothing.
We were passing the ball around so well and in one very tight congested situation, Wroe played a very neat ball to O’Kane who played an even better one into Benyon inside the Carlisle box. Benyon hit a great low shot that looked destined for the far corner, but the Carlisle keeper did very well to get down and dive full length just getting a hand on the ball to keep it out of the net.
Robertson on the whole had a good game but he nearly cost us dear losing the ball over the halfway line in their half. He had the ball robbed of him and then was caught hopelessly out of position. He had Wroe to thank for chasing after the Carlisle player and making life difficult for him. He was unable to stop a low hard cross coming into our box and we got a bit lucky as the Carlisle forward scuffed his shot wide of the left hand post.
I thought the ref was very poor and awarding to many free kicks to Carlisle from dangerous areas just outside our box. One such free kick was blasted goal ward and Bevan had to beat the ball out with both hands. Guy was booked for a foul that never deserved a booking and he rightly complained about it as it was the first foul he had committed.
Just near the end of the first half Stevens when on another fine run and once again produced a shot on goal from it, I think the whole popside thought he had scored as the net bulged, but it was wide and hit the back of the net after rebounding off the advertising boards.
So onto the second half and a half where we could have scored more goals and maybe should have as we wasted a number of very good opportunities to put the game to bed and far out of reach for Carlisle.
Benyon had one very good chance and really should have taken the ball much closer in on goal before shooting, he choose the shot from just inside the box across the keeper, but his shot went just wide of the left hand post.
He most defiantly should have score a bit latter on after Danny Stevens laid the ball on a plate for him after delivering a low cross to him from the right hand side. Benyon miss kicked the ball completely when if he had made a good clean contact on the ball would have put us two up.
O’Kane found himself in a bit of bother on the edge of our box, he had two players on him and the ball just kept getting stuck under his feet, he lost the ball as a result and a shot resulted on our goal. The shot went wide and the daft ref gave them a corner and from that corner Bevan made the save of the match. The ball was swung into our box and the goal effort was close in on goal and somehow Bevan made an incredible one handed save rather low down to keep the ball from going into the net.
We were still creating good chances up the other end and one good move down the right hand side of the pitch saw the ball played into Benyon, he looked up and saw Wroe in acres of space. Wroe tried to curl the ball into the top right hand corner but the shot was just a bit too high and the ball went over the crossbar.
Our best chance came a bit later on and if only Benyon had not gone for the header after a great run and cross by Zebs, O’Kane would have headed the ball home for sure. Their keeper was stranded near his right hand post and the ball was just too high for Benyon to get over the top of it. Had he left it O’Kane would have had a simply header with acres if the goal to put it in.
We did get the ball into the net and it looked a very powerful header that put it there and I’m not sure who did head it, the ref saw something in the box that I sure never saw and disallowed the goal.
Great game, great day out at Plainmoor, bring on the big boys, at our best we can beat anyone.
Still nobody saw PB sticking Zebs up front with Benners and moving Euuuuuunan to the right flank. Did Robbo play right back if Mansell was promoted into midfield again?
