Clarets deliver cruel blow to Carlisle

The only two changes from the team that controversially lost 3-1 to Watford on Saturday were John McGeal and Wayne Thomas, who came in for Karl Bermingham and Frank Sinclair, who were barred from playing and injured respectively. Carlisle on the other hand, started the game fielding eight, yes, eight changes from the team that beat Wrexham one-nil last Saturday at the Racecourse Ground.

Carlisle got the game underway and all in all, the match started relatively slowly and Carlisle probably had the edge over Burnley for the first 25 minutes and the first real chance of the half fell to Carlisle when Lee Andrews crossed in from the right hand side and Glenn Murray got up well only to head over.

Then, Simon Hackney, on Carlisle’s left wing, showed some good touches and a burst of pace to get past Duff and Thomas before having his cross blocked on the by-line to win the first corner of the night. This was taken by Adam Murray but was placed too close to Coyne, who collected comfortably and the danger was over.

Carlisle then got another corner when a long ball was played forward, which Graham Branch tried to shield out of play but unfortunately ended up touching the ball and conceding the second corner of the game. Once again, however, nothing became of this as Gifton Noel-Williams attempted to clear, kicked against one of the Carlisle attackers, which caused the ball to fly upwards before Coyne again collected comfortably.

Burnley then got a free kick in a nice position when Noel-Williams was brought down. Garreth O’Connor crossed the ball in deep but the ball was headed away quite easily. Burnley’s best chance of the first half came on nineteen minutes when James O’Connor’s shot from twenty yards out was deflected and went over the bar for a Burnley corner.

Garreth O’Connor laid the ball to the edge of the 18 yard box where Micah Hyde struck the ball, only for it to be blocked and come back out to O’Connor, who then crossed the ball in towards the back post where Ade Akinbiyi somehow managed to head wide.

However, just a minute later, Carlisle’s Raphael Nade was clean through on goal with only Danny Coyne in the Burnley goal to beat, when he must have got a sudden rush of blood to the head and fired it well over the bar from about eight yards.

About two minutes later however, Carlisle won a free kick about two yards from the touchline, twenty yards out when Hyde was adjudged to have fouled Carlisle’s Jamie McClen. The free kick was swung in by Adam Murray, only for Michael Duff to half clear to Peter Murphy, who then crossed the ball in and wasn’t too far from opening the goal-scoring for the night, although ultimately, there were two Carlisle players there, who could have steered it home with the slightest of touches.

Forty one minutes into the game, and Noel-Williams decided to attempt an audacious lob, which Westwood watched over the bar and behind the net. Then, in the last minute of the first half, Burnley had two good chances, the first of which came from a Michael Duff cross, which was whipped in towards the back post where Akinbiyi again spurned a good chance by heading into the side netting. And then, less than a minute later, Akinbiyi played it to Chris McCann on the left, who then cut inside and fired a glorious shot, which smashed against the crossbar and bounced out towards Akinbiyi, but unfortunately, it was just too high for him to convert with his head.

As the second half got underway, neither side had made any changes and the same teams came out to take part in the second half. Again, the second half started fairly slowly and neither team seemed to have any advantage.

However, all that was about to change seven minutes into the second half when, on 52 minutes, Michael Duff managed to get to the by-line on the right hand side before poking the ball across into the box, where Carlisle’s Danny Livesey got the unfortunate last touch to send the ball into the back of the net, which put his team 1-0 behind, but on the bright side for Carlisle, with ample time to get a goal back.

With 55 minutes gone, Carlisle had a throw-in, which was thrown in long by Andrews and resulted in a corner when Graham Branch headed out. Hackney took this corner but again it was fruitless as Noel-Williams headed away.

On 60 minutes, Burnley themselves got a throw-in, which McCann took and Noel-Williams did well to flick on into the path of Branch who then ran to the by-line before pulling the ball back onto his right foot and crossing over, only for the Carlisle defence to clear quite easily. Then, a minute later, Wayne Thomas collected the ball just inside the Burnley half before making his way forward and playing the ball to Garreth O’Connor, who was then tackled, only for the ball to come to James O’Connor next to him to attempt a curling shot on goal, which flew over the top of the crossbar.

Carlisle then made the first substitutions of the game when Karl Hawley and Brendan McGill came on for Glenn Murray and Simon Hackney in the 65th minute. Then, five minutes later, Carlisle won a free kick just outside the penalty area, which was to be taken by Peter Murphy, who curled in an excellent shot, which Coyne did well to tip onto the bar and then, according to the PA system at Burnley, being turned in by the Carlisle number six Kevin Gray, although Ceefax seems to disagree, saying the ball went in from the free kick, presumably via the bar and then the post.

Then, before the kick-off was taken, Burnley made their first, and only, change of the match, replacing Michael Duff, who didn’t, in my opinion, have the greatest of games, with Kyle Lafferty. Then, a good move down the left, including Branch, McCann, Hyde and Akinbiyi ended up in Garreth O’Connor hitting in a cross/shot that ended up going over the bar and somehow, the assistant referee saw a deflection that very few else saw and gave a corner, which was headed out to Thomas, who then played it to McGreal, who ballooned the ball up toward Garreth O’Connor, who then played it into Noel-Williams’ feet, who turned and shot, only for it to be blocked.

Then, with very little having happened, minus a near scare on the part of Wayne Thomas when he was fouled and caught in the thigh and a couple of other shots that came to nothing, Burnley dealt Carlisle a cruel blow. In the 90th minute, with both teams staring an extra thirty minutes in the face at least, Kyle Lafferty showed an excellent touch to turn the left back and play the ball into Akinbiyi, who collected the ball, turned and hit the ball past the ‘keeper with his left foot.

The defence, I felt, played well when you consider the fact that at least three of the four couldn’t have been at full fitness, what with Duff having missed many games and Thomas & McGreal having missed out last week.

Branch showed his versatility when he covered three positions during the course of the game (left back, left midfield and centre back) and carried all three out very well. Lafferty again showed some good touches when he came on and his bit of skill to set up the second goal was nothing short of excellent and he seems to be growing in confidence every game he plays.

My man of the match for the game is going to have to be Chris McCann, who again asserted himself well, albeit against a lower league side and he seems to be taking this chance given to him with both hands and is showing his full potential. His shot from the left on the stroke of half-time was an absolute pile-driver and if it had gone in would have been one of the goals of the season for Burnley.