United centre-half Peter Murphy (PM) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) after Carlisle's 1-0 win at home to Hartlepool, Murphy saying that it was an excellent team performance from the Cumbrians considering the first-half sending-off of Liam Noble :
PM
Especially with going down to ten men it was a team performance again, There were a few standout performances, Francois Zoko's goal was unbelievable, it will be up there as goal of the season I would say with the technique he showed. We had little Tom Taiwo battling in midfield and a few other players, we will say it is a great performance by us but Hartlepool weren't the best tonight, they weren't at their best tonight, they have had a good run of results but I was a bit surprised that they didn't go for us a bit more than they did. But, we will take that, we defended well and we got our goal.
JP
Sheffield Wednesday came here a few weeks back and very much set out to stop you playing, you stopped Hartlepool playing tonight, do you take as much credit in your opinion as Sheffield Wednesday did when they came here?
PM
Yeah, well I didn't think we set up the exact same way as Sheffield Wednesday, they were on a bad run, I think it was nine games they hadn't won, they got their goal and sat back virtually just on the half-way line. They didn't try to put us under pressure but it was different today, it was like quite a wide open game. Our midfield was on top, the forwards worked very hard and we closed them down and defended well. I don't think we set out to stop them playing, I think it was just the way it was.
I don't know how it was in the first-half, Hartlepool came and they seemed to settle for a draw, whether that is the respect that they were giving us I don't know. But, they didn't really go for us the way you would expect teams to do, I think they went for it for about five minutes after we scored, had a couple of corners and that was about it, I don't think Adam Collin really had a shot to save. So, we didn't set out like that.
JP
I remember a game last season where Carlisle managed to win despite going down to ten men and Jason Price came up for an interview that day and he said that teams in League One perhaps don't know how to make that extra man count like they do in the top flight. So, you do think that was perhaps the case, Hartlepool didn't exploit the extra man advantage?
PM
Yeah, definitely, you could see it there but I think that goes down to, usually when teams they will pass the ball across the back four to exploit spaces, but with the three lads we had upfront, Craig Curran runs himself into the ground, they don't really get their time to pick out their passes and our three men in midfield are little rats, they are playing against Paul Murray who has made a living out of doing the exact same job, and he found it hard himself today and got taken off.
It was a job that we did, but Jason Price is right totally, I think the top sides in our division, you look at the likes of Brighton on Saturday, they can do it very well, they pass the ball well to exploit spaces and other teams don't really know how to do that. I think we did that against Bristol Rovers where we scored three or four goals against them when they were down to ten men, so we did that well on the day. But, I suppose you have to take a step back and realise who you are playing against. If teams go down to ten men against you then you have to go and think that now we can pass the ball and move and create spaces in two v ones and stuff.
JP
Our BBC colleagues who cover Hartlepool felt it was quite brave for United to keep as many men up top as they did, not just drop back to one upfront. Was that brave by you or do you just think that was the way to play?
PM
Well, we kept the two upfront really but you have got Marshy (Ben Marshall) that can get into little holes and gaps. I think it was just the way the game went tonight, it was a bit of a strange one, because Hartlepool didn't exploit us as you said, that didn't really go for us, they didn't raise the tempo too much, it was a bit easier for our men to fill holes and fill gaps when they were coming back to try to defend.
Other teams might go for you a bit more and you will get stretched, you have ten men and you might not have enough cover in one position, the likes of the wingers or the full-backs get overloaded. They didn't really do that tonight, they didn't put balls into the box too much and they didn't have shots. So, it was a good team performance by us but the team we played against didn't really exploit it the way they should have.
JP
Chris Lumsdon in commentary highlighted you for man of the match tonight, the sponsors gave it to Tom Taiwo who also had an excellent game, did you feel you had a little bit to prove this evening after the weekend?
PM
After the weekend?
JP
After the weekend's match (4-3 defeat at Brighton)?
PM
No, not really, no.
JP
You came in for some bad press though in terms of the goals Carlisle conceded, the whole team did in truth in terms of the defending, but did you yourself feel you had anything to prove tonight?
PM
No, the manager (Greg Abbott) stuck with me, I didn't really feel like I did anything exceptional tonight, I just did my job, got on the end of a couple of things for corners, but I didn't really feel like I had so much to prove. If I was to get the blame for goals I think that it is alright because I am an experienced player so they will try to pick out me that I didn't hold it together.
But, Brighton are a top of the table side, they score an average of three goals or more this season at home. So, they are going to have chances, they are going to create goals, they are going to exploit spaces like I said to you about teams when they go down to ten men. They exploit spaces and Brighton will do that when you have got eleven, because their two midfield players run on and you have got to see runners.
So, I understand that I was at fault for the second goal but there were things could have happened on the third and on the first goal other people could have helped, because you have got to deal with not just your own job, you have got to do one and a half jobs really to help people out. So, if that is the case that I am blamed for it then so be it, I have got blamed for other things before so I can take it and hopefully today I bounced back as you say, and we will see what happens now for the next game.
JP
Defenders are always in line though to get the bad press when things like that happen, is that something that comes with experience to be able to cope with that and move on from it and just shrug it off?
PM
Yeah, well I think it is coping with disappointment, you play a bad pass, it is what you do next, don't let disappointment affect you, it is the same with goals, anything that happens I suppose in life as well. When things go against you it is how you react to them, if you let them get you down or not. So, you deal with these things and get on and try to do better the next time.
JP
A bit like dealing with the adversity of losing (Liam) Noble tonight and still pulling three points out of the bag.
PM
Yeah, exactly, that shows what the team is, the team stays together, as a group there we always say there is a good team spirit. The young lads, the energy that we have got in the team, it just goes to show what you can do when the team sticks together and plays well. When you have got the likes of the players upfront with Francois Zoko with a little bit of extra class to take a goal like he did tonight, then it just shows that if we can keep not conceding goals at the back and get one goal then we can do that. But, I suppose it changes week in and week out with games, just like Saturday against Brighton, we conceded four goals but we scored three, games go like that so it is just how you bounce back as well and keep going.
JP
And you almost capped it all off with a goal tonight, did the goalkeeper (Scott Flinders) get a touch to that header or was it just the bar?
PM
I don't know, I didn't really see it, that was the one that hit the bar wasn't it, I didn't really see it because I got across the front of (Richie) Humphreys and I clashed with him so I think I ended up on the ground, I didn't see what happened there so I will probably watch it on the re-run or something.
JP
And some header it was anyway. What about the weekend coming up then? It seemed like you took a bit of momentum, despite the fact it was a defeat at the weekend it was still a good performance from everyone at Brighton, and then your win tonight, so you will take that into the next game (at Peterborough)?
PM
Yeah, I think even the performances before that, you have got to look at Charlton and the games before that, that we played and we have done well in, did well against Brighton, they are going to cause you a lot of problems and we caused them a lot of problems. Tonight we got our goal, we could have got a couple more.
We will see what happens, we are going to Peterborough as well, but they score a lot of goals and they are quite lively going forward, but they concede goals as well, so it is going to be a totally different game. It is how we deal with it and see how we react, but, yes, there is confidence going into these games because we have been doing well, we are up to eighth in the league and we will see what happens. I don't think we should get too excited because things can change in two weeks, we have just got to see where the next game takes us.