The return of midfield schemer Steve Soley had mixed results. Soley was involved in some of United's better moves during the first half but had to go off injured later with what turned out be a broken toe and he is likely to miss the rest of the season. Mark Winstanley returned to defence in place of Dave Rogers. United pushed forward strongly in the first half-hour and totally dominated proceedings, taking a three-goal lead with some excellent finishing. Soley began the rout in the sixth minute with an astute through ball which Neil Sharp couldn't deal with and Ian Stevens raced away into space to demonstrate once again his cool finishing head with a low shot past Roger Freestone into the right corner of the net. On 19 minutes, the lead doubled. Brendan McGill set up Peter Murphy for a left footed cross to the far post where skipper Stuart Whitehead glanced a header straight into the corner of the goal beyond the reach of the despairing Freestone. It was his first strike of the season and only the second of his four-year Carlisle career. The move of the match on 29 minutes produced the third and clinching goal. Stuart Green combined with Murphy to put through substitute Jonny Allan who calmly stroked the ball home for his second goal of the campaign. Both Allan and Michael Jack had come on for the injured duo of McGill and Soley. McGill had gone off clutching his left hamstring. United will miss both players if they are out of action for any length of time. Big Frenchman Mamady Sidibe carved out Swansea's best chances of the half but his finishing wasn't in the same class as Stevens or Allan. Peter Keen was finally called into action near the interval when he dived full length to push aside Andrew Mumford's free-kick. Defender Sharp then followed up with a close range header but Keen was there again to smother well. The second half was less eventful, mainly thanks to appalling weather as a continuous hailstorm broke over the ground. Chances were relatively few and far between. Swansea went close twice when Watkin was denied at point blank range from a left-wing cross and again with a shot from Todd that Keen did well to turn away but ten minutes from the end they did get one back when Steve Brodie dived to head home a Watkin cross. For Carlisle, Green almost produced the highlight of the afternoon with a clever run that took him past three players but his finish was poor as he floated the ball harmlessly over the bar. Al's verdict: A match won by finishing. The Swans were a busy side who created openings aplenty but either missed the target or came up against Keeno. United were excellent in the opening half-hour, putting away nearly all the chances they made and that always makes the difference. The bad news of course were the injuries to McGill and Soley of which Soley's looked the more serious. It appeared to happen when he accidentally clashed with his own team-mate Lee Andrews which would make it all the more unfortunate. Still, the win means we have a fair chance of finishing the season close to the top half, which would be a big boost for everyone at Brunton Park. |
