Preparation H Piles Agony On Rough Diamonds

Two-goal Simon Hackney

So the Cumbrians went into the game with the now typical back five of Keiren Westwood, Paul Arnison, Zigor Aranalde, Peter Murphy and Kevin Gray. Strung across midfield were Chris Lumsdon, Chris Billy and Adam Murray with Rivers seemingly playing in a free role behind a front two of Derek Holmes and Karl Hawley. On the bench were Anthony Williams, Danny Livesey, Simon Hackney, Brendan McGill and back-up striker Glenn Murray.

As has often been the case at Brunton Park recently the Cumbrians got off to a flying start, although this one exceeded all expectations when United took the lead after just 44 seconds when the Blues had won a corner from an long Aranalde throw-in. Chris Lumsdon curled the flag-kick in from the East Stand/Warwick side which was met firmly by the head of the completely unmarked Holmes from just four yards out at the near-post, Holmes burying his effort past the flailing arms of Dan Crane in the Diamonds goal.

Again though, like previous occasions, Carlisle seemed to drop back a little after the flying start and tended to let the visitors back into the game a bit. A couple of low crosses in from left-sided midfielder Marcus Kelly and left-back Ronnie Bull which came to nothing were all Rushden had to show for a spell of possession. Their extremely immobile forward line of ex-Southend man Drewe Broughton and West Ham-loanee Petr Mikolanda causing the Blues little problem all afternoon as it became patently evident that two big men upfront with no pace or movement does not a good recipe make.

Mikolanda did make his mark on the game in the ninth minute however when he came through very late on Gray’s righ-foot just as United’s skipper was making a clearance. Gray immediately ran off the pitch for treatment, and, with Carlisle down to ten men for a three minute spell, the Diamonds saw a lot of the ball but again were unable to do anything with it. Gray didn’t reappear from the tunnel with his playing kit on and was replaced by Danny Livesey, the ex-Huddersfield man apparently needing six stitches in an ankle wound. Incidentally, Czech Republic-born Mikolanda wasn’t even spoken to about the challenge by referee Tony Leake of Darwen, Lancashire, although that was the only decision he really got wrong and he was one of the better referees we have seen this season.

In the 13^th minute Arnison sent one of his typically excellent deep crosses curling into the box which ex-United loanee Phil Gulliver attempted to head away from danger. The ball only dropped to Hawley though who smashed a shot over the angle of post and bar and into the Warwick Road End from the right-hand corner of the Diamonds box.

Sixty seconds later came an appalling piece of unsporting play from Mark Wright’s best mate Wayne Hatswell. With Bull down injured Rushden played on as they had the ball, only to lose it and then regain it once more through Hatswell. Even though the visitors had already had the chance to put the ball out Hatswell chucked a huge sulk with Holmes and smashed the ball into the United crowd massed in the Paddock to stop play. He hit it with such velocity from only 15 yards away that it could have really hurt someone from that range and it was no surprise to hear him booed for the rest of the game after that pathetic behaviour.

Five minutes later the Blues were unfortunate not to double their lead when a great low cross in from Rivers just evaded the onrushing Holmes and Hawley, the part-clearance by pantomime villain Hatswell just flying past an unmarked Adam Murray. Rivers again showed more promise as he played for 78 minutes of the game but he again leaves the impression that he is a lot more interested in attacking than defending.

Diamonds had a tad more of the ball once more but their toothlessness upfront meant an easy afternoon for the Blues back-line as Arnison did well to head away a cross from on-loan Palace winger Tyrone Berry under pressure from Broughton. In the 25^th minute Mikolanda ended up on his backside as he executed the perfect air-kick following a quickly taken corner by one-time Reading star Darren Caskey, who looked a shadow of the player he once was.

Murphy made a fantastic run out from the back on the half-hour mark as he coasted 40 yards forward to the edge of the Diamonds ‘D’. The Dubliner should really have been selfish from there and smacked one in on his left-peg but he chose to try and play in Hawley, the flag going up for offside just as Hawley’s well-placed shot hit the back of Crane’s net. Rushden’s respite didn’t last long though as Carlisle did double their lead through Hawley just three minutes later.

Aranalde’s mishit cross came flying in like a grasscutter (if there was any grass on the pitch) to the edge of the Diamonds area where it went straight under the feet of Gulliver. Holmes and Hatswell challenged for the loose ball, Hatswell only succeeding in sending it straight to the right-foot of Hawley who had cleverly made room for himself 15 yards out from goal in the left-hand channel. United’s hitman decided to strike his sidefooted effort first-time and sent it curling beautifully across the reach of Crane and into the far-right corner of the goal to bag his 20^th strike of the season in all competitions.

In the 37^th minute the visitors were rapidly beginning to show their frustrations through more physical means and Broughton entered the referee’s notebook for persistent infringement after going through the back of Murphy in an aerial challenge. Even against a United midfield containing an unfit Billy and a non-tackling Rivers the Diamonds were still unable to win any ball and had only two off-target shots to show for their 90 minutes work.

So it was still nothing much but Carlisle pressing forward and they had further chances to make the scoreline 3-0 before the break. In the 42nd minute Murray and Hawley combined well before Hawley sent over a teasing cross which right-back Rob Gier just managed to clear as the ball evaded both Holmes and Rivers. Shortly afterwards some good work by the marauding Aranalde saw a low ball in which Hawley reached first, only to send his flick with the outside of his boot pinging off the outside of the post and out for a Diamonds goal-kick.

Just before the players headed down the tunnel for the interval the impressive Berry made a good run down the Carlisle left as he cut inside Billy only for the imperious Murphy to cover across and get a good block in on the diminutive winger’s low drive. As the half-time whistle blew United were left to reflect on a 45 minutes where they had done nearly everything right with only the injury to Gray any concern.

The only action during the 15 minutes of inaction was the sight of Hackney being called away from the half-time knockabout by kitman Andy Horn with the United faithful left in wonderment as to who the left-winger was replacing. At the time it was a surprise when it was Billy who didn’t reappear for the second period although Blues boss Paul Simpson later confirmed that the midfield enforcer had been throwing up in the changing rooms during the interval. Either Billy has a bug or he had been at the Paddock burger van before kick-off.

Straight from the get-go it was the Cumbrians once more who were bossing the action, Hatswell doing some good work to clip an Aranalde cross away from Holmes just as the big Scot was lining up a shot. United weren’t to be denied though against a porous Diamonds defence and they made it 3-0 in the 49^th minute through that man Hawley.

Substitute Livesey hit a long ball from the edge of the Carlisle box over the top of the Rushden back-line that was trying to push up for offside. Hawley chased it down and turned both Hatswell and the covering Gulliver this way and that as he took the pass on into the Rushden area. He set himself well though before finally unleashing a cracker of a shot from 15 yards out on the right-hand side across Crane and into the left-hand corner of the Diamonds goal. A superb run and finish from a striker at the top of his form.

The visitors nearly got a goal back only two minutes later however as Arnison almost bagged a bizarre own-goal. A Caskey corner was looped up in the air by the head of Mikolanda, Arnison got to the ball first to try and clear from danger but only headed it towards the top corner of his own net, Westwood making a fantastic acrobatic save to tip the ball over the Cumbrians crossbar. From the resultant flag-kick Westwood again had to be at his best to make a full length diving save from a back-post Hatswell header, the United keeper pushing the ball around the far-post for another Diamonds corner, which was easily cleared.

Hackney was causing the visitors real problems down the left-hand side with his searing pace and the amount of space left available by a ragged Rushden defence. The ex-Woodley Sports youngster going close in the 52^nd minute as a poor Gier clearance dropped to him, Hackney’s attempted lob drifting just wide of Crane’s goal, although that was a just a taster of things to come.

In the 54^th minute Rushden manager Barry Hunter tried to inject some new life into his lifeless forward line when he replaced the bumbling Mikolanda with Lee Tomlin. 17 year-old Tomlin only seemed to add some bruising play to the Diamonds attack though with a succession of niggly fouls and little pushes on the United defenders.

That wasn’t affecting the ever-willing Hackney up at the other end of the pitch however and he was again in the thick of the action shortly afterwards as he forced Crane into a neat low save as he cut in from the left. The winger wasn’t to be denied his first league goal though and, like London buses, after waiting an eternity for one, two came along in the space of just 70 seconds.

With an hour of the game gone the Blues then made it 4-0 after Hackney had Hawley to thank for some good approach work. Lumsdon hit a deep ball up to Hawley who again teased and tormented Bull and then Hatswell once more as he held the ball up on the edge of the Diamonds box waiting for support. That support came from the unmarked Hackney who flew onto a pass from Hawley 15 yards out from goal on the left-hand side to smash an unstoppable drive with his left-foot across Crane and right into the postage stamp of the opposite corner of the net. A superb finish for the first goal of your league career.

Just sixty seconds later it was Groundhog Day as the Rushden defence failed to learn their lesson and Hackney made it 5-0 to the Blues with an almost identical goal. The only difference this time though was that Hackney took a quick touch on the bobbly surface before driving his shot, once more across Crane from the left-hand side, low and hard into the bottom corner of the net.

The game seemed to quieten down a little from that moment on as Rushden seemed to accept that it was a damage limitation exercise and United slipped down a couple of gears, perhaps saving themselves for a big LDV clash with Macclesfield on Tuesday. In the 65^th minute the anonymous Kelly was replaced on the left by Ashley Nicholls as Rushden looked to strengthen their midfield and keep the scoreline down to a minimum, a Broughton header straight at Westwood from a Gier cross being a rare moment of fortitude from the visitors.

With 70 minutes gone a terrible challenge from behind on Rivers by Caskey saw the one-time Spurs man booked as the United midfielder looked to break upfield. Shortly afterwards Tomlin went close as the Diamonds saw a little bit more of the ball but he could only head narrowly wide from a nice cross in by Nicholls.

It was the Blues who always looked more like scoring though and it needed a great save by Crane in the 73^rd minute as he tipped a mid-range Adam Murray header, from a Lumsdon corner, over the bar to stop United making it six. From the resultant flag-kick Tomlin was forced, under pressure, to boot the ball away from the near-post twice as Carlisle began to crank up the action again in a quest for a goal-difference boost.

With the game obviously gone for the visitors boss Barry Hunter looked to the future as he brought on Magnus Okounghae in a direct swap for centre-half Hatswell in the 75^th minute. The ex-Kidderminster man is sat on nine bookings and Hunter seemingly wanted to protect him from receiving a tenth and finding his defender suspended. Three minutes later the tiring Rivers was replaced by McGill for the Cumbrians.

Adam Murray was sorely disappointed with himself in the 83^rd minute as he cleverly controlled the ball before flicking it over the head of Nicholls on the edge of the Diamonds box. The one-time Derby man was left thinking what might have been though when he could only send his right-footed volley flying well over Crane’s bar and into the, not very, massed ranks of 116 Rushden fans stood squinting into the dying sun.

In an almost carbon-copy of the bad tackle on Gray in the first-half it was this time Tomlin who went through late on Aranalde after the Basque left-back had cleared the ball down the flank. You could hear the whack of boot on boot from the Paddock and quite why Tomlin was arguing his case so vociferously when he was booked by Mr Leake is absolutely beyond me.

The match petered out quickly then and after just two minutes of injury time the final whistle was blown on another crushing win for the Cumbrians against a poor side in the bottom half of the table. Murphy was handed the man of the match award when it could really have gone to Hawley and the majority of the 6806 home supporters stayed on at the end to applaud a team off the field who had gone back to the top of the league two table.