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With Adam Murray still under the weather with a virus and the team in such good form that meant that United boss Paul Simpson stuck with the same eleven that had taken to the field against the Quakers seven days ago. So, for the Cumbrians that meant a starting back five of Keiren Westwood, Paul Arnison, Zigor Aranalde, Kevin Gray and Danny Livesey. Across the centre of the park were Chris Billy, Chris Lumsdon and Peter Murphy, with Michael Bridges playing just off a front two of Derek Holmes and Karl Hawley.
Boston centre-half, and captain, Stewart Talbot, missed the clash with a foot injury, while right-back Lee Canoville and Clitheroe-born central midfielder Chris Holland passed late fitness tests on Saturday morning to make the starting line-up. Canoville continuing to wear the captain's armband in the absence of Talbot while 29-year old striker Jermaine McSporran had completed his one-month loan period at York Street and returned to Doncaster Rovers on Thursday.
In a, pretty much carbon-copy of the rapid-fire start to the Shrewsbury Town home game, United got off to a flyer as they went 1-0 up after just 95 seconds through Lumsdon. Billy spread play out wide, after a long Aranalde throw-in was part-cleared, to Arnison who cut nicely inside veteran striker Julian Joachim to stab a ball in to the back-post. Holmes rose high to head back from whence the cross had came and there was Lumsdon, left all alone by a half-asleep Pilgrims defence, to hammer the ball home on the half-volley past Dutch keeper Michel Kuipers with his right-foot from only eight yards out, a perfect start for the Blues.
Carlisle were looking potent as an attacking force in the opening stages, as a shellshocked Boston looked to limit the early damage, with Aranalde and Hawley both having shots blocked in quick succession by an overworked Gary Silk, playing at right-back in the visitors defence. In the 11th minute Arnison ventured forward down the right once more and cut in to try one of his traditional long-range efforts, the 25-yarder went the way of many other previous ones though as it sailed well over the Boston bar.
The Pilgrims got their first shot in two minutes later when the gangly on-loan Asa Hall came up from his midfield berth to get an effort in from 25 yards out, it was a weak drive though and Westwood was able to throw his cap on it in the Carlisle goalmouth. The visitors had been employing a suicidal looking offside trap from the get-go, with Hawley and Bridges looking to continually get in behind the high Boston back-line, and it was from a borderline Hawley offside decision that the Pilgrims went close in the 17th minute.
The free-kick was hit up by Boston left-back Austin McCann where Joachim cushioned it back nicely off his chest to the lurking Hall on the edge of the United box, but the England under-19 international could only slice his effort well wide of the target. It was a costly miss from the 19-year old as well because three minutes later the Blues went 2-0 up through that man Hawley who bagged his 25th goal of a remarkable season for the "hitman".
Lumsdon curled a corner in from the left which flew over the heads of the leaping Bridges and Hall at the near-post straight to Hawley standing two yards out right in the middle of the Boston goalmouth. With McCann marking United's top scorer tightly behind him Hawley simply stuck out his left-foot as the ball went beyond him to back-heel it into the net. The cheeky effort took a slight nick off the leg of Pilgrims midfielder Simon Rusk, who was guarding the back-stick, after it had crossed the line but with Kuipers having gone to the front-post there was a huge gap for the clever flick to go into, a cheap goal out of nothing really.
The visitors stuck to their task however and should really have pulled a goal back after 26 minutes through Hall. Good interplay between Joachim and Rusk saw the latter player hit a nice cross in from the right for the Birmingham-loanee but Hall could only head it straight at Westwood from 15 yards out when an effort in either corner would surely have seen the Cumbrians net bulge.
Three minutes later, with the Blues continuing to surge forward, some good work and a neat cross from Hawley on the right saw Holmes get free in the box. Making a firm connection the big Scot headed towards goal from eight yards out but Silk was well placed to clear the ball away from danger and out for a United corner. Murphy's first flag-kick was put behind again by Silk but the second was met by the forehead of Gray as the Carlisle skipper sent his effort flying inches wide of the Pilgrims far-post when he was well placed to do better.
Boston did look occasionally dangerous on the break and it was Joachim who got a low drive in from the edge of the Cumbrians box in the 32nd minute. His left-footed effort lacked pace though and Westwood was able to gather it easily. Shortly afterwards it was United's turn to shoot on goal, through Bridges, after a similar run to his wondergoal against Chester, this time though he made a poor connection on his 18-yard left-footed effort and it bobbled through slowly into the grateful hands of Kuipers.
Bridges was again in the thick of the action in the 35th minute when he showed a great piece of skill to tee himself up for a long-range volley on his right-foot, the finish didn't match the set-up though as the ball drifted harmlessly wide of the Boston woodwork. The next United chance, in the 41st minute, was one of the defining points of the game for me, if the chance had been taken, as it really should have been, then the score would have been 3-0 and you got the feeling that the Blues would have gone on to win by four or five. As it was the chance wasn't taken, and it nearly came back to haunt us in an edgy second-half.
A Boston corner from the right put in by Rusk was well cleared away from the United penalty area by Livesey straight to the feet of Hawley, who in-turn sent Lumsdon racing away down the right hand-side of the pitch on the break with a deep ball down the flank. Lumsdon took it on and steadied himself before sticking in a peach of a cross to the back-post where Holmes was completely unmarked eight yards out. Unfortunately for Carlisle though the Lanark-born striker didn't send his goalbound header down and Kuipers was able to make an athletic diving save to parry the ball away. It was a big missed opportunity for United to, more or less, put the game to bed after just one half of play although the visitors had still shown little going forward in the opening period.
The second-half got off to a particularly quiet start, although the Blues did show worrying signs that they were taking things a little bit too easily and were easing their foot off the pedal. The only real action came on the substitutes bench where ex-Burnley right-winger Brad Maylett came on in place of Hall straight after the break, which meant Rusk moving to partner Jamie Clarke in the centre of midfield. In the 52nd minute, Murphy, who had apparently been struggling with a virus that has been doing the rounds at Brunton Park, was taken off to be replaced by Brendan McGill, a change which would leave Carlisle physically a little bit light in the middle of the park for the remainder of the game.
After 55 minutes Boston, who were being allowed far too much time and space on the ball as United sat back too deep, broke away down the right with nice play between Maylett and Clarke leading the charge. A low cross in by Clarke was met by the right foot of Rusk on the volley from ten yards and Westwood had to get down quickly to make a good save at his near-post. Two minutes later a good turn past Gray from journeyman striker Lawrie Dudfield saw the Boston frontman hit a drive in from fully 20 yards out which flew just past the Carlisle post. The Blues didn't heed the warning of the pressure building though and in the 63rd minute the visitors pulled a goal back to make it a nervy 2-1 for the home fans.
Clarke and McCann worked a short corner on the left with McCann's ball in being cleared out of the Cumbrians box by the head of Holmes, but only straight back to the advancing Clarke. The Pilgrims midfielder powerfully cracked in what looked like a shot from just inside the left-edge of the United area with his right-foot, which was heading nowhere but out for a Blues throw-in. That was until Billy, standing in the middle of the goalmouth in the six-yard line, stuck his left-foot out to block it, only to see it fly off the inside of his heel and past Westwood into the net. A gruesome own goal from a Carlisle perspective and one the Blues keeper had absolutely no chance of stopping.
That brought the visitors, unsurprisingly, right back into the game and they looked a far more confident and able side after the goal as soon as they had something to fight for. Infact almost immediately Boston nearly equalised as the Paddock punters began to scent blood in the United dugout, Dudfield firing wastefully straight into the arms of Westwood from ten yards out following good approach play on the right. Blues boss Paul Simpson tried to put the visitors back on a defensive foot down their right flank in the 66th minute as he brought on the pace of Simon Hackney for Holmes, and it was the change that would win the game for the Cumbrians.
Hackney had his first chance for United in the 71st minute when Bridges was brought down by McCann on the right-angle of the Pilgrims box 20 yards from goal. The ex-Woodley Sports youngster stepped up to take the set-piece but he could only blast it with his left-foot straight into the Boston wall. One bad feature of Carlisle's fantastic season to date has been their inability to put a keeper under real pressure from free-kicks around the box, far too often good opportunities have been wasted with poor efforts over the crossbar or straight into the defensive wall, with the amount of "skill" players at the club we really should be doing much better.
The Pilgrims were still coming close to finding a leveller though and they had one very good chance to get it in the 75th minute. Westwood having, seconds earlier, taken a looping cross on the wind from the right by Holland, tried to set Hackney away down the left with a quick throw out. He can't have seen the lurking Clarke though as the ball flew straight to feet of the Boston man, Clarke taking a quick touch before smashing it back towards the Carlisle goal. Fortunately for the backpedalling Westwood however the effort flew, at pace, inches wide of the Blues far-post with the United keeper keen to hold his hand up in apology.
That hand soon moved from an apologetic one to a celebratory one just seconds later though as the Cumbrians made it 3-1 straight from the resultant goal-kick. Westwood lumped the ball up to just inside Pilgrims territory where Hawley managed to get a good headed flick-on under pressure from Silk. It was a good touch as it sent the ball straight into the run of Hackney down the left-hand channel who easily outpaced lumbering Boston centre-half Alan White on the way to the edge of the visitors penalty area. That was the time to shoot as Maylett raced back to cover and Hackney did just that as he hammered an unstoppable 20-yard drive past Kuipers in an instant with his left-foot that fairly flew into the bottom of the Pilgrims net, a great finish and you could feel the tension released around Brunton Park.
That feeling of relief didn't last long for the 7525 home fans in the ground though as nine minutes later it was the extremely paltry following of 71 away fans that were celebrating as their side pulled the deficit back to one goal again. Maylett played the ball back from the right-wing to Clarke 25 yards out from the Carlisle goal, Clarke subsequently hitting a hopeful first-time low pass into the United box. Duffield was the first there but he missed it, the ball then bounding up off the chest of Rusk as he attempted to turn Lumsdon and get a shot in from ten yards out. As he took it around the Blues playmaker it was as clear as day that he used his hand to knock it on but referee Carl Boyeson from Hull was one of the few people in the ground not to see it. Rusk then being in the clear to hit a shot with his right-foot which might not have gone in if he had connected properly with it, the effort being struck straight into the ground and then bouncing over the top of a diving Westwood and into the Cumbrians net.
That was the signal for "well-built" Boston boss Steve Evans to throw on two last-gasp substitutes in an effort to grab an unlikely draw for the visitors. Another loan signing from Birmingham, in Peter Till, came on for Silk, while ex-Leicester City midfielder Danny Thomas replaced Chris Holland in the engine room. With a minute to go, and the Carlisle team and crowd waiting nervously for the final whistle, Cumbrians manager Paul Simpson looked to waste a bit of time by bringing on Glenn Murray for Bridges who seemed to be limping a little bit after going over on his ankle a few minutes earlier.
It was certainly agony to ecstasy in the last of the three minutes of injury time for home fans though when Hackney bagged his brace to finally put the result beyond doubt. McGill foolishly gave the ball away in the corner, when he should have been holding it up on the by-line, as he tried to play in Glenn Murray with the pass only going straight to Kuipers in the Boston goal. The Dutch glovesman then launched the ball straight up the pitch where Gray fouled Joachim in an aerial challenge 40 yards out from the Carlisle goal. Kuipers came up from the back for the free-kick which was humped into the edge of the United box by McCann, Clarke won the initial header across to Duffield who then seemed to head it back away from danger under pressure from Aranalde. Livesey and Clarke challenged for the loose ball and although Livesey won it, he did come off worse as play broke to Billy, and he was clearly in discomfort as he hobbled off the pitch at the final whistle.
Billy's outstretched boot knocked the ball across to Aranalde, and it was there that the action really started as the Spaniard sent Hackney racing away down the left as Kuipers ran, at full pace in quicksand, back down the pitch in an effort to cover his goal. Hackney ran on a good 30 yards with the ball bobbling away at his feet before he dared hit it, and even looked up to see if he could play in the onrushing Hawley on the right at one stage. Just outside the left-angle of the Pilgrims box he finally decided to try and his luck however and he swept his shot easily with his left foot past McCann, who was the only Boston man back after taking the initial set-piece, and into the unguarded visitors net to make it 4-2 to the Blues. The final whistle coming very soon afterwards as United held firm in a classic game of two halves in which Boston, for a side with poor form on the road, more than played their part.
Post-match quotes :
After the game Carlisle boss Paul Simpson heaped praise on Simon Hackney saying:
"Simon was absolutely fantastic, I know he wanted to start games but we've got three forwards in great form at the moment. It was a difficult match for us and we made things hard for ourselves, it was a convincing scoreline but we have to perform better than that."