United fielded an unchanged side from the team who defeated Aldershot last week. Stevenage skipper Jason Goodliffe overcame an injury scare to take his place. The attendance inside the Britannia Stadium was 13,422 - some six thousand down on last year's play-off final between Shrewsbury and Aldershot. The Sky coverage and late kick-off taking their toll. Carlisle managed the first spell of pressure and Derek Holmes managed to turn and bring a save out of Alan Julian in the 7th minute. A quickly taken corner by Borough offered a half-chance for Anthony Elding in the 10th minute but he fired wide when unmarked. Glenn Murray accepted a Holmes flick on and volleyed smartly at Julian who did well to get down and claim. Darryn Stamp found himself with a good chance on 14 minutes when the ball deflected into his path but he hurried his shot and fired straight at Glennon. Beharall delivered a fine cross four minutes later but Murphy's header lacked direction and flew over the bar. The breakthrough arrived on 23 minutes as Cowan delivered the perfect cross for Murphy to produce a much better header into the bottom right corner. Borough came close to levelling when Beharall got ahead of Stamp to clear for a corner a couple of minutes later. Dino Maamria drove a left footed shot wide on the half-hour as the Hertfordshire side tried to rouse their supporters and get back on terms. Justin Gregory and Holmes clashed but referee Moss calmed them down without resorting to cards. Glennon made a great stop immediately after that incident and Livesey cleared the loose ball. United had started to back-track and the Borough were calling the shots. But the Cumbrians almost doubled their lead when Murray's strong shot took a deflection and went out for a corner. Livesey met Murphy's kick with a header and Goodliffe hooked spectacularly off the line. The lively Murray sparked another attack with 2 minutes to half-time when he drew a challenge to earn another corner. Julian was out firmly to claim Murphy's kick. The interval saw United go in a goal to the good, with chances fairly evenly spread and a lot still to play for. McGill checked Gregory two minutes in to the second period to give Borough a free kick. Holmes did well to clear it. Cowan took a knock and started to limp around the pitch, bringing anxious looks from the Carlisle bench. Stevenage brought on George Boyd, United's destroyer in March, for Barry Laker. Glennon claimed a weak header from the next corner as Carlisle sought to consolidate their narrow advantage. Then McGill made a good break, beating his man but shooting wide when he needed to test Julian. Murray was booked soon after for stopping play deliberately. Then Stevenage went close as Elding drove over the bar with a firm volley, as the hour mark passed. Skipper Gray and Murphy were then called over after a touch of dissent and the Irishman received a yellow. Cowan and Billy then set up Holmes but the big striker rather snatched at the chance and the ball spun off target. Jon Nurse then entered the fray in place of Stamp. The Herts side were stepping up the pressure with United unable to hold the ball up front. Glennon claimed two good high balls, but the ball kept coming back at Carlisle. Cowan conceded a free kick just outside the box. Boyd's delivery was too high much to United's relief. Paul Simpson brought on the pacy Magno Vieira with 20 minutes left, replacing Glenn Murray. Glennon rode to the rescue 13 minutes from the end when he blocked with his feet from full-back Warner after United were caught out down their left flank. The burly stopper made another firm catch from Maamria as the corner came over. Simon Weatherstone came on for skipper Goodliffe as Graham Westley gambled everything on a last throw of the dice with 8 minutes left on the clock. McGill was doing a sterling job keeping Boyd under wraps but he then blotted his copybook by kicking the ball away and getting booked. Hawley came on as Carlisle desperately tried to stem the Borough tide. Stevenage threw everybody forward as the game moved into its last two minutes. Vieira fired wide as the game moved into its last seconds of normal time. The Brazilian did himself no favours by collecting a silly booking for hoofing the ball away to try and waste time. Stevenage then had three shots blocked in rapid succession but Glennon threw himself on the ball to retain the lead with a minute left of stoppage time. Julian came running up for a free kick with seconds left. As the ball was cleared Julian was miles out of his goal but United couldn't get a shot in and a free kick was eventually given against Warner. Al's verdict: A fantastic night, but what a tense second half as we were forced deeper and deeper and held on grimly. Every defender played their part as Stevenage threw everything including the kitchen sink at us but couldn't break through. One moment of quality was always likely to make the difference and that came from Cowan's cross and Murphy's great header. For all the pressure that came at us, Stevenage could never quite break the will of our back line that has proved to be our big strength this season. The atmosphere at the end was electric and the travelling Blue army took every advantage to celebrate our finest moment for many years, after many seasons of struggle. We're back where we belong. |
