to consolation goal |
Meanwhile Crewe manager Dario Gradi made three changes to his team that lost 2-1 at Swansea last time out. Jon Otsemobor coming in at right-back in place of Darren Moss, while Michael O'Connor returned from injury to take Ben Rix's midfield spot, Moss and Rix both dropping to the bench. Ryan Lowe also came into the starting eleven as Danny O'Donnell dropped out of the sixteen, and there was a surprise return to the replacements for striker Lee Matthews who had recovered quickly from an ankle injury.
The first shot of the game came from the home side on just 15 seconds and it certainly wouldn't prove to be their last one of the day as David Vaughan fired a 20-yarder straight at United's Keiren Westwood. It was the Blues who missed a gilt-edged opportunity to open the scoring in the match though after just 15 minutes. A nicely weighted through ball from Chris Lumsdon sending Karl Hawley racing clear for a one-on-one opportunity with Crewe keeper Ben Williams, Hawley couldn't find the finish though as Williams made an excellent save to push his effort around the post from 12 yards out. Chris Billy the Carlisle player frustrated seconds later when his goalbound shot from the edge of the box, after the Lumsdon corner in, was hacked away just short of the line by Alex' midfielder Gary Roberts.
Kevin Gall had to do his fair share of defensive duties for the Cumbrians in the eighth minute when he tracked back well to nick the ball off the toes of Billy Jones just as the Crewe man was about to pull the trigger. Six minutes later some indecision in the Carlisle back-line saw Livesey lose out on possession to Luke Varney. The livewire Alex' striker exchanging passes with Lowe before firing in a low 12-yarder as he raced clear, Westwood making an excellent reaction save to keep out the shot, with Billy fortunately on-hand for United to boot the loose ball clear.
Zigor Aranalde was the next Blue having to do his defensive shift in the 18th minute as the home side began to get on top in the game. Nicky Maynard and Lowe combining well to get into the Carlisle penalty area, only for Maynard to dally too long and allow United's Basque left-back to get a quick block in on his shot. Alex' boss Dario Gradi was forced into making his first substitution of the game as early as the 22nd minute when centre-half Julien Baudet pulled a muscle. Moss coming on to replace the Frenchman with Billy Jones moving across from left-back to the middle of the back four to accomodate him.
Shortly afterwards Lumsdon looked to find the back of the net against the club he had been on loan to way back in the 2000-01 season as he was allowed to make a barnstorming run through an empty midfield. His shot in from 25 yards out was a cracker but Williams was equal to it as he made an acrobatic leap to parry it away, Jones completing the clearance as the Blues started to come back into it. That was just a taster for the 1,600 or so travelling Cumbrians though, out of the total attendance of 5,989 spectators, as just three minutes later United took the lead through that man Hawley.
Simon Hackney showed great perseverance down the left-wing to evade the challenge of Gary Roberts and cross into the Crewe box. Moss was there first for the Alex' but he could only scuff his clearance straight to the feet of Hawley, the Carlisle hotshot latching on to the error quickly to fire the ball home with his right foot past Williams from 12 yards out. So, it all seemed to be going so well, although that really was as good as it got, the home side showing their attacking intentions just sixty seconds later from a Vaughan free-kick in from the right, Arnison being booked for the bad tackle on Vaughan. Jones got up to meet the set-piece six yards out but his header was mis-timed and only flew behind off the body of a relieved Aranalde.
The Railwaymen were really putting the disappointment of conceding a goal behind them now as they began to cut large holes in the United defence through the pacey front trio of Lowe, Maynard and Varney. It was Maynard and Lowe who would combine as well five minutes before the break when Maynard's pass found Lowe 20 yards out, the ex-Shrewsbury man being unlucky to see his right-footed curler hit the outside of Westwood's far-post. That was just the prelude for the Alex' fans though as by the break the Blues were all of a sudden 2-1 down.
Some sluggish defending in the 41st minute by Aranalde in the Cumbrians left-back spot allowing O'Connor to race down to the by-line and deliver an inviting low ball across the United six-yard line. It was a gift-wrapped cross for any striker to get on the end of really and it was Varney who was the grateful recipient as he was able to stroke the ball into the Carlisle net past Westwood with ease from such close range, although Livesey had missed a good chance to clear the ball away before Varney got to it. As if that didn't seem bad enough from a United perspective things would get even worse a minute into first-half injury time when the Alex' took the lead.
It was a similar goal to the first one as well but this time it was Varney who was the provider as his pace took him deep into Blues territory. The 24-year old frontman, celebrating his birthday just two days earlier, cutting the ball back in low from the right to leave Lowe, running in to the penalty spot area completely unmarked, with the simple task of picking his spot and side-footing his finish beyond Westwood and into the back of the United net. The half-time whistle coming just too late for Carlisle two minutes later as they trooped off down the tunnel wondering where it had all gone wrong.
The Cumbrians didn't sulk about things though as they showed their usual excellent team spirit and came out for the second-half looking well up for the challenge. It was a relatively quiet start to the period though with only a Hawley 20-yard pot-shot that went over the top in the 53rd minute looking like troubling the scorers. Things soon heated up from a Carlisle point of view however when they were extremely unfortunate not to equalise two minutes later, Peter Murphy's eight-yard header at the near-post from a Lumsdon corner crashing against the Alex' crossbar and over the top with Williams looking beaten.
Crewe soon came back into things though and in the 56th minute they would go close themselves when Vaughan and O'Connor worked the ball nicely into the feet of Varney 22 yards out. Varney quickly making room for himself before firing in a rising right-footed drive which Westwood had to get across sharpy to in order to pluck it out of the air. Sixty seconds later, after Maynard had fired an 18-yarder over the Carlisle bar, Blues manager Neil McDonald made a tactical substitution when he brought on Holmes upfront for Gall, United switching to 4-4-2 from 4-3-3, Crewe also starting the game in a 4-3-3 formation.
Hackney worked the ball well for himself on 62 minutes only to fire over from 18 yards out down his left-flank, but just as the Cumbrians were looking to grab a leveller the home side all but put the game beyond them as they went 3-1 ahead. Jones playing a lovely ball up from the Crewe back-line, after Lumsdon had sloppily conceded possession to him from a Hawley throw-in deep in enemy territory. Lowe still had it all to do as the ball dropped over the head of Murphy towards the edge of the United box but he cleverly flicked the ball around the Blues skipper as the two were left to battle it out all alone. Lowe then producing the shot to match the skill as he volleyed his effort left-footed beyond Westwood and into the Carlisle net from 12 yards out.
To their credit though the Blues never gave up even with a good result getting further away from them by the minute. Hawley winning a corner off veteran Crewe centre-half Neil Cox in the 65th minute which Lumsdon once more swung into the Alex' penalty area. Yet again Murphy was unlucky not to see the net ripple though as Roberts was well-placed to clear his 12-yard shot off the Crewe line, the ball pinging straight back to the United man, but this time it was bobbling and he could only drag his effort wide of the near-post.
Lowe was working extremely hard for the home side as he seemed to be all over the pitch looking to grab his first hat-trick for the club. Livesey having to be on-hand to block his shot in the 68th minute, the ball did break kindly for Varney though but his composure was lacking as he blazed well over Westwood's crossbar from 20 yards out. That stoppage in play being the signal for Carlisle to make their second personnel change in the match, 16-year old striker Hindmarch coming on for Billy as the Blues threw caution to the wind in their efforts to get something out of the game.
The Cumbrians might just have got something out of the game as well if Holmes had been able to convert a great chance with 20 minutes to go. Hawley's chipped ball from the near-post to the far-post, after a Murphy left-wing centre was deflected into his feet, coming across the Crewe six-yard box for the big Scot to head goalwards from just four yards out, somehow though, on one of those days for Carlisle, Williams was able to claw the ball away from the line as it looked to be sneaking into the net behind him. Things got even bleaker for United three minutes later when the home side made it a slightly flattering 4-1 as Varney joined Lowe in bagging a brace on the day.
O'Connor starting the move as the Blues lost possession having pushed up in numbers in their desperate search for a goal, the Alex' man feeding the ball into Varney 22 yards out. Varney then cleverly laying a short pass off into the untracked run of Lowe through the Carlisle midfield for Lowe to hit in a powerful right-footed shot from the edge of the Cumbrians box which Westwood did well to parry. Unluckily for the United keeper though the ball looped up in the air and straight into the run of Varney, leaving Varney with the simple task of nodding home into an almost empty net from eight yards out as Carlisle finally realised that the game was up.
In the 78th minute the home side were looking for a fifth goal but this time Otsemobor could only hammer his 25-yard right-footer over the top of the Cumbrians goal. Shortly afterwards Rix came on for O'Connor in the Crewe midfield then, on 81 minutes, Hawley, who had hurt his ribs in a collision with Williams, made way for the Blues as McDermott came on in his place. Just after McDermott had come on Murphy went into the book of referee Mike Russell from Hertfordshire, that yellow card for a bad challenge on Maynard leaving the Dubliner one booking away from an automatic one-match suspension. Roberts shooting wide from 12 yards out after Lowe had curled the resultant free-kick into the Carlisle penalty area.
Maynard bowed out of the action shortly after the Murphy foul on him, another ex-Shrewsbury man in Luke Rodgers coming on in his place after 83 minutes. Rodgers didn't take long to get into the action either when he fired narrowly wide of the United near-post from 18 yards out with his right foot. The game seemed to be being played out to a close now but as just as you thought a bad day at the office couldn't get any worse for the Cumbrians it did do two minutes into the three added on at the end of the match when they conceded a fifth for the first time since they lost 6-1 at Wrexham in April 2003.
The Railwaymen making the final scoreline 5-1 after Paul Thirlwell had brought down Varney 25 yards out just to the right of the middle of the pitch, Thirlwell becoming the third Blue to booked in the game for the bad tackle. Lowe, still looking for his hat-trick and the matchball, stepping up to take the set-piece with his right foot, the Crewe striker wheeling away in celebration after his shot had taken a deflection off the head of Lumsdon in the Carlisle defensive wall that left Westwood with no chance of saving it as it flew into the Cumbrians net. The final whistle came just sixty seconds later, and to be perfectly honest it couldn't have come too soon on an afternoon to forget for United players and fans alike.
Post-match quotes :
Crewe boss Dario Gradi said :