Wealdstone 0-1 Carlisle United Review

On Saturday evening Carlisle United made the long trip to the capital to take on high flying Wealdstone. The game was decided thanks to a first half header from Luke Armstrong and a solid defensive display in the second half.

Carlisle ended Wealdstone’s perfect start to the season, the Cumbrians are now sat on 8 points from their opening 4 fixtures and have moved up to 7th place in the table.

Match Review

Both sides started the game on the front foot and created early chances. Luke Armstrong had a goal controversially ruled out for a foul in the first five minutes but the blues kept pushing for the opener despite that disappointment.

Regan Linney got in down the left and forced a save from the Wealdstone goalkeeper and Jack Ellis curled a shot just wide of the Wealdstone goal before an Archie Davies corner was flicked in with his head at the near by Luke Armstrong in the 18th minute to give Carlisle a deserved lead.

The away side continued to look threatening especially in transition in the first 30 minutes and chances for Regan Linney and Junior Luamba were missed when both should have done better.

Wealdstone we’re getting some joy in the forward areas especially down their right side as their winger seemed to have the beating of Cameron Harper but their crosses in to the box were dealt with well by Gabe Breeze in goal.

The front three of Carlisle were pressing well and looked a threat every time they went forward. Luamba’s pace and natural width he gave us was a huge improvement on the day against Solihull Moors.

HT Wealdstone 0-1 Carlisle United

The second half started off in the same vein as the first, Carlisle were pressing high up the field and their first chance came from that where Harvey Macadam saw his shot parried away by Dante Baptiste.

In the 53rd minute Gabe Breeze was forced in to action with a great stop to prevent the home side from levelling the score. From the resulting corner Wealdstone heaped on more pressure and Breeze was called in to action once again to stop a header from Deonysus Woodman.

In the 65th minute Regan Linney broke the offside trap and pulled his short wide of the near post when he perhaps should’ve done better and finished the game.

As the game went on Carlisle looked more and more content with the lead they had as they sat back and invited Wealdstone pressure but the defence was up to the balls in to the box and got their heads to every cross in to the danger area.

The away side’s defence held firm and Carlisle comfortably saw the game out for a deserved 1-0 victory.

How Did Carlisle Perform?

In the first half the front three of Armstrong, Linney and Luamba pressing high and then pace on the break was causing Wealdstone massive problems. Luamba in particular with his direct running and creating width when he didn’t have the ball was creating spaces in key areas for players such as Wearne, Linney and Armstrong to move in to.

Defensively both Mugabi and Thomas dealt with Wealdstone’s crosses well. Breeze in goal didn’t have a great deal to do overall but when he had to come for balls he did and when there were saves to be made he made them.

Carlisle’s pressing slowed down a lot after the hour mark and they tried to slow the pace down and hit Wealdstone on the break. Regan Linney broke the offside trap twice in quick succession but couldn’t find the net on either occasion but Carlisle’s second half game plan was there for all to see and they implemented it well.

Overall I would call it a perfect away performance, we took our chance, defended very well, kept a clean sheet and ran the clock down well to see the game out.

My Carlisle United Player Ratings

Gabe Breeze – 7.5 – didn’t have huge amounts do at a times but dealt with a lot of crosses in to the box very well and made some important stops late on.

Archie Davies – 7 – wasn’t as much of an attacking threat as he was on Tuesday but he defended very well and stood strong when their left-back tried to take him on.

Terell Thomas – 8 – one of his better games in a Carlisle shirt, won pretty much everything, always looked in control and kept their frontmen quiet all game and is my man of the match.

Bevis Mugabi – 7.5 – similar to Thomas, very solid didn’t put a foot wrong and had answers for any of the attackers questions.

Cameron Harper – 6.5 – was beaten down his side a few times, failed to stop some crosses in to the box but overall a solid game.

Harvey Macadam – 6.5 – worked very hard in midfield, passed the ball well, made some good runs and tracked back well.

Jack Ellis – 6.5 – industrious in midfield, covered a lot of ground, done a brilliant job of keeping their midfield quiet and could’ve had a goal in the first half.

Stephen Wearne – 6.5 – picked up pockets of space in the first half but just couldn’t find that final ball. Worked very hard for the team and didn’t do anything wrong.

Junior Luamba – 7.5 – very impressive first start for the club, fast and direct in transition especially in the first half and his runs caused Wealdstone a lot of problems.

Regan Linney – 7 – on another day he could’ve had a hat-trick but it wasn’t his day in front of goal but he worked tirelessly for the team and was a constant threat going forward.

Luke Armstrong – 8 – covered a lot of ground up front closing defenders down and giving Linney and Luamba options going forward, on another day he maybe gets another goal but got the decisive goal and it was between him and Thomas for man of the match for me.

SUBSTITUTES

Callum Whelan – 6 – knew his role off the bench was to work hard and close people down and he done that well when seeing out the game.

David Ajiboye – 6 – made some good runs late on but couldn’t really get in to the game. He did track back well and helped see out the game.

Georgie Kelly – n/a – wasn’t on long enough to impact the game.

Morgan Feeney – n/a – wasn’t on long enough to impact the game but good to see him back.

Please note these ratings are the opinions of Dan and nobody else.

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