Carlisle United 5-0 Braintree Town Review

This afternoon, Carlisle United produced a five star performance to beat Braintree Town 5-0 at Brunton Park. A hat-trick from Regan Linney, an own goal and a late goal from Jack Ellis were the difference.

An incredible afternoon in the sunshine at Brunton Park for Mark Hughes, his team and the Carlisle United supporters. Braintree will be doing their best to forget today’s game pretty quickly.

Match Review

Carlisle came out of the blocks really quickly and were unlucky to not take the lead in the first minute as Regan Linney’s deflected shot was well saved by Braintree keeper Mason Terry.

The home side’s early domination continued as Archie Davies had a shot comfortably saved before Luke Armstrong’s header was brilliantly kept out by Mason Terry once again.

In the 15th minute after brilliant work from Junior Luamba, Stephen Wearne passed to Regan Linney and his curling effort from outside the box was curled to perfection and beat Mason Terry all ends up and gave Mark Hughes’ team a deserved lead.

Just before the half hour mark Regan Linney threaded a good ball through for Luke Armstrong to cross in to the danger area and it was deflected home by Braintree defender George Langston to double the Cumbrians’ lead.

The game slowed down from its frantic start but Carlisle continued to put pressure on the Braintree defence through Luamba and Linney mainly but a thoroughly exciting first half from a Carlisle perspective.

HT Carlisle United 2-0 Braintree Town

The home side created the first chance of the second half as Callum Whelan’s long range effort was well saved by Mason Terry.

Terell Thomas nearly scored the one of the great Brunton Park goals with a stunning 40 yard strike brilliantly tipped over by Mason Terry.

In the 52nd minute Callum Whelan was brought down in the box and Carlisle were awarded a penalty. Regan Linney calmly sent the keeper the wrong way to extended the blues’ lead.

Just after the hour mark Luke Armstrong found himself one on one with Mason Terry after a great pass from Regan Linney but was denied by a smart save from the Braintree keeper.

Regan Linney completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute with a brilliant front post header from a Cameron Harper corner.

Ten minutes from time a corner was headed down by Morgan Feeney and nodded home by Jack Ellis to make it 5-0.

Carlisle comfortably saw out the rest of the game and were more than worthy of their 5-0 victory.

FT Carlisle United 5-0 Braintree Town

How Did Carlisle Perform?

First half got off to an absolute flyer. Regan Linney set the tone early on and gave Carlisle a deserted lead with a great finish. The midriff kept the ball well and stopped anything Braintree tried to build in attack and especially Wearne and Whelan were posing a threat going forward as well. Defensively the home side were comfortable in the first half with Terell Thomas and Bevis Mugabi handling John Akinde very well in the first half.

Second half, Mark Hughes sent his players out with the same fast and strong start to the half and the pressure on Braintree was applied from the first minute of the half. Defence were comfortable again in the second half and the midfield were calm and composed with the ball even with the substitutions.

My Carlisle United Player Ratings

Gabe Breeze -7- didn’t have a lot to do, won’t have an easier afternoon all season.

Archie Davies -7- solid in defence when needed and was a constant attacking threat when Carlisle went forward.

Bevis Mugabi -7- very solid at the back, kept Akinde very quiet along with Thomas.

Terell Thomas -8- absolutely outstanding for the second game in a row. Brilliant last ditch tackle in the second half, kept their frontmen quiet and nearly scored a 40 yard screamer as well.

Cameron Harper -7- put some dangerous crosses in to the box in the first half and second half done his job very well.

Jack Ellis -7.5- a very comfortable day in midfield for Ellis and he kept the ball well at times. He also scored Carlisle’s fifth goal.

Callum Whelan -7.5- got in to some dangerous positions, could’ve had a couple of goals if it wasn’t for a great block and save from Braintree.

Stephen Wearne -6.5- picked up some dangerous positions but lacked a final pass was missing at times. A good shift for the team though.

Junior Luamba -7.5- a constant threat down the wing and covered a lot of ground tracking back when needed as well.

Regan Linney -10- the hat-trick hero, brilliant opener, took the penalty well and an excellent near post header for his third. Ran his socks off and was a constant threat on top of the three goals as well. Easily man of the match.

Luke Armstrong -8- never stopped running, created spaces for Linney and Luamba to run in to and forced the own goal.

SUBSTITUTES

Georgie Kelly -6- held the ball up well at times and could’ve got on the scoresheet as well.

Josh Grant -6- broke the play up and defended well when he came on.

David Ajiboye -6- looked dangerous at times but still looks low on confidence when running with the ball.

Morgan Feeney -6- done is job well when he came on alongside Thomas.

Ethan Robson -6- had a part to play in the fifth goal and could’ve got on the scoresheet himself late on.

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

A Message From Paddock Perception

We are working alongside Liam and his YouTube channel Blue Army TV this season to make sure we bring you the best Carlisle United content we possibly can. You can subscribe to his channel and follow him on X, his handles are below:

X – @blue_army_tv

YouTube – @BlueArmyTVchannel

Another partnership Paddock Perception has is with Carlisle United YouTube channel CU04, they have amazing content on their channel and we are looking forward to working with them this season. You can follow them here:

X – @CU04_YOUTUBE

YouTube – @CU04

Thank you everyone for reading Paddock Perception, your support means everything! Please don’t forget you can follow Dan and Craig on X for more football content:

@dan_batemannn

@CraigWL1997