Carlisle suffered their first defeat of the National League season this afternoon as goals from Edon Pruti and David Ogbonna gave Sutton United a 2-1 win to lift them out of the National League relegation zone. The Blues pegged the home side back late on through substitute Georgie Kelly but it proved too little too late for Mark Hughes’ men.
The match started in incredibly tentative fashion, with the visitors controlling large parts of the possession without really threatening the Sutton backline. Luke Armstrong was his usual self and harrying the hosts’ defenders but Steve Morison’s backline stood strong. Sutton’s main threats early on were on the counter attack, with the pace of Brandon Njoku keeping Carlisle’s backline on their toes. Carlisle had the earliest half sights of goal as Regan Linney had a couple of drives at Junior Eccleston but his long range efforts both sailed comfortably over the bar.
Sutton looked to make the most of their forays forward too however as their captain Harry Phipps got in down the inside right channel after a poor clearance from United captain Terrell Thomas but the ex Dagenham man’s cross was easily collected by Gabe Breeze.
Both sides continued trading jabs but neither side could find a decisive blow as Ndjuku continued to harass the visitors’ defence and Callum Whelan won the ball well a couple of times in the midfield area for the home side. Whelan caused more problems in the 33rd minute as his corner wasn’t dealt with well by Sutton, but was eventually cleared following a minor scramble in the area.
Both sides sprung to life in the closing parts of the first half however as Carlisle broke forward in the 39th minute and forced a 3 on 1 opportunity with Luke Armstrong breaking down the right hand side but the ex Harrogate man held onto the ball too long and his eventual pass into Linney was collected too close to Jack Sims for the Cumbrians’ top scorer to make anything of it. Sutton bit back moments later and were almost punished by ghosts of their past as ex Blue Jayden Harris broke the Carlisle offside trap to get away down the left flank before squaring to fellow ex Carlisle man Ashley Nadesan but he somehow poked his shot past the post from just outside the 6 yard box.
Harris was lively again mere minutes later as him and Ndjuku linked up well in the attack before Harris volleyed a shot from just outside the area that was well tipped away by Breeze.
HALF TIME: Sutton United 0 – 0 Carlisle United
After a largely drab opening half, the U’s made sure there would be no repeat in the second, finding an early breakthrough as defender Edon Pruti rose above Carlisle’s defence just outside the 6 yard box to nod home a Jack Wadham corner. Morison’s side were clearly spurred on by this opener and they almost got in behind Carlisle’s backline again with a long ball over the top towards the ever threatening Njoku but Breeze rushed well outside his area quickly enough to stop the ex Cambridge man from getting onto the ball.
The game really turned into an end to end affair from this point however Carlisle were still struggling to create any clear cut openings despite strengthening their forward line after subbing on Georgie Kelly for Whelan, their first half chance of the 2nd half came in the 63rd minute as a Linney effort was well blocked on the edge of the area before falling to Harvey Macadam, but his volleyed effort was put well wide of Sims’ goal. The hosts looked far more likely to bag the next goal and broke forward in the 76th minute after Jack Ellis was brushed off the ball in midfield and Njoku got away down the left flank before slipping the ball inside to Harris, but his shot towards the bottom left corner was well turned away by Breeze.
Morison’s side continued to look for the 2nd goal to seal their first 3 points of the season and Pruti almost doubled his tally, again heading towards goal from a corner but this time seeing his effort tipped away by Breeze. Carlisle weren’t completely out of the game however as a Wearne free kick from the left flank isn’t dealt with by the Sutton defence and the ball fell to Archie Davies inside the area but his shot on the half turn wasn’t strong enough to threaten Sims in the Sutton goal.
The hosts deservedly doubled their advantage moments later as Thomas misjudged the flight of a long ball, allowing substitute David Ogbonna to nip in behind him and dink the ball over the onrushing Breeze’s head to make it 2-0 with just 8 minutes of normal time remaining.
The second goal seemed to inject some life into the Carlisle side and they almost nicked a goal back in the 90th minute as Kelly capitalised on substitute Siju Odelusi’s poor attempt to shield the ball back to Sims, but Carlisle’s number 9 could only stab the ball against the post. Kelly wasn’t to be denied however and he did get a goal back in the 4th minute of added time as a chipped ball in by Thomas found the ex Rotherham man who fired in from close range.
United pressed hard to get a late equaliser and almost found one as a Cameron Harper corner caused chaos in the Sutton area after the initial clearance fell to Stephen Wearne, who volleyed into a crowd of players before the ball was eventually cleared as far as Linney, but the Cumbrians’ top scorer could only again fire over with his left foot from just inside the area as Sutton sealed a deserved 3 points.
FULL TIME: Sutton United 2 – 1 Carlisle United – Pruti (49′), Ogbonna (82), – Kelly (90+4)
Sutton: Sims, Phipps, Taylor, Eccleston, Pruti, Dabre (Simper 63′), Boutin, Wadham (Odelusi 63′), Njoku (Ogbonna 78′), Harris, Nadesan. Subs Not Used: Aziaya, Crichlow, Jones, White
Carlisle: Breeze, Davies, Thomas, Mugabi, Harper, Ellis, Macadam (Grant 69′), Whelan (Kelly 55′), Wearne, Linney, Armstrong (Ajiboye 69′) Subs Not Used: Lewis, Hayden, Murray, Williams.
How Did United Perform?
This has to be seen as a good couple of steps back for Carlisle and Mark Hughes, after such a convincing 5-0 victory against a Braintree side who had started the season relatively well, to follow it up with a defeat against a Sutton team who had made such a poor start to their campaign is a huge disappointment. Both sides were poor in the first half overall but Sutton came out a much better side in the second whereas Carlisle never really got going until they were already 2 goals behind.
The midfield never really got a good hold of the ball barring the opening few minutes of the game and really struggled to make anything happen going forward either, defensive issues again reared their ugly head as well after two clean sheets, as poor set piece marking and a horrible mistake by Terrell Thomas gifted goals to the home side.
Credit to Sutton and Steve Morison as they played their counter attacking game really well, utilising their pacey forwards, but Carlisle were too easily outfought and while it is their first defeat of the season, they must arrest these inconsistencies if they’re to make a real charge at making a return to League 2, as they have a lot of strong sides charging alongside them.
Carlisle Player Ratings:
Breeze – 7 (MotM): Think he deserves credit as he kept the score down with a couple of really good saves and was decisive to rush off his line to prevent Njoku from getting on the end of a dangerous long ball.
Davies – 5: Struggled with the pace of Njoku and didn’t threaten as much going forward as he has done in prior games, probably needs a natural winger in front of him to link up with.
Mugabi – 6: Didn’t do too much wrong for the most part but will maybe be disappointed to have conceded the opening goal from a corner.
Thomas – 4: Sadly a return to poor form for Thomas, started off positively and won most of his aerial battles but a few poor headed clearances and a woeful mistake for Sutton’s second, continues to struggle with balls over the top.
Harper – 6: Largely quiet game for him, caused trouble with a corner late on, still an argument that Carlisle need to improve in this area.
Macadam – 5: Ineffective most of the game and never really had any impact, surprised he stayed on for as long as he did.
Whelan – 6: The best of United’s midfield, kept possession well when he got on the ball, probably shouldn’t have been subbed off when he was.
Ellis – 6: Worked hard as he always does and broke up the play well a couple of times but still question marks as to whether he should be playing in the midfield consistently.
Linney – 6: Unable to replicate his heroics against Braintree, no shortage of efforts to drive at his man and make something happen but was largely wayward with his shooting.
Wearne – 5: Energetic but sadly mostly anonymous, not quite direct enough with his play to function effectively as a winger in my opinion, needs to play as the tip of a midfield 3 or he seems to struggle to impact the game.
Armstrong – 6: Worked hard and forced a couple of errors from Sutton’s defenders but will be extremely disappointed about his final ball on the counter attack towards the end of the first half.
Subs:
Grant – 5: Didn’t really make a difference, still doesn’t look totally match fit to me.
Kelly – 7: Took him a bit to get going but took his goal well and was United’s main threat in the second half.
Ajiboye – 6: Was positive when he got on the ball, could potentially look at starting him in the next game for more natural width and directness.
Please note these are Craig’s opinions and nothing official!
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