Carlisle United made it five wins from their last six games after securing an entertaining 2-0 victory over high-scoring Aldershot Town thanks to second half strikes from Regan Linney and Bevis Mugabi.
Mark Hughes’ side were looking to build on recent positive performances and almost made the perfect start to the game as talisman Regan Linney found space down the left flank in the 2nd minute and squared across the box to Junior Luamba, but his effort was well blocked by Brighton loanee Charlie Penman.
Carlisle continued to press Aldershot high up the pitch and almost got their reward in the 15th minute as Stephen Wearne pinched the ball from Dejan Tetek deep inside the Shots half but his shot was deflected on the way through and easily saved by former Carlisle loanee Marcus Dewhurst. Luamba was involved again moments later as his effort was acrobatically hit by Linney, but the ball sailed well wide of Dewhurst’s right hand post.
The visitors’ shot stopper was properly called into action a few minutes later as Linney received the ball on the left flank before nutmegging Archy Taylor and firing an effort towards the far post but Dewhurst stuck out an arm and managed to superbly tip the ball over the bar to deny the league’s top scorer his seventh goal of the campaign. The Cumbrians really had control of the first half an hour of the game and could have had a couple more goals but the final ball was really letting them down at times, through poor decision making and just a lack of quality.
One man not lacking in quality is Linney and he was a continous threat to Tommy Widdrington’s side, having a couple of good chances just after the half hour mark as Tetek again gave the ball away cheaply before Wearne again played in Linney, who saw his left footed shot saved down low by Dewhurst, the resulting corner again fell to the former Altrincham man inside the area but his stabbed effort was once again saved by the feet of Dewhurst.
Despite the home side’s dominance, Aldershot were looking to prove why they’re the league’s leading scorers and almost caught Carlisle napping as the dangerous Josh Barrett found space on the left and whipped an excellent cross onto the head of Ryan Hill, but the midfielder saw his header loop onto Gabe Breeze’s crossbar before being eventually dealt with by the Carlisle defence.
United looked to threaten in wide areas themselves and full back Archie Davies fired in a cross from deep which met the head of Wearne, but his header sailed comfortably over the goal. The home side had yet anohther couple of good chances to find the breakthrough in first half stoppage time as a cut back from Luamba was scuffed by Linney, before the resulting ball fell to Alex Gilliead who slipped in Cameron Harper down the left hand side of the area but his first time effort flew well over the bar, leaving Carlisle frustratingly stuck at 0-0 going into the break.
HALF TIME: Carlisle 0 – 0 Aldershot
Despite their first half profligacy, Carlisle wasted no time at all and took the lead just moments after the restart as Wearne brought down a Harper ball over the top before finding Linney down the inside left channel and this time United’s number 10 made no mistake, firing low and hard past Dewhurst to give Mark Hughes’ side the lead.
The goal seemed to spark some life into Aldershot, who had a good spell of pressure in the following minutes with Josh Barrett and Archy Taylor finding good bits of space to threaten the Blues’ defence. United weren’t taking their foot off the gas either however as they broke away from the Aldershot press before Linney fed the ball through to the onrushing Harper, but the ex Inverness man again fired well over the bar. Carlisle had a chance down the other flank moments later as some great pressing from Luamba and Luke Armstrong saw the ball fall into the path of Luamba who ran through against Dewhurst, but the angle was against him and he could only shoot straight at the former Sheffield United youngster.
Carlisle were almost made to regret their missed chances on a couple of occasions just after the hour mark as ex Blue Tristan Abrahams latched onto a cross from James Clarridge which saw the ball ricochet around the area, but his close range effort was well saved by the feet of Breeze, Aldershot were keen to avoid drawing their first blank of the season and had another great chance minutes later as a ball from the right flank found its way to the back post to former Carlisle trialist Kwame Thomas, but Breeze again down low to maintain United’s 1-0 lead.
United weren’t keen on sitting on the one goal advantage however, continuing to pile the pressure on and in the 65th minute they capitalised on a poor clearance from a corner which fell at the feet of Harper, who played the ball low into the feet of Armstrong, who spun his man superbly to fire a shot towards goal which was superbly hooked off the line by the outstretched leg of Penman. Carlisle weren’t to be denied for long however as another corner was only cleared as far as substitute Harvey Macadam, whose cross found the feet of Bevis Mugabi, and the big centre back looked like a centre forward, showing excellent composure to slot the ball in the bottom right hand corner to double the home side’s advantage.
Aldershot looked to find a way back into the game in the remaining minutes and left themselves open at the back, and an incisive pass through the midfield by Ellis found Wearne on the centre circle before the ex MK Dons man spun and played in Armstrong down the right hand side, but his 20 yard effort was well saved again down low by Dewhurst.
The Shots toiled to try and find a way through the United backline but Mugabi and captain Terrell Thomas stood firm and saw United to become the only side so far this season to prevent Aldershot from finding the back of the net in a game.
FULL TIME: Carlisle 2 – 0 Aldershot – Linney (46′), Mugabi (69′)
Carlisle: Breeze, Davies (Macadam 68′), Thomas, Mugabi, Harper, Gilliead (Grant 85′), Ellis, Wearne (Whelan 85′), Luamba (Kelly 68′), Linney (Ajiboye 90′), Armstrong. Subs Not Used: Lewis, Feeney.
Aldershot: Dewhurst, Penman (Jones 73′), Meerholz, Clarridge, Taylor, Hill, Tetek (Henry 73′), Widdrington, Barrett (Rai 88′), Abrahams (Ghandour 60′), Thomas
How Did United Perform?
I think Carlisle can be thoroughly satisfied with their performance this afternoon, truth be told there could and should have been more goals in the game, with us really just lacking that finishing touch and final ball in key moments of the first half, combined with the fantastic performance of Dewhurst in the Aldershot goal.
That said however, Aldershot did have chances of their own and had Ryan Hill’s header found the target in the first half it could have been a different game, and Gabe Breeze made a couple of great stops with the game at 1-0 to keep us on the front foot.
The midfield and defence were a particularly pleasing point as Thomas and Mugabi both looked extremely solid and composed at the back, while Alex Gillead absolutely bossed and ran the game in midfield, the work ethic from the whole team was excellent too, with us picking up a lot of the second balls in key areas which we have failed to do in a few of the earlier games this season.
We have a tough run of games coming up and confidence is absolutely key going into them, so hopefully taking what was ultimately a comfortable 3 points against a potent side will spur Mark Hughes and the team on to tackle the challenges still to come.
Carlisle Player Ratings
Breeze – 7: Couple of really good saves in the second half to keep Aldershot out, could have been a different game otherwise, distribution still leaving a tad to be desired but otherwise a very solid outing
Davies – 7: Constant threat down the right hand side with some direct runs and a couple of dangerous crosses into the box, final ball was lacking on occasion however, never threatened too much on the defensive side of things.
Thomas – 8: Really solid performance from the United captain, looked composed at the back and kept his concentration throughout in a couple of dangerous situations and distributed the ball well too.
Mugabi – 8: Took his goal like a striker and along with Thomas, won nearly everything in the air and was composed with the ball at his feet too, especially after the confidence boost from finding the net. Was given the sponsors’ man of the match and i can understand why.
Harper – 7: Similar to Davies, got into plenty of promising positions going forward and found some key passes but lacked composure in the finish when chances fell to him, also defended well as Aldershot targeted United’s left hand side.
Ellis – 7: Has really start quietening the doubters over him playing in midfield, constant energy and hard work to break up play in the middle of the park and definitely has an eye for a pass too
Gilliead – 9 (MOTM): His best performance of what’s been a very promising second spell at the club, dictated the game superbly in the middle, made some powerful drives through the midfield and was first to nigh on every second ball. Seems to be getting better with every game so far.
Wearne – 7: Picked up some great pockets of space in midfield and was always looking to drive forward and threaten the Aldershot defence, let down at times by poor choice and quality of pass, however.
Luamba – 6: Never really got going in the game despite a few flashes of danger, was muscled off the ball a little too easily at times but i applaud his directness and desire to get forward.
Linney – 7: Looked a little sluggish at points in the first half but was still one of the most threatening players on the pitch, only denied by some great stops by Dewhurst, grew into the second half and took his goal very well.
Armstrong – 7: Worked his socks off as he always does, linked up well with the attacking midfield trio well and won a lot of flick ons, maybe guilty of overcomplicating things at points with his lay offs but otherwise a good performance.
Subs:
Macadam – 7: Put himself about really well when he came on, got on the ball a lot and set up United’s second goal.
Kelly – 7: Held the ball up well as usual, probably would have got a goal on a different day.
Whelan, Grant, Ajiboye: N/A (Not on long enough)
Please note these are Craig’s opinions and nothing official!
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