Carlisle United came away from Huish Park frustrated after being held to a 1-1 draw by a dogged Yeovil Town side. A great strike from substitute Harvey Macadam cancelled out an own goal from captain Morgan Feeney.
The Blues came into this away trip full of confidence after a thrilling home win last week over fellow high fliers Forest Green but struggled to get into the game in the early goings, with their only chance in the opening 10 minutes coming as Chris Conn-Clarke found himself just inside the area before cutting inside and curling an effort half a yard wide of the far right hand post.
Conn-Clarke was getting a lot of the ball in the opening minutes and received the ball from Josh Williams moments later just outside the area before turning onto his right foot and hitting a low shot just past the left hand post of the Yeovil goal.
The Glovers were looking to arrest their recent slump in front of their own fans following heavy defeats against Boreham Wood and Rochdale and found themselves in front 15 minutes in as George Nurse, who joined on loan from Shrewsbury Town this month, hit an inswining corner to the near post which struck the head of Carlisle captain Morgan Feeney under pressure from Tahvon Campbell and flew into the corner of Gabe Breeze’s goal to put the hosts ahead.
Mark Hughes, serving a touchline ban for this game after incurring three yellow cards, watched his side struggle to really trouble the hosts’ defence after going behind with their only real efforts coming from long range and being comfortably dealt with by Town keeper Jed Ward.
In fact it was Richard Dryden’s side that came closest to finding their second goal after Andrew Oluwabori nicked the ball from Feeney before driving at the Carlisle defence, but he ultimately hit his shot well wide of the goal.
HALF TIME: Yeovil 1 – 0 Carlisle
The second half started largely evenly matched with Carlisle firing a few warning shots towards the Glovers but the hosts’ pressing was largely stopping United from settling on the ball. Carlisle did have the best opportunity of the opening 15 minutes of the half however as Josh Williams got in behind Nurse down the right flank, but his attempt to find Georgie Kelly in the middle was easily cut out.
Yeovil were looking to surge into the top half of the table with a win here and came somewhat close to doubling their advantage moments later as a free kick was only cleared as far as Jake Wannell on the edge of the area, whose low effort was clawed away by Breeze before the United keeper pounced on the ball just before the onrushing Campbell could get there.
United meanwhile knew that a win here could potentially see them move to the top of the National League and they found an equaliser in the 68th minute as talisman Regan Linney superbly jinked past a couple of defenders on the left wing before finding Conn-Clarke inside, who slipped the ball to substitute Harvey Macdam before the ex Morecambe man lashed a left footed shot straight into the top right corner to give the Cumbrians an equaliser.
Carlisle looked to keep their momentum going and could have found themselves in front moment later when Archie Davies nicked the ball from Aaron Jarvis before Linney ran 60 yards to the Yeovil area before opting to shoot, but his low effort was easily saved by Ward in the Glovers’ goal.
Linney saw another opportunity to take the lead moments later as a Junior Luamba low cross was cleared only as far as the ex Altrincham man and he hit a beautiful volley towards the top left corner, but his effort fizzed just past the woodwork much to the relief of the Yeovil faithful.
The hosts had a great chance of their own to take the lead 5 minutes later as Campbell stole in ahead of Aaron Hayden to meet a low cross from Luke McCormick, but his effort was hit well over the bar from close range. Moments later, Jarvis met another great corner by Nurse inside the 6 yard box, but his header also had too much elevation on it.
Both sides tried to find a winner in the last few minutes of the game but defences ultimately prevailed and saw the encounter end in what was probably a deserved draw.
FULL TIME: Yeovil 1 – 1 Carlisle: Feeney (15′ og) – Macadam (68′)
Yeovil: Ward, Wannell, M.Williams, Efete, Nurse, McCormick, Jolliffe (Whittle 94′), Oluwabori (Daly 76′), Greenslade (Pendleton 81′), Campbell, Jarvis (Cousin-Dawson 81′). Unused Subs: Ellison, Ferguson, Gould.
Carlisle: Breeze, Davies (Jones 81′), Hayden, Feeney, Harper, Gilliead (Macadam 61′), Grant, Conn-Clarke, Williams (Luamba 61′), Linney, Kelly. Unused Subs: Lewis, Armstrong, Wearne, Whelan.
How Did United Perform?
This was far from a vintage performance by Carlisle today as they really struggled overall to maintain control in the game as Yeovil’s tenacity and energy made it hard for us to properly assert ourselves as we have in recent weeks. Linney always looked threatening when he got on the ball as he usually does and Williams troubled Yeovil with his positive running but we struggled especially in the midfield area to properly give them the support they needed, and the full backs again found it hard to deal with Yeovil’s wide men.
Four games unbeaten is a good run however and if we can step it up again in the next couple of league games we might look back on this as a decent point gained.
Carlisle Player Ratings
Breeze: 5 – Couldn’t do much about Yeovil’s goal but distribution was off at points and almost presented Campbell with a chance in the second half as he clawed a shot away.
Davies: 5 – Struggled at points defensively and his deliveries into the area were poor.
Hayden: 7 – Had a good game despite his yellow card, had superiority in the air and dealt with crosses into the area well.
Feeney: 5 – Unusually off game for him, didn’t deal with the corner for Yeovil’s goal and was robbed of the ball to present them with an opportunity later in the half too, did improve in the second period though.
Harper: 5 – Didn’t offer a lot going forward and didn’t look all that comfortable going the other way either.
Gilliead: 6 – Another quiet game for him but he made a few good challenges in the midfield before being withdrawn.
Grant: 5 – Never really got into the game and i’m quite surprised he lasted the full 90.
Conn-Clarke: 6 – Got a lot of the ball in the first half and looked threatening but often struggled to find the right pass, but did get the assist for Macadam’s equaliser.
Linney: 7 – Massive part to play in United’s goal with some great feet before he found Conn-Clarke and had a couple of decent attempts on goal.
Williams: 7 – Looked positive with his running in the first half, stole in behind Nurse early on in the second and i was surprised he came off when he did.
Kelly: 5 – Never really got into the game and struggled to link up play like he’s normally so good, rarely got a sniff of goal.
Subs
Macadam – 7: Offered great energy going forward and took his goal superbly, especially on his weaker foot.
Luamba – 6: Did okay but never really looked like causing Yeovil any real problems.
Jones – 6: On late but did have Yeovil on edge when he drove forward with the ball at his feet.
Please note these are Craig’s opinions and nothing official!
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