United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Preece, Craddock, Raynor, Ashbee (Thompson 73), Richards, Taylor, Kyd, Hayes.
Subs not used: Barnwell, Beall
Booked: Preece (foul)

Terry Wilby's match report:
Get there early they said to beat the rush. I got into the supporters club soon after 6:30, there were a lot of Carlisle supporters in there. I couldn't see much of the preamble on Sky, I'm sure there are many who can tell me what the coverage was like. I saw the goals on Sunday though.

The team line up was changed slightly, Richards on the wing and Hayes in the middle for Beall and Barnwell.

We started brightly attacking the Abbey, Richards heading a good chance wide, unfortunately they started even better, scoring from a corner in the 5th minute. There was no-one defending on the near post. We equalised when Preece took a free kick quickly for Taylor to nod in. The first half was mostly possession by us, but very few good scoring chances were created. In fact Carlisle should have scored again but we managed to survive a goalmouth scramble.

The second half wasn't so good, going down to a second goal 2 minutes after half time when a near post throw-in was headed on, Barrett could only parry the ball onto a Carlisle forwards head who easily scored. A bad goal to give away. It got worse soon after when the ball was knocked back in after a corner, the forward turned it in past Barrett. From the terraces it looked well offside, but I'm told that the camera's showed it was a good goal as Taylor played him onside. We had some possession but again created few good chances, Barrett was the busier goalkeeper and made a few saves. Thompson came on half way through the second half, and we seemed tighter at the back.

Carlisle seemed happy to defend and hit us when they could, I thought that they seemed to have another gear available if required. We struggled as too many players didn't perform, Ashbee, Richards, Kyd and Hayes were all pretty anonymous. Preece was my Man of the Match, he was prompting all the time, unfortunately he didn't have Beall to do his running and chasing. Raynor also played pretty well. The three defenders were average, but at least Matt and Danny were able to get forward occasionally. Taylor was nearly always isolated at the front.

It was said that Hoddle shouldn't have experimented against Italy, I feel the same with our team on Friday. The changes didn't work. Perhaps now (as I have said before) is the time to go to a conventional 442?

Ratings:

Barrett 5, Joseph 6, Granville 6, Preece 8, Craddock 6, Raynor 7, Ashbee 4, Richards 4, Taylor 6, Kyd 4, Hayes 4. Sub: Thompson 5.

Terry Wilby.

Gareth Challis' match report:
There are good referees and there are bad referees. Then there is Gurnam Singh. A bad omen on United games, although it seems that the last two he has refereed seem to be going in our favour - first, the excellent 2-1 victory at the Cobblers and when he went off injured after 20 minutes against Welling in the FA Cup. Back to the good ol'days with Mr. Singh this time, consistently bad decisions showed the curse was back to haunt us again.

There was a difference about the Abbey while I was walking across Stourbridge Common to the game - the lights shone brightly. Looks like they had their first clean since they've been there. Sky TV were ruling the show here. A large crane at one end of the ground, three cameras along the Habin and two by the goals. Radio 5 in the press box. Alan 'Tosser' Brazil in the commentary box with Rob Hawthorne. The Media Circus hits town. They could have come when we played Darlington !

The atmosphere was excellent leading up to the game and all the way through the first half. Let's hope those kids who got in cheaply come back again (and again). The attendance was only 4,294, but it seemed much more packed from where I was standing. I don't think it's been that cramped in the Newmarket Road End since Man Utd paid a (lucky) visit.

There were some changes to the United starting eleven, with Richards coming in for Barnwell, and Hayes coming in for Beall. Not sure about the second of the changes. Sky's formation showed we would be playing 4-3-3, with Richards, Kyd and Shaggy up front, and Hayes in the middle of midfield !! Surely mistaken ?! Hayes did seem to spend a lot of time in the middle though ...

United started well, a Richards header just clearing the bar with only 65 seconds on the clock. The fluent passing that we displayed in the Orient first 45 was there again (but maybe not quite as brilliant !). We looked good. That was until a 6th minute bombshell - Carlisle's first attack resulting in a corner. Peacock powerfully headed home Archdeacon's corner for 1-0. Scotty had no chance.

Then began the long process of getting back into the game. This is something we did slowly but well, gradually forcing Carlisle back into their own penalty area again and again.

Carlisle had a shaky defence, but still looked calm and collected in midfield and up front, showing that they are a class above (most of) the rest of the division. There was no doubt they are good, and it wouldn't surprise me if they won the title from the faultering Fulham.

United's equalizer came on 37 minutes. A free-kick 25 yards out was clipped in by Preece catching the defence napping and allowing Taylor to run through a place his header past a powerless goalkeeper. 1-1 and we were on a roll.

The turning point in the game was arguably half-time. United's downfall was the 15 minute break that seems to always affect the way we play! Within two minutes of the restart we were behind again. A long throw from our left, was headed on by Pounewatchey. Barrett made the mistake of coming to the near post and wasn't able to get more than a fingertip to the ball, allowing Allen Smart a simple header 6 inches out.

We never seemed to kick into the same gear we had in the first half when chasing the game. Carlisle moved forward well, and we turned to hoofing the ball up the field. The third goal on 62 looked a mile offside to me from where I was standing. I'm yet to see this from a level position with the penalty box (Anglia used the pictures from the half-way camera). A corner was cleared, everyone pushed forward except Smart who hung around the penalty area seemingly alone. A header came back in to him and he clipped it past Barrett who did well to get a hand to the ball, before it trickled into the net.

This goal killed the game ... I've seen the U's come from 2 goals behind in only a couple of games (one we drew, one we eventually lost), and this game wasn't going to be another occurance. We didn't look even half the team we were in the first half.

Carlisle could have had more than three, with Archdeacon going closest pulling a fine save from Barrett. I can't help but think that Gurnam and his linesman (oops .. asst. referee) helped us lose the game. A 2-1 defeat was acceptable, as it was Scotty's mistake which let the second in, but the third was more than we deserved.

A couple of pints down the pub after the game didn't help forget a bad second half by the U's, but life goes on and we have a day out at Wembley to aim for. Promotion does not look likely automatically.

The biggest question raised must be why doesn't Roy McF. think it appropriate to bring on two attacking players who were on the bench when we went 3-1 down. Swapping a central defender (Thompson) for a wing-back seemed to be more 'Don't let in any more goals' than the correct 'Let's get a point out of this' attitude.

The future's dull .. the future's not such a nice shade of Amber any more.

Barrett   6 - Some great saves but let down by the 2nd goal mistake
Joseph    6
Granville 7
Preece    8  *MoM*
Craddock  6
Raynor    5
Ashbee    6
Richards  6
Taylor    6
Kyd       5
Hayes     5

Sub
Thompson  7 - For Ashbee on 73. Solid defending in the last 17 mins.

Finally a report from Ben Mynott:
First half I thought we were pretty good - playing some great passing football. We started superbly with Richards near miss but were pegged back after a good set piece goal from Carlisle. They dominated for just 5 minutes and then for the remainder of the half we had the better of it. However we failed to create many clear-cut chances. Shaggy's goal was a great one; Preece picked him out a treat but Shaggy still had to time his run well and place the header in the top corner.

Soon after there was an appeal for a penalty after Aspinall controlled the ball in the area, but even TV replays fail to prove it either way (I tortured myself by watching the entire TV coverage the following day).

Carlisle started the second half well and in just over 10 minutes had killed us off. A long throw set piece made it 2-1; Roy McF thought Barrett could have perhaps come to punch the ball, but he actually neither stayed nor went for it; he was caught in no man's land at the near post when the ball was flicked on. He almost made up for it with a save but simply palmed it onto Smart's head.

Their third goal looked offside, but replays show that Shaggy was probably level with Smart when the (very very flukey) ball came in. However Shaggy was quick to push up and normally the linesman would flag for offside. Barrett again failed to stop it; this time he didn't get enough on it and saw the ball trickle agonisingly into the bottom corner.

This killed the game off and made for a much duller second half. We really needed to bring on all three subs and play with two centre forwards as Shaggy was becoming more and more isolated, but all McF did was swap Ashbee with Thommo to allow Granville to make some forward runs.

On the whole it was probably a fair result, but had we had a bit more rub of the green (every deflection seemed to fall to a Carlisle player!) it could have been a different story. Carlisle were a class outfit and should go on to win the league, so we should take heart in the fact that we outplayed them in the first half.

More encouraging than some people have been making it sound anyway! But it looks like we'll have to settle for the play-offs - with plenty of work still to do!

Performances:

Barrett    5   Noticeably didn’t claim a single cross all game (the one he came for caused 
panic as he failed to call for it!).  At fault for the second goal at least - we need a more 
commanding keeper.

Joseph     7   Made some good runs forward and made a goal-saving tackle in the first half.

Ashbee     5   Played out of position, but he got forward well.  However he couldn’t cross 
with his left foot, which got increasingly annoying!

Craddock   6   Fairly solid.

Granville  7   Good composed performance.

Preece     7.5 Was involved throughout, constantly prodding and probing. 
Good game, and got the sponsor’s MoM award.

Raynor     8.5 My MoM, I thought he stood out a mile.  You couldn’t see all his good work 
from the Sky coverage, but seeing him live made you appreciate his hard work, commitment, 
passion, skill, passing.  The list goes on.  He made several inch perfect 50+ yard passes.  
I wasn’t totally alone thinking he was MoM; I see the CEN ratings agree, as did both my Dad 
and sister.  Yet again I totally disagree with Gareth - becoming a bit of a habit this!

Hayes      6   I thought McF was wrong to drop Beall for Hayes, but in the first half I was 
proved wrong as Adi had a very good game.  He was surprisingly strong in the air and was 
involved in most attacks.  However he faded very badly in the second half and really should 
have been replaced.

Kyd        6.5 Tried hard all game but nothing quite came off for him.

Shaggy     6.5 Good first half, but became increasingly isolated in the second.

Richards   6   Failed to really impress.

Sub
Thommo     6.5 No nonsense defending for 15 or so minutes.

Many thanks to Gareth Challis, Terry Wilby and Ben Mynott for the reports.

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