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Carlisle 1
Lincoln 0
29th March 2006
Lincoln City fell to a narrow defeat at league leaders
Carlisle United on Tuesday evening.
Imps' boss Keith Alexander was forced to make one
alteration to the side that defeated Grimsby Town last
Saturday. Left-back Paul Mayo suffered an arm injury
during the Grimsby match, so he was unable to play
against Carlisle. Taking Mayo's place at left-back was
Lee Beevers, which meant that Lee Frecklington stated the
match in Beevers' former midfield role.
A foul by Luke Foster on Chris Lumsdon indirectly led to
a Carlisle corner after just twenty-five seconds of play.
Thankfully, Lincoln's defence was alert and the danger
was quickly ended. Three minutes later, Lincoln won a
corner but Carlisle's goalkeeper Kieron Westwood rose
highest to claim Scott Kerr's delivery.
The first goal scoring opportunity of the match arose in
the 5th minute when Michael Bridges tested Alan Marriott
from 12-yards. Marriott was equal to the shot and made a
comfortable save from the former Leeds United striker,
who perhaps should have done better. The lack of finish
spoilt a well worked move that had seen Lumsdon's superb
pass create the opportunity.
Bridges reminded Lincoln of the threat that he possesses,
by dipping a 17th minute shot just over the crossbar. Two
minutes later, Carlisle missed a great opportunity when
Derek Holmes headed Peter Murphy's corner just wide of
the post. Bridges was in the thick of the action yet
again, when he curled a long-range shot wide in the 24th
minute following good holding play by Holmes.
Carlisle, prior to the thirty minute mark, proved the
more adventous side. However, Lincoln then won two
corners in quick succession but could not capitalise.
Even though Carlisle were trying to make the passing
breakthrough, they were mainly restricted to long-range
efforts. In the 35th minute, Chris Billy fired one such
attempt over the crossbar from 30 yards.
A minute afterwards, Karl Hawley, who was being well
marshalled by Lincoln's defence finally found some space.
Luckily, his shot flew over the crossbar, as did a shot
by Lincoln's Foster soon afterwards.
The best chance of the first half fell to Lincoln in the
39th minute, when they won a corner. Kerr's delivery was
headed goalwards by Mavin Robinson but Westwood made a
fine catch on the goal line to deny Robinson his second
goal in consecutive matches. Little else of significance
happened during the first half although Carlisle did
squander yet another corner.
The second half commenced with Bridges taking a
long-range pot shot that flew over the crossbar. Lincoln
came within a whisker of taking the lead, when four
minutes later, Robinson saw his shot rebound off the
crossbar. Robinson was especially unlucky because he had
beaten two defenders before shooting.
This reprieve jolted Carlisle back on to the attack, and
Lumsdon forced Marriott into a good save from his 51st
minute volley. Carlisle quickly regained possession to
win a 53rd minute corner, which was cleared by Lincoln.
The game's first caution occurred in the 53rd minute,
when Foster was shown the yellow card for a foul on Paul
Arnison. The next booking came in the 61st minute, when
Lumsden was punished for a foul on Foster. Shortly before
that caution, Lincoln had replaced Franny Green with
youth teamer Tom Wilkinson, who was making his first team
debut.
Unsurprisingly, Bridges, who once commanded a £5million
transfer fee, was always a threat. His next chance came
in the 63rd minute, but once again, Marriott thwarted
him.
With twenty minutes remaining, Carlisle decided to make a
substitution in an attempt to break the deadlock. This
saw Holmes leave the pitch to be replaced by Glenn
Murray.
The substutition achieved its intention just four minutes
later, when Bridges scored. Lumsdon created the goal by
passing to Bridges, who sent a right-foot low
past Marriott for 1-0. This was after Bridges had shown
good skill in controlling Lumsdon's pass.
A minute after Hawley had seen his 25-yard effort
gathered by Marriott, Lincoln opted to make a second
substitution. This time, Frecklington's midfield presence
was sacrificed for striker Gary Birch. Two minutes
afterwards, Lincoln won a 79th minute corner, but an
offside flag quickly came to Carlisle's rescue.
Lincoln's final gamble saw Foster replaced by long-throw
specialist Jude Stirling in the 82nd minute. However, the
only event of note from that moment to the final whistle
was a booking for Stirling after he had fouled Bridges.
Overall, a narrow defeat for Lincoln, but no matter how
narrow, it is a still defeat that has slightly dented The
Imps' play-off hopes. On the positive side, Lincoln did
practically match Carlisle, who are now favourites for
the League Two title.
Carlisle: K Westwood, P Arnison, K Gray,
D Livesey, Z Aranalde, C Billy, C Lumsdon, P Murphy, D
Holmes (71 G Murray), K Hawley, M Bridges
Unused subs: A Williams, A Murray, S Grand, S Hackney
Lincoln
City: A
Marriott, C Cryan, J McCombe, N Brown, L Beevers, L
Frecklington (78 G Birch), L Foster (83 J Stirling), S
Kerr, F Green (61 T Wilkinson), J Forrester, M Robinson
Unused subs: S Robinson, M Gritton.
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