Cod Almighty | Match Report
by Sarah Barber
29 September 2024
Town are gonna win this…Town are gonna win this…please
Town lined up in a 5-2-3-1 formation: Eastwood; Hume, Tharme, Rodgers, Warren; McJannet, McEachran; Khouri, Wilson, Barrington, Rose. The substitutes were Auton, Cass, Carson, Ainley, SvanǷorsson, Gardner and Pyke
Many Grimbarians – those who have no choice but to follow the Town – find themselves scattered to the four winds and create families by drawing in outsiders. These incomers often make the unfathomable decision to follow Town too. In this report, the (italicised) external voices will be provided by a partner and a Bulgarian dog. For reasons to be explained later, more outside voices were needed to fill in the first 15 minutes of play.
[From a car left some distance from the ground, unable to access the now-closed Carlisle carparks] "Ere! Where’s my walk?" "Sorry: you're a Town dog now."
First half – Who let the dogs out
We arrived to the roar of the crowd as Town went down after 12 minutes (Town having escaped an earlier penalty shout, failed to clear a corner from the Carlisle right which was headed in by Lavelle low by Eastwood's nearside post) and by the time we had made it into the stand, Eastwood was receiving treatment on the pitch and was subsequently stretchered off. Making his first team debut then, 17-year old, second-year academy goalkeeper, Seb Auton; squad number 41. Standing a mighty (nearly) five-foot-nine, once he has his goalkeeping gloves on, his hands are as big as his body.
…[flashback: a tiny car containing two Town fans and a large brown dog doing a steady 5mph up the M6 behind what turned out to be 375 tonnes of plant transporting an electricity transformer]
"This is the Town lineup"
"So Wright's not even on the bench?…"
Town looked vulnerable and pulled players back to support Auton (officially described as 5-3-2), with Barrington playing a false 32. Then, on 24 minutes Barrington ran onto to Hume's superb pass from deep inside the heart of Town's half and fired an equally precise shot into the bottom left corner of Lewis's goal.
We're going to win this.
26 minutes: another Carlisle run down their left with interplay between Harper and Jones and then ping-pong back and forth over the seven Town players in the penalty area, leaving the unmarked Sadi to sneak in at the far post to get behind Auton's right-hand side: 2-1.
The remaining 18 minutes, plus five added were frustrating ones for Town fans. Forced to pull players back, they rarely escaped their own half, while Carlisle could pass at will from flank to flank and the speed of Jones, Sadi and Armstrong was no match for Town's brand of static play. Cue the habitual "Press Town!", "What's that?!", "Close them down!" (all tidied up for broadcast purposes).
Five minutes of added time: 2:1 at half time.
Brunton Park played us Blue Monday (thanks) while a group of 16 children (3 girls – hurray), played a very similar game of passing the ball along the half-way line, perhaps in homage to Town.
We're going to win this.
Second half – Dog day afternoon
Town swapped their right-back: Warren off; Lewis Cass on. It would be fair to say that we did not appreciate the subtle mind of Dave. But actually, Cass played further forward than Warren and to some effect, although it was still essentially Town defending in their own half. Ainley came on for Barrington (68’), followed on 79 minutes by Gardner for Tharme (who had been playing very deep to protect Auton) and SvanǷorsson for Wilson who had run onto another long pass from deep, only to pass straight into Carlisle's goalie, Lewis.
We're going to win this.
Then there were sorties, sort of. Rose attempted a bicycle kick. Then he managed to connect the outside of a boot with a bobbling ball: goalie collected low to his right. Seconds later Town won a corner on the left. Carlisle cleared but Hume crossed it back in for Cass to connect with his head, getting in front of the marking defender for his first league goal for Town. I'm sorry for everything I ever said about you Lewis. With 11 minutes to defend the point, this equaliser was a long way from what could have been expected 11 minutes in.
It had taken 80 minutes, but then Town played. If they lost the ball they ran back. They defended stoutly and with precision and didn't just do that thing they do when they let the ball hit them and then wonder where it has ricocheted. They had speed and accuracy and movement. We all know they can play like this: they just do it in short bursts. Kouri had a shot he didn't hit with enough power, which was a shame because Lewis (goalie, not Cass) was going through his own time of stasis.
We're going to win this. …And then we did.
Approaching full time SvanǷorsson's speed and agility carved through Carlisle's midfield and Town exploited the full width of the pitch (at last!). Town mounted a (muted) penalty shout when Carlisle substitute Thomas was deemed to have handled to put Khouri's chance on goal beyond the byline. Instead, they got a corner (groan) on the left which Hume played short (groan) only for Rodgers to head home Ainley's superbly-weighted cross and we entered the no groan zone.
There were four minutes of added time – who cares? Delirium.
I shan't miss much about the North-West and I shan't miss Brunton Park. But never has the food, drink, mountains and moors of Tebay Services been more appreciated by 445 Town supporters and a Bulgarian dog.