Late winner from Tom Pope
Saturday 7th September 2013
Carlisle United v Port Vale
League One
Liam Noble, Josh Gillies, Mark Beck, David Symington, Greg Fleming, Jack Lynch, Lewis Guy SUBS: Mark Gillespie, Conor Townsend, Mtty Robson, Danny Livesey, David Amoo, Lee Miller, Paul Thirlwell, Brad Potts, James Berrett, Troy Archibald-Henville, Leon McSweeney. CARLISLE UNITED:
3,866 including 407 visiting supporters At Brunton Park
Attendance: Chris Lines,,Chris Shuker Lee HughesKaid Mohamed,
Micky Adams kept faith in the eleven who started against Bury in midweek, with the only changes coming on the bench.
With a bench of seven, as opposed to the five allowed in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, there was always going to be room for two more.
and with Kaid Mohamed and Lee Hughes in there too the manager’s intentions were quite obvious for a game Vale needed to do well in. Adam Yates, Gavin Tomlin and Chris Lines were all in the dugout
Vale had an early scare when James Berrett was allowed to get to the byeline on the left and get in a cross, with the Vale defence looking unsure.
Lee Miller met the ball with a firm header, which crashed off the crossbar before striking Chris Neal on the back, but fortunately Vale were able to deny the home side an early opener.
Ben Williamson had an opportunity at the other end after latching on to a nicely weighted through ball from Louis Dodds, using his pace to take him past two defenders before lifting the ball over the bar.
Vale looked less than comfortable when being attacked down the flanks, with both David Amoo and Matty Robson looking to take full advantage.
In contrast, the home defence looked untroubled when Vale were on the attack, generally coping with everything Vale had to offer.
minute when Richard Duffy picked out Tom Pope in space, finding him with the perfect pass.thVale had a chance to put that to rights in the 20
Pope. 20 yards from goal, looked to have time to take it on into the box, but elected to shoot early and Gillespie in the Carlisle goal got down well to smother the ball..
Williamson was a little unfortunate when he took advantage of a moment of indecisiveness in the home defence to nick the ball, turn sharply and shoot - unfortunately over the bar.
Griffith was coming under fire from a section of the home support after one particular challenge saw Robson require treatment.
Two minutes before the interval Amoo held his head in his hands after heading over from two yards out when he really ought to have put the ball in the net.
Despite creating a few chances, Vale were second best for much of the opening forty-five minutes. The half time talk will have been interesting.
With just a minute of the second half gone, Louis Dodds received the ball to feet from Chris Robertson out wide on the right and was allowed to turn inside the box, but his shot was cleared off the line by Danny Livesey.
Vale were looking the livelier of the two sides early on in the second half, but soon found themselves under pressure for a spell as the home side looked to get a foothold in the game once again.
Vale made three changes within the space of thirty seconds in the 63rd minute. Dodds, Williamson and Birchall making way for Gavin Tomlin, Kaid Mohamed and Jennison Myrie-Williamson.
All of a sudden Vale looked to have a bit more urgency about them and they began to peg the home side back inside their own half.
Vale’s football was flowing and you could almost see the confidence begin to drain from the home players as Vale upped their game.
Vale were not having it all their own way though and they needed to remain focussed at the back as Carlisle looked for a late winner.
GOAL: who netted his fourth goal in three games, sweeping home a pass from skipper Doug Loft in the third minute of stoppage time.TOM POPEThat honour fell to Vale, however, and it was