On-loan keeper scores in 95th minute of final game to save Carlisle
Sunday May 9, 1999 - by Rupert Metcalf
In the fifth minute of injury time, at the end of the final half of the final match of the Third Division season, Carlisle United were yesterday saved from banishment out of the Football League by a goal from, of all unlikely heroes, their on-loan keeper, Jimmy Glass (above), who promptly had to make a quick getaway from delighted fans.
With Scarborough, the other team in danger of the drop into the Conference, having drawn at home to Peterborough, Carlisle had to beat Plymouth Argyle to stay up. All chances - and time - had nearly expired when the Cumbrians won a corner deep into injury time. Scott Dobie's header from Graham Anthony's kick was parried by the Plymouth goalkeeper, and there, in his red keeper's jersey and gloves, was Glass to drive the ball into the net from close range for an unlikely 2-1 victory. "It fell to me, wallop, goal, thank you very much" a beaming Glass said afterwards.
Ecstatic home fans invaded the pitch to mob Glass after he scored and, following a delay of three minutes while the field was cleared, the referee blew his whistle to end the game as soon as play re-started. Scarborough, rather than Carlisle, had lost their place in the league.
"If that script had been written by anyone, they would have been laughed at" Michael Knighton, Carlisle's controversial chairman, said. Knighton was the recipient of abuse throughout the game - he as taken all the blame from the fans for the club's poor season - but he was in typically ebullient form after the match. "I'm so grateful to those supporters who can control themselves" he said "They can shout as much as they like but they turned up. That's what matters."
As for the real hero of the day, Glass was playing only his third game for Carlisle - and probably his last. He joined the Cumbrians on loan from Swindon Town last month when the club found themselves without a goalkeeper and, as it took place after the transfer deadline, the Football League had to give special permission.
"When I was asked to come here I didn't know the position they were in." said Glass, who played up front in his youth. "When I found out I nearly turned around and went home again."
The final word, though, went to Knighton. "I believe in the hand of God," he said "He had a little wink at me in the 90th minute, and I thank him very much.
Glass is raised to ease pain for shattered fans
It was the fourth minute of injury time. Carlisle United needed a winner to preserve their 71-year-old Football League status. Enter the hero. The home side won a corner. Up came their goalkeeper, Jimmy Glass. The flag-kick from Graham Anthony found David Brightwell [er, Scott Dobie], whose header was parried by James Dungey, Plymouth's keeper. The rebound was driven into the net by a gleeful Glass to give the Cumbrians victory and send Scarborough, who could only draw at home to Peterborough, down into the Conference.
It was Scarborough's 3-0 home win over Plymouth on Wednesday which had sent Carlisle to the bottom of the table for the first time since August. Such a depressing season has been hard to bear for the fans of a club which briefly led the old First Division just 25 years ago, and it was clear who they blamed for their team's plight in recent years.
The arrival in the directors' box of the Carlisle chairman, Michael Knighton, was greeted by vehement abuse from the crowd. He had rashly promised to make the Cumbrians a power in the land when he arrived at Brunton Park seven years ago. Instead, his policy of selling promising young players and hiring inadequate replacements sent the club on a downward spiral.
Within five minutes of the start the fans were turning their backs on the pitch to shout "fat greedy bastard" at Knighton. Events elsewhere produced the first cheer of the day - a Peterborough goal at Scarborough.
In the eighth minute a Richard Tracey header hit the bar to bring the crowd to their feet again. However, Carlisle's play was punctuated with errors and further chances were hard to come by until the 25th minute, when Scott Dobie's header sent the ball into the Argyle net. The "goal" was ruled out because of a pushing offence, though.
Two Graham Anthony corners almost produced goals. From the first a Dobie header was just too high, from the second a Brightwell header was blocked on the line by Jon Beswetherick.
Carlisle were made to pay for those missed chances in the third minute of the second half when Plymouth took the lead. The 18-year-old midfielder Lee Philips finished a good run by sending a low left-foot shot into the corner of the net from 20 yards.
That setback, plus the news that Scarborough had equalised, turned the home fans' mood ugly again, and Knighton came in for more fearful stick. The mood changed in the 61st minute, though, when Brightwell thumped a 30-yard drive past Dungey to equalise.
Carlisle needed another goal to have a chance of staying up and their attacks became desperate as the minutes ticked by. Salvation was on its way, however, from a most unlikely source......
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