I feared the worst when the FA forced us to play the match at Victoria Park. The irony was the pitch was unplayable on Sunday, but two good days of weather allowed the pitch to be passed fit for play after a morning pitch inspection.
I for one was pleased with the switch because it resulted in a 40 mile round trip instead of 160 miles.
I had left Rotherham on Saturday with more than a little optimism building inside of me. By the time I got to Hartlepool I was feeling quite confident that the tide was turning.
The big surprise was the appearance of our new keeper from Reading, Van Der Kwaak. He didn't instil much confidence into the 200 Blues behind the goal when he palmed a straight forward shot luckily round the post after three minutes. Hartlepool had all the early pressure in game buzzing at a hundred miles an hour. The pitch was in a poor state and heavily sanded in the penalty areas and middle of the pitch. After 10 minutes Carlisle slowly started to get into the match. On 14 minutes a back pass got caught in the mud and Martin Hollund fluffed his clearance allowing Steven Halliday to show good composure rounding the keeper and wacking the ball into an unguarded net. Great start.
Shaun Teale was organising well at the back and but for the nervy antics of the new keeper, the defence looked solid most of the game. Peter Clarke had one of his best games for ages, both defensively and going forward, linking well with Searle on occasions. Matthew Pitts and Paul Reid seemed to be benefit from the constant instructions from Teale who worked tirelessly to keep the back fours shape throughout the match. Shades of Derek Mountfield. In midfield Steve Soley was disappointing and didn't return for the second half, being replaced by Tony Hopper who proved much more effective particularly when we were under pressure. Dobie was also disappointing, seeing plenty of the ball but generally always trying to beat one man too many, frustratingly when team mates were in good positions waiting for a pass. Rob McKinnon was influential but desperately needs to get some weight off. However his goal after 50 minutes was right out of the top drawer. In a four man move (not been many of those this season) Tony Hopper clipped a peach of a ball into McKinnons path. His first touch was perfection and his subsequent left foot volley across the keeper into the top corner was worth paying the admission for. Carlisle were now well in command. The inevitable pressure from Hartlepool followed but we defended stoutly. With ten minutes to go an amazing goal mouth melee resulted in around 16 players hacking away at a ball that travelled along our goal line from right to left before being some how forced out for a corner. As the nerves were subsiding with time running out for Pool, Van Der Kwaak fumbled a deep cross to allow Lee to force the ball home. The nerves returned but we held out reasonably comfortably for the remaining minutes.
All in all, a night to savour.
I think we need someone else to partner the impressive Halliday up front. John Durnin just doesn't have the pace any more to play as an out and out striker and would be much more effective in central midfield. However I think the signs are positive and three points from the Shrewsbury game are imperative. Lose to the Shrews and we will be isolated with Chester, but I think that the likes of Exeter and York can still be caught. Optimism is a wonderful feeling. Long may it last.
Mike Corry
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