Carlisle left themselves with a lot to do in the 2nd leg of this first round Worthington Cup tie following a two goal defeat at Blundell Park tonight. Grimsby dominated most of the game but Carlisle were unlucky not to get that elusive away goal when they came back strongly in the last 20 minutes of the second half.
Carlisle player coach Julian Darby was pleased with the performance. He said "We felt comfortable at the back and restricted them to long range efforts and but for one mad minute would have got something out of the game. We got into the game in the second half when we reverted to 4-4-2 and we will try that again. We havn't had a lot of luck so far this season but I feel we are improving all the time and look forward to the York game on Friday."
Grimsby started the brighter with Alan Pouton going close in the 5th minute, forcing Luke Weaver to turn his rasping drive over the bar.
Carlisle's first chance fell to Dave Lee in the 18th minute when he shot over the bar from the edge of the box.
Grimsby took a deserved lead in the 36th minute when the ball broke to Stacy Coldicott on the edge of the box and he curled a stunning 20 yard shot past Weaver into the top right hand corner of the net.
Worse was to follow when thirty seconds later Bradley Allen turned Mark Birch in the box and hit a low shot across Weaver into the corner of the net.
A 45th Steve Soley free kick almost Carlisle back into the game but Mariners keeper Danny Coyne made a good save.
The second half started in the same vein as the first with Grimsby going close in the 46th minute when Paul Groves forced Weaver into another save. On 64 minutes Grimsby should have increased their lead but Michael Jeffrey miscued his shot in front of an open goal.
The introduction of Matt Pitts, for Antony Carrs, allowed Carlisle to revert to a 4-4-2 formation. They almost pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute when Ian Stevens turned in the box only to see his shot cleared off the line by Paul Raven.
In the 84th minute substitute Scott Dobie headed narrowly wide. In the final minute Dave Lee was unlucky to see his shot cleared off the line.
Carlisle can take heart from a good second half performance and are clearly not yet out of this tie.
Mike Corry
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