In Carlisle’s position every point has got to be a welcome one but the Cumbrians will feel it was two points lost against a Plymouth side who have not won away from Holme Park in over 15 months.
To say the first half was dire is an understatement with Carlisle failing to get a shot on target and the Pilgrims only managing the one. The home side looked lethargic after the exertions of the midweek defeat to Hartlepool and the quality of the passing at times was appalling.
The second half improvement was as much to do with a change to 4-4-2 as the player’s half time verbal lashing from manager Ian Atkins. However it took an opening goal from the Pilgrims French midfielder David Friio to sparkle the game into a semblance of life before Ian Stevens poached his thirteenth goal of the season to earn the point.
Atkins was disappointed with the performance and said after the game: "There was no pace to the game today and we never got to grips until late on. It was a very bitty performance at times. We looked lethargic in the first half and when things aren’t quite right you have to keep things simple. The players wanted to do individual things, we were trying drag backs and back flicks and we aren’t good enough to do that. I thought we had a lot of chances but we needed something to kick us up the backside to get us going. The thing that disappointed me was we had three against two in the middle of the park and at no stage did we have control of it. Sometimes these performances occur but to be fair to the players they have stuck at it and we’ve ended up getting a point and at the end of the season that could be invaluable."
First half chances were almost as elusive as the members of Mamcarr Investments but Steve Soley had the best of them after eight minutes but drove his shot wide from Ian Steven’s lay off. Mark Birch then went close after 25 minutes when Plymouth keeper Jon Sheffield palmed a ball into the wing backs path only for the youngster to fire wide of the left hand post. A slack back pass from Darren Carr nine minutes later almost let in the Pilgrim’s Paul McGreggor but Matty Glennon was quickly off his line to clear.
Plymouth had the only shot on target of the half on 40 minutes when Wayne O’ Sullivan’s shot deflected off Birch forcing Glennon into a full length save to his right.
Eight minutes into the second half Carlisle should have taken the lead when Lee Maddison’s foraging run and cross down the left presented Scott Dobie with a good chance but he headed straight at Sheffield.
The Cumbrians paid dearly for the miss when Plymouth took the lead thirty seconds later.
David Friio picked the ball up on the halfway line before laying the ball wide right to McGreggor. The little French midfielder continued his run perfectly to get on the end of McGreggor's resulting cross to head past Glennon who had no cover from his central defenders.
Ian Atkin’s made a double substitution on the hour, Tony Hemmings and Gordon Connelly replacing Prokas and Carr. The tactical switch gave Carlisle more possession and Plymouth keeper Sheffield was kept busy, making saves from Soley and Whitehead before winning a one on one with Stevens.
Pilgrims defender Paul Wooton put the ball past Sheffield after 72nd minutes and was relieved to see it slip past the right hand post.
Just as the home supporters were thinking it was going to be one of those days, Tony Hemmings surging run down the left got him to the byline, before whipping a cross onto Dobie’s head and Steven’s was on hand to force the header over the line with just six minutes left.
Mike Corry
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