By Jon Colman

Last updated at 09:25, Friday, 27 November 2009

You scoop the ball out of your net three times on your league debut but still hop onto the team coach at the end of the evening wearing the sunniest of smiles.

Adam Collin

This was Adam Collin’s strange new world on Tuesday night. There may be many routine days ahead for Carlisle United’s aspiring goalkeeper, so how does a chaotic 4-3 away victory sound for his maiden Football League appearance?

“It was an eventful one,” grinned the young gloveman, who was informed at noon two days ago that he would be taking Lenny Pidgeley’s place between the posts for United’s daunting trip to MK Dons.

Collin is advised that all the frenzied activity which took place in front of him for 90 minutes at stadium:mk is not the weekly convention in league football, even though United’s astonishing victory has given the former Workington Reds man a useful 90-minute drama seminar.

For half-an-hour, the 24-year-old was a disbelieving spectator as Carlisle swept to a three-goal lead. Then the bewildered goalkeeper blamelessly shed three goals in the space of 12 minutes as the Dons roared back, before Joe Anyinsah went up the other end to pocket a winner for Greg Abbott’s side.

Amid these fluctuating scenes, it’s necessary to point out the moments when Collin distinguished himself in his first taste of league combat, such as the flying save which kept out Jason Puncheon’s free-kick on the brink of half-time, and then the confident claim when a Dons set-piece was aimed into the United box during injury-time’s anxious closing seconds.

Over to the man himself, then, to make some sense of what he took part in 48 hours ago.

“To start with, to make my league debut at that great stadium was fantastic,” he said. “And what a start we had, going 3-0 up. Then all of a sudden two goals go flying past me in a mad five minutes.

“At half-time, we came in and said we would have taken a one-goal lead at half-time, which we still had. We talked about keeping it steady for the first 20 minutes of the second half, but within a couple of minutes they had got their third goal.

“That put the pressure right back on us, so for Joe then to pop up with a winner was fantastic and in the end we got the right result.”

Carlisle’s difficulty in keeping clean sheets in the league – they’ve managed just two in 18 outings so far this term – was not eased by Collin’s introduction for the dropped Pidgeley but it is difficult to pin responsibility for any of the Dons’ trio of goals on the new man’s shoulders.

“For the first one, I didn’t even see [Luke] Chadwick kick it, let alone see the ball go past me. For the second one, I managed to make the block but then he [Chadwick] scored from the rebound.

“For the third, I spoke to Hartey [Ian Harte] after the game and he said maybe he should have done a bit better in getting it away, but to be fair it was a great ball through and Sam Baldock, who scored, has got a bit of pace on him.

“But that’s gone now. And for us to go back and get the fourth goal was massive. It shows what a great group we’ve got here. Whenever we are down we will always keep fighting.”

He speaks like a first-team veteran, not a greenhorn of just three senior appearances (his previous two came in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy) - a tally that you presume will be boosted by a decent run in the side now manager Greg Abbott has decided to judge whether Collin is a superior alternative to Pidgeley in United’s goal.

“I always get a bit nervous before a game, and when the gaffer told me I was in the team it was no different,” said the former Newcastle trainee. “But I thought I handled it quite well.

“I was delighted after the Chesterfield game in the JPT, and now to make my league debut I’m even more delighted. Now I want to kick on from here and hopefully get a run in the team.

“I’m grateful for the gaffer for giving me my chance in full-time football to start with, and now for giving me my debut in league football. It’s up to me to keep working hard now.

“I knew when I signed in the summer I was going to be number two to start with. When Lenny came in, the gaffer explained he had to sign an experienced goalkeeper. But I believed in my own ability, worked as hard as I could and I have got my chance now.”

It seems implausible that Collin will not now be granted a home debut on Saturday when Norwich return to Brunton Park for an FA Cup second round clash which will be beamed live to the country via the FA’s website.

It is a prospect which keeps that smile fixed on the face of a goalkeeper whose leap from the unglamorous surroundings of Blue Square North now looks a shade more convincing.

“To make my home debut on Saturday in such a big game would be fantastic,” he said.

“I’ll always look back fondly on my time at Workington, but this is a different world. It’s where I’ve worked hard to be and I’m determined to make a success of it.”

First published at 11:21, Thursday, 26 November 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk