Last updated at 12:05, Monday, 16 November 2009

Bristol Rovers 3 Carlisle United 2: Rarely has a team been so appropriately nicknamed, because the victory Bristol Rovers snaffled here was undeniably the work of Pirates.

Bristol Rovers Charles Reece catches Carlisle's Evan Horwood in the face

It would be taking things too far to suggest Carlisle were the victims of pure banditry on Saturday. But that’s pretty much how it felt.

On the basis that no football match is ever lost by accident, it’s necessary to run a cutlass through attempts to spin this as a hard-luck story from first whistle to last. The home side’s first and third goals were preventable and that needs to sit highly in any analysis of what we saw through the whipping wind and rain two days ago.

That said, reports of United’s generally bright performance pass the accuracy test. It was sufficiently bright that fate’s bullet in the 94th minute – when Chris Lines bundled in the winner with one of the last kicks of the game – was particularly cruel for Greg Abbott’s men to take.

With that scrambled finish from Rovers’ number four, one team’s wretched sequence of form was ended and another side’s encouraging rise was abruptly checked. The Pirates sailed into battle with six straight defeats in their wake, while the Blues took a four-match unbeaten run to the West Country.

Fortune duly spun against United and Abbott’s most important task now is psychological: ensuring his players’ spirits have not been battered by Lines’ late dramatics after so much recent progress. “They are a good group and nobody will be feeling sorry for themselves,” insisted the Carlisle manager, who needs these confident words to be validated when he takes his team to Morecambe tomorrow for a financially important FA Cup replay.

The nagging feeling that the Cumbrians have not yet mastered the art of closing out a game can be challenged by recent triumphs over Charlton and Chesterfield, but then you see them fall to defeat from promising positions in a game like this and the suspicion returns.

To properly banish the theory that United are not always at their most comfortable when in the lead, they need to bolt down wins with greater frequency than they are currently managing. Richard Keogh’s 72nd minute header ought to have lit the path to victory – or at least a draw, accounting for Jeff Hughes’ magnificent equaliser eight minutes from time.

Saying these things doesn’t have to be read as an all-out attack on Abbott’s team, who are doing plenty of good work and have hit upon some encouraging goalscoring form (10 goals in their last four games). It is the act of converting such efforts into a consistent stream of results that remains an unconquerable frontier for Carlisle as autumn starts to bite.

By kick-off, the filthy pre-match rain had abated but the swirling wind had not. It put smooth, passing football at a premium and it is to United’s credit that they dealt with the conditions quicker than their anxious rivals. From their early forays, Joe Anyinsah almost served up a chance for Adam Clayton, and then a rash of unconvincing home defending saw a Matty Robson cross eventually ricochet into Vincent Pericard’s path in front of goal, only for the striker to drive the golden chance at the legs of Mikkel Andersen, the Rovers goalkeeper.

Paul Trollope’s players stirred in the 19th minute, with a surge from Lines and a pass to Dominic Blizzard, who was thwarted by Danny Livesey. But Carlisle remained the prevailing side and claimed a merited opening goal two minutes later when an Evan Horwood cross was put behind for a corner, and then Graham Kavanagh bent over an expert set-piece which Ian Harte converted on the volley.

Rovers’ response was unconvincing, as United’s rearguard appeared well-set to handle the erratic threats of Jo Kuffour and Chris Dickson. Until the 34th minute, that is; when Kuffour suddenly managed to pivot away from Harte and rip a low shot into the bottom corner from close range.

The equaliser levered the home side back into the game, while chances continued to be traded evenly: Anyinsah blocking a Blizzard drive, Pericard hitting a searing shot just wide for United, and then Lenny Pidgeley saving superbly from Danny Coles’ header on the brink of the break.

As 272 fans shivered under the away end’s canvas covering, Abbott’s team retrieved their composure and attempted to threaten Rovers again. Kavanagh, in an advanced midfield role, almost worked the trick with a couple of edge-of-the-area blasts in the second half’s early stages, while the otherwise unimpressive Dickson blasted one inches over at the other end.

If clear openings were tough to find, United appeared to be posing the more plausible danger. And after Livesey had mopped up a dangerous Kuffour cross, they marched downfield and reclaimed their lead. Stuart Campbell felled Anyinsah, Kavanagh’s free-kick was cleared to Matty Robson on the left, and the winger’s hanging cross was planted into the top corner by Keogh, who then cupped his ears to the jeering home fans who had made him a target due to his Bristol City connections.

Yet the defender’s jubilation was premature. Abbott swapped Pericard for Scott Dobie but his team were unable to screw down the points from this stage onwards. After Pidgeley got behind a Lines free-kick, the hosts’ second equaliser steamed along, and there can only be ladles of praise for the controlled violence of Hughes’ shot from the left which clattered the right-hand post and then found the net.

The stunning finale was now at hand. It could still have been Carlisle’s victory, had Kevan Hurst – on for Anyinsah – applied a more convincing header to Harte’s searching cross in the 88th minute. But then came Rovers’ final advance, which led to a corner on the left, a curling delivery from Campbell and Lines’ thumping finish in the six-yard box.

“Sometimes in football you don’t get what you deserve,” argued Abbott at close of play. The alternative view throws light on the missed chances by such as Pericard and Hurst, the failure to put the clamp on Kuffour and Lines when it counted, and a brace of substitutions which did not have the desired effect, and points you towards the conclusion that United’s defeat here – however painful – was not simply a lightning bolt of rotten luck.

Still, instinct urges you not to go after Abbott and his troops too fiercely today. The manager’s claim that displays like this will yield a fair return of points over the season deserves a broadly sympathetic hearing. The fact United have yet to lace together three straight wins on his year-long watch tells you how far down consistency’s road they are. But there are emphatic defeats, and then there are muggings.

LENNY PIDGELEY - In difficult goalkeeping conditions, he made a couple of fine saves but failed to deal with Rovers’ crucial final corner

RICHARD KEOGH - Answered home fans’ jeers with the goal that should have been Carlisle’s winner, and defended aggressively

EVAN HORWOOD - Attentive in his defensive duties and was often a useful attacking presence down United’s left

DANNY LIVESEY- Put himself in harm’s way more than once and made several crucial interventions in the rearguard effort

IAN HARTE -Defender’s eye for goal remains a huge asset – he is now the Blues’ top scorer – but could have done more to prevent Rovers’ first leveller

TOM TAIWO - The loan teenager competed well in midfield and used the ball sensibly

ADAM CLAYTON - Man City rookie was composed in possession on his league debut, but no heroics on this occasion

MATTY ROBSON - Posed some problems to Rovers down the left and his cross led to Keogh’s goal

JOE ANYINSAH - More threatening than some of his recent outings down the right, later sacrificed for Hurst

GRAHAM KAVANAGH - Expert corner for Harte’s opener and always looked to create in his advanced midfield role

VINCENT PERICARD - Should have snaffled early chance, but led line with his usual strength

Subs: Scott Dobie (for Pericard, 75) – Unable to help close game down; Kevan Hurst (for Anyinsah, 86) – Late chance to win it; Not used: Adam Collin, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Peter Murphy, Richard Offiong, Tony Kane

Goals: Harte 21, Keogh 72

Booked: Taiwo

Bristol Rovers: Andersen, Regan, Anthony, Coles, Hughes, Lines, Blizzard (Reece 76), Campbell, Swallow (Williams 68), Dickson (Duffy 63), Kuffour. Not used: Evans, Elliott, Hunt, Clough.

Goals: Kuffour 34, Hughes 82, Lines 90

Booked: Regan, Williams

Crowd: 5,862 (272 Carlisle fans)

Ref: Grant Hegley (Herts)

First published at 11:37, Monday, 16 November 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk