Chris Beech insisted fine margins cost Carlisle United as they went down to defeat at Scunthorpe.

Jordan Hallam’s first-half goal separated the sides on a frustrating afternoon for the Cumbrians.

The crucial moment in the 1-0 defeat came as the Iron broke from a misplaced pass by the Blues’ Jon Mellish.

Carlisle then failed to take a number of opportunities to get something out of the game at the Sands Venue Stadium, with home keeper Rory Watson making a series of good saves.

Beech insisted United did plenty of things right in the game but couldn’t make the key moments count.

He said: “I’ve told the players that Scunthorpe’s opportunities didn’t come by their good play, they came from things that happen at this level.

“We didn’t play badly; we represented ourselves well. Ultimately we’ve lost but it’s the little things that can sometimes matter, and that’s how it is.

“We hit the target enough to win the game but, again, we haven’t. The effort was there, and we worked their keeper, but we didn’t get the rub of the green to go with it.”

Beech sought to protect Mellish from some criticism after the game with some fans questioning the United boss’ continued use of the former centre-half in midfield.

The Blues head coach defended the former Gateshead man’s performance and said it would be wrong to make him the target for stick.

“I suppose we have to create some kind of negative energy somewhere otherwise you’ve got nothing to talk about,” he said in his post-match media interviews.

“Jon’s face is getting stuck on the dartboard and that’s nothing to do with me because he won headers, tackles and he was in the box hassling defenders.

“You always want more, [but] I didn’t think it was [down to] Jon – we’ve got to pass the ball better from the full-back situations and we’ve got to play the ball in midfield a little bit smarter.

"All I did was listen to 12 months of ridicule of how Mike Jones, Mo Sagaf and others didn’t win any headers or tackles and things like that [last season]. We’re definitely winning headers and tackles and we’re creating chances.”

“We changed shape a little bit in the second half and he was heavily involved. He gave the ball away at the vital moment but there are more things that happen in a match that aren’t quite right than just that. If it’s a substance for people to talk about, I’m not too sure why.

“He tried his best to make up for the moment of giving the ball away so we should be supporting him, not ridiculing these things. We’re a small family club and you’re going to get things wrong in it, but you don’t kick your kids out, do you, because they’re getting on your nerves?

“You can’t do that, you’ve got to make sure we’re working hard together.”

Beech denied Scunthorpe’s goal was the result of a “gift” similar to those United had conceded in some previous games.

He added: “We’ve given a square ball away in midfield, but you’re not going to play football and not give the ball away. It’s going to happen. We’re 50 or so yards [from our goal] when it happens but because we had the possession on the turnover we had split into an attack and were open.

“It was at that point when we gave it away. One forward pass and they were in and he [Hallam] struck it well to put it into the bottom corner.

“They had one incident in 45 minutes and they scored, so fair play to him. You can’t be over critical on things like that because if you are the players don’t play football. That particular situation was nowhere near as generous as the Oldham and Cambridge situations.”

Ethan Walker, Mellish and Lewis Alessandra were all denied by the Scunthorpe keeper with teenage full debutant Walker, on loan from Preston, having United’s best chance in the first half.

“What I was really pleased with was the play leading up to that chance,” Beech said. “The pace we played at, and JJ [Kayode]’s composure to pick the right pass was excellent.

“Ethan backs himself in in that type of situation so he hasn’t quite got what he wants out of that. I think if we score that goal it would have been a completely different afternoon, but we didn’t and it wasn’t.

“Gav [Skelton] just said to me there that this time last year we came here, got absolutely hammered, but we won. Sometimes it’s somebody else’s mark against you, I suppose.

“We had more shots, more corners, more pressure on the opponent, but we’ve been beaten.”