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Carlisle v Rovers

Carlisle v Rovers
Posted by Ian
Brunton Park
Saturday, September 15, 2018 - 03:00 PM
Until: Saturday, September 15, 2018 - 05:00 PM
(Adjusted for timezone: Europe/London)
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Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
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A decent half. For the first twenty five minutes were much the better side but Carlisle have come into it since then. Better performances across the pitch than last week, particularly in midfield, just hope we don't fade in the second half.
 

Sparky

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Chris Greenacre
Well what a great result that is against be in form cumbrians. Will await any reports but pleased Mullin has got off the mark. Will he start ahead of Stockton now? Surely he deserves a chance.

Davies got criticised last week his penalty save at 0-0 was as important as the goals so well done Scottie
 
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We deserved that for the second half performance. The penalty was a turning point but Micky also deserves credit for the substitutions. He could have settled for nil nil but he went for it. Mullin was excellent and scored a pearler and will start next week. Cole did not do enough I am afraid.
 
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Alan King, Barry Dyson
A hard fought win, by all accounts. Although statistically it was the most convincing, it could have gone either way. In fact, I think every game so far has had its turning point. Fortunately we are proving a really difficult team to beat even if we are still finding scoring goals difficult.
 
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aldo
Its like last season . Cook didnt play with others in front of him . And we didnt score mutch . This season its mullin who has been left out but 2 goals in 4 games yes i know one was in the checker trade but they still count . Wouldn't it be mad if he went on a run now
 
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Another tight game but we fully deserved the victory. Up until the penalty incident I thought we had more of the play and Carlisle had the better of the chances, although most of them were not clear cut. However, Scott's save and Micky's substitutions gave us a massive lift and we were rampant in the last fifteen minutes.

As so often this season we started the game really brightly, and were well on top for twenty five minutes, testing their keeper with a few decent efforts from range. There was then our equally customary lull, and we rode our luck on a couple of occasions, with one looping header dropping on to our crossbar, albeit Scott had very little to do overall. However, in the second half I thought we were well in control even prior to the penalty and a one-nil defeat would have been very harsh on us. Carlisle played some tidy football at times but did not look any better than us, and today's game just reinforced my view that there is very little difference in ability between most teams at this level, with the possible exception of the top two or three (Lincoln, MK, Exeter).

Individually, I thought all of the back four were excellent, particularly McNulty and Zoum. Caprice had an ok game but produced an absolutely delicious cross for the opening goal, which was undefendable: one of our forwards would have tapped it in if the defender had not sliced it into his own net. Monthesaurus was solid again, but was over-confident on a couple of occasions, playing in the wrong areas.

The midfield duo were much better than last week, but I was more impressed by McCullough than Banks today. He does the simple things really well, keeping the ball moving with ten yard passes and making interceptions in front of the back four which often go unnoticed. Jennings worked hard defensively but, again, did not offer that much going forward. DMH was ok, making a couple of good runs and putting in some decent crosses, but does not offer anywhere near as much as Smith at this level. I would guess Johnny was dropped to encourage him to up his game after a couple of below par displays.

The substitutions made a huge difference. Smith gave us more quality on the right hand side and the Carlisle defence could not deal with him, and Mullin offered twice the energy of Stockton. I thought Cole started the game brightly, similar to last week, and forced a good save from their keeper with a shot from distance. However, he then faded and there were a number of occasions in the second half when we got into good areas and I thought with more conviction he could have made something happen. I am not his biggest critic, but he always seems to offer 6 out of 10 performances, and is not proactive enough. Mullin by contrast was a constant nuisance to their back four and took his goal really well.

There was another brilliant Rovers following of 800 who sang throughout and played a big part in the victory in my view. The last quarter of an hour was as good as it gets watching Rovers away from home.

Man of the match, Steve McNulty.

Newport up next.
 

Cowshed Kid

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Bobby Hutchinson
As each game comes along you think "this is a real yardstick".
What a great first eight games.
Without Kung Fu Jay it would be pretty much perfect!
Still love him though.
Pleased for Mullin. Even if Stockton starts next game he knows he can do the biz.
 

Cowshed Kid

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Bobby Hutchinson
Not too long ago my heart sank when Lincoln scored a last minute winner.
Today? Get in!!!
 

Boz

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Iain Hume
Holding the ball up is hardly Norwood's strength though. He is always looking to run in behind and his natural game is the complete opposite of Stockton's, which is why they complement each other.

I think there is a difference between making an impact as a front pairing late in a game when you are pushing for a victory (Port Vale) and maintaining a pattern of play over ninety-odd minutes. I agree with Ian that if Nors and Mullin play together, I don't see who is going to come short for the ball.

All of that said, I would not mind seeing them given a go at some point !

Given your observations about Stockton after today's game, have you adapted your view on Norwood and Mullin starting together?
It sounds like a very encouraging performance, thanks for the reports.
 
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Given your observations about Stockton after today's game, have you adapted your view on Norwood and Mullin starting together?
It sounds like a very encouraging performance, thanks for the reports.
Not really, in as much as I don't think they are a natural pairing and I can see why Mellon has gone with Stockton. But if one forward (Mullin) is clearly outperforming another (Stockton) then he deserves to play.

I think Mullin has played well in three of his four games, and even against Colchester last week he was in the right place for a better chance than Stockton had all game. He is showing the better attitude of the two.
 

Sparky

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Chris Greenacre
As much as I like Mellon and he gets some daft post match questions sometimes, his attitude in the ifollow interview is pretty bad I have to say.

Suspect some of the interviewers are young lads (apart from Neil turner), and he’s a bit harsh on them. Especially at the end saying they are looking for negatives all the time.
 
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I disagree Sparky. I think Mellon was spot on with his comments, and he is entitled to respond if he thinks he is receiving unjust criticism.

Richard Garnett, who is usually ok, criticised the passing, claiming that we kept giving the ball away. I found that utterly bizarre to be honest. Mellon responded by saying that we were a bit ragged for the last twenty minutes of the first half, but good for the rest of the game, which is exactly how I saw it.

We were much better today than the previous two games.
 

Boz

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Iain Hume
Seen brief highlights. Great cross from Caprice for the og and quality finish by Mullin. Penalty didn't seem to be as nailed on as had thought from the match reports.
 
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aldo
Just seen the goals and mulls was an amazing one if that doesn't get the confodence up nothing will good one and the S.W.A sounded amazing . Isn't it funney reading other fan forums and they say how terrible we are and what a bad team we got sounds like last season . Would be mad if mull and noors whent on a mad scoring run . Cant wait for Saturday's realy enjoying it well done to all
 

bigmart

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Ian Muir
Very happy with the win, onward and upwards against a team who got a hammering 6 0 at home yesterday
 
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