JPTN v Carlisle Utd (a) L0-3 Dec 15 2009

Football League Trophy Quarterfinal - KO 19:30
Carlisle    3 (1) - 0(0) Bradford 
Keogh 44
Dobie 68
Robson 74
     
  At Brunton Park on 15-12-2009 



Carlisle: Pidgeley ,Keogh ,Livesey (Aldred ,89 ) ,Harte ,Horwood ,Hurst ,Taiwo (Dobie ,64 ) ,Murphy ,Robson

,Clayton ,Pericard (Bridge-Wilkinson ,80)

Bradford: Eastwood ,Ramsden (sent off 39),Rehman ,Clarke ,Luke O'Brien ,Flynn (Brandon ,82 ) ,Bullock ,James

O'Brien (Bateson ,43 ) ,Neilson (Daley ,72 ) ,Hanson ,Evans

Bookings: Clarke ,Ramsden (Bradford)

Attendance: 3176


Referee: Anthony Bates (Staffordshire)


STAT ATTACK 
Blues / Bantams
9 Shots On Target 9
3 Shots Off Target 6
7 Fouls (Conceded) 10
6 Corners 5
0 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 1






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http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/sportbcfcmatch/4796038.Ramsden_red_card_the_beginning_of_the_

end/

City miss out on a double helping against Leeds as they run out of legs
7:00am Wednesday 16th December 2009

By Simon Parker

Carlisle United 3, City 0

City's dreams of a double-header derby with Leeds were dashed in chilly Cumbria.

Simon Ramsden's first-half red card proved the killer blow as the ten-man Bantams ran out of legs.

Their Johnstone's Paint Trophy adventure effectively ended the moment Ramsden was given his marching orders after

39 minutes.

Carlisle were in front before the break through his opposite right back Richard Keogh and, despite a spirited City

rally early in the second half, they were eventually picked off with two more goals following the injection of

substitute Scott Dobie's extra pace.

So Greg Abbott enjoyed bragging rights over his old pal Stuart McCall, who will have to lift spirits – and restore

energy levels – to stop a third defeat in a week at Aldershot on Saturday.

With Simon Whaley cup-tied, City switched back to 4-3-3 with James O'Brien getting the nod over Chris Brandon in

midfield. Skipper Zesh Rehman had recovered from his hamstring problem.

The most welcome sight was Omar Daley on the bench – his first appearance since that season-ending knee injury

against Darlington in February.

Getting this far in the competition was uncharted territory for City but Carlisle were veterans of four finals and

had lifted the trophy twice.

The home side had City under the cosh from their first corner after five minutes.

Matty Robson's kick looked too deep but Ian Harte kept it alive beyond the far post. Vincent Pericard's looping

header was blocked on the line by Rehman and then Luke O'Brien did the same to thwart Harte's follow-up.

City had made an edgy start and were nearly in trouble as left back Evan Horwood slipped past Scott Neilson to

drill in a low cross which just beat the lunging Pericard.

Suddenly out the blue, the Bantams were inches away from snatching the lead. James Hanson's header dropped to

Neilson 25 yards out and the winger's smash on the turn flew past startled keeper Lenny Pidgeley but the wrong side

of the post.

That lifted City and Ramsden, booked for a trip on the dangerous Robson, drifted a header across goal from

Neilson's corner.

Neilson's pace was rattling Carlisle as City settled into a very open game. The backing they were getting from the

away fans was superb.

Luke O'Brien made a crucial block in the area from Kevan Hurst and Harte, Carlisle's top scorer with eight goals,

should have done better with a free header from the resulting corner.

Hanson felt the same about his chance at the other end two minutes later, planting the ball straight at Pidgeley

after more good work from Neilson.

City continued to give as good as they got. Gareth Evans flashed a drive across goal and Neilson turned Danny

Livesey inside out before forcing a diving save from Pidgeley.

But they were dealt a huge blow six minutes before half-time when Ramsden was shown a second yellow card for

tugging back Robson as the winger went to close down Neilson's clearance.

Jon Bateson was hastily summoned from the dugout to take over at right back, with James O'Brien the unlucky fall

guy.

But Carlisle had the initiative now and grabbed the lead a minute later. Pericard played in Robson, whose shot was

parried by Simon Eastwood but the rebound fell into the path of Keogh to slam into the unguarded net.

McCall was fuming about Ramsden's dismissal and let referee Tony Bates know it as he argued with the official down

the tunnel at half-time. After a half that had promised much, it suddenly looked a long way back with ten men.

But Evans won a corner straight away when Pidgeley spilled his shot off the skiddy surface. The keeper flapped at

the corner to launch a goalmouth scramble which saw Rehman's close-range stab blocked on the line by Horwood.

Evans shot over as City tried to take the game to the home side. Clarke was holding his own with Pericard and

dispossessed the Frenchman to clear upfield for lone striker Hanson to warm Pidgeley's hands with a half-volley.

City began piling on the pressure and thought they had levelled on the hour. Evans' shot was parried goalwards by

Pidgeley; the loose ball was scrambled from the on-rushing Hanson and back to his strike partner, whose second

effort was also spilled by the keeper before Horwood hacked it to safety from in front of the net.

Pidgeley then raced from his goal as Evans burst through – and watched with his heart in his mouth as Hanson's

first-time chip dropped wide.

Carlisle had the chance to double their lead with a three-on-one break but Rehman, the solo defender, smothered

Robson's square pass in the City box.

City's relief was short-lived as Carlisle had their second goal after 68 minutes. Lee Bullock was caught in

possession midway inside their half and Hurst fed Dobie to drill past Eastwood.

Daley came on to huge away cheers with 18 minutes left but his first corner sparked Carlisle's third goal.

Pericard cleared it as far as Robson, who broke from one end to the other before slotting home. City were out on

their feet.





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http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/carlisle_united/latest/mccall_referee_spoiled_cup_clash_1_650684?referrerPath=/1.49997

Referee 'spoiled' Carlisle Utd trophy clash, claims Bradford boss McCall
Last updated at 11:44, Wednesday, 16 December 2009


Bitter Bradford boss Stuart McCall accused ref Tony Bates of "spoiling" last night's cup clash at Brunton Park.

The Staffordshire official dismissed Bantams defender Simon Ramsden in the 38th minute for two bookable offences.

Carlisle duly completed a 3-0 win to set up a massive double-header against Leeds for the right to play at Wembley.

But McCall – a former Bradford team-mate of United manager Greg Abbott – was livid about the decision to send

Ramsden off for two first-half challenges on Blues winger Matty Robson.

"The second yellow card was an absolute embarrassment," blasted McCall.

"The referee spoiled the game. If you are going to give yellow cards every time players run into each other and

pull a shirt, you would have everybody sent off.

"There was no need for it and I feel sorry for our supporters who spent money to come here."

Abbott took a different view of Ramsden's dismissal, claiming the Bradford defender "gave the referee little

alternative."

And United's first goalscorer Richard Keogh said his rival right-back only had himself to blame. "It was stupid –

he cost his team," said Keogh.

McCall insisted his League Two side posed Carlisle plenty of problems last night and could easily have got back

into the game despite being a man down for so long.

"Until Carlisle's second goal went in, you couldn't tell we only had 10 men," said the former Rangers and Scotland

ace.

"How the ball stayed out of their net at certain times is incredible. I was dead proud of the players. They gave

everything."



===========================

http://www.carlisleunited-mad.co.uk/roll/ed15/greg_abbott_on_the_bradford_win_477389/index.shtml

Greg Abbott On The Bradford Win
 
 


 
Blues boss Greg Abbott
United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) after Carlisle's 3-0 Johnstone's

Paint Trophy win at home to Bradford City, Abbott saying that the Blues can put the competition to bed now over the

Christmas period :



JP

In the Northern Section final across two legs it will be Carlisle United against Leeds United, Greg Abbott how do

you feel about that?

GA

Excited again, fantastic for the club isn't it. We are a one tie from Wembley aren't we so it is terrific,

something again we were talking about for everybody to look forward to. We can put it to bed now this competition

for a while, it is after Christmas now, and look forward to it when it comes up. But there is a great deal to play

for now.

JP


It looked like you maybe caught a brief word there with your old friend Stuart McCall, what was he feeling about

this one?

GA

He will be upset, Stuart will be upset at the minute but that is alright, I have been upset before as well, but he

will be OK. I will be inviting him in for a drink, so he will have a glass of shandy with us and then we will talk

about what should have been and what shouldn't have been and the whys and wherefores. But it is a nice night for

us, and again, another victory.

JP

What were the whys and wherefores of it tonight then in the match?

GA


We have just said to the players there, we have gone again and it is only two in 13 or 14 games now in which we

have beaten. We have won a game 3-0 that is difficult, scored three goals, kept another clean sheet, we have

progressed to the final of the Northern Paints.

And we are still having a little bit of a go with the players saying that we still think that we can be better. We

still think we can do things better than we did do at times tonight, and that just shows the progress we are making

and the standards we are trying to set.

The players are in good mood in there, they are confident and they know we can play better. But these games, they

are tough, they are not easy, they are not straightforward, they never are. We have come through comfortably in the

end and won a game 3-0 so we can't be too critical and we can't be too down on ourselves, it is another tremendous

night really.





JP


In the end, the scoreline is obviously very good, the result is very good, you are very happy, it looked like you

were doing just about enough to beat Bradford, but I am sure you would like to do a bit more than that?

GA


Well you look at the chances we had as well and you look at the initial 10-15 minute period at the start of the

game. Matty Robson has got down the left and tortured the full-back (Simon Ramsden). You look at the second-half

and the ball is flying across the face of the goal and Vincent (Pericard's) shot, the one that the keeper (Simon

Eastwood) saved, and the chances that we have had and missed.

It could have been really, really a comfortable victory but Bradford are spirited and they are tough and they don't

want to give up. They have given us everything they have got tonight and that is why the game is hard work at

times. We have to make sure that when we have got the ball we don't give it away as cheaply as we did at times, and

we would have won probably a little bit more comfortably.

JP


Looking then on the match as a whole, two turning points, the sending-off (of Ramsden) and the introduction of

Scott Dobie, talk us through both.

GA


Well the sending-off is a sending-off, it is as simple as that, you can't do what he has done.

JP


But did it change the match though?

GA

Not really, we were doing OK against eleven and it is never easy when you go up against ten. Everybody gets a bit

anxious and the crowd are expecting us just to go and score three or four goals really, really quickly and that

doesn't always happen.

But we got the goal at a good time and we got the second at an exceedingly good time. Because Bradford were having

a decent spell and they were rolling their sleeves up, a la Morecambe when they were 2-1 down against us and they

came back with ten men.

So what we have done is won the game in a comfortable manner but not without a few scares along the way. Credit to

Bradford for not rolling over when they were down to ten, but it is not always that easy to play against ten men.

But we have done what we had to do and that is win the game, clean sheet, three goals, and we are progressing. So

we can't be too down on ourselves.





JP


Your one-time top scorer, and still second top scorer Scott Dobie though, bit of a fallow period for him but he has

come in and he was an absolute livewire having come on.

GA

Well this is why we have got players within the club now that I enjoy really working with and have got I think

plenty to offer. There are eleven playing which is fine but there are also four or five after that, that have got

massive roles to play. Who knows what will happen in the second-half of the season?

Things change very, very quickly in football and what we know is that the likes of Peter Murphy and Scott Dobie and

little Bridgey (Marc Bridge-Wilkinson) can come on and be really effective for us. And who is to say they don't

earn the right to start in the future, in the near future. So what we have got is a squad now all fighting for

playing situations.

JP

Was Graham Kavanagh rested tonight?

GA

Yes.

JP

No injury problem?

GA

No, he is fine, but he has had a lot of games, played a lot of football, done awfully well for us. We just feel

that games Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday for a period takes its toll on him. So we left him

out, give Tom (Taiwo) a chance to get the illness he has got out of his system, so he has had 60 minutes.

Probably in that situation everything has worked out well for us, we rested Vince for ten minutes and obviously you

have seen Dobes get his 20-odd minutes and be really effective. So in that sense the gameplan was excellent.





JP

Likewise, Lenny Pidgeley coming in goal as well, was that just a rotation to give him some game time?


GA


Well we need Lenny to be sharp, when Lenny was playing regularly we used Adam (Collin) in this competition. I

thought that he needs his games and I don't want to send him to Accrington tomorrow which will be a non-event in

terms of tempo and seriousness of the game. So he has had his game tonight and again he has kept his clean sheet,

so again there is more food for thought there.

JP

But you would expect Adam Collin would be looking to return for the Colchester match?

GA

That is something we will look later on in the week.

JP


I thought you might say that, injury situation ahead of the weekend, anything picked up tonight and anything that

might improve?

GA

Nothing tonight and I think the ones that have been out up to now will probably miss Saturday, but certainly Joe

Anyinsah should be with us shortly.

JP

And Marc Bridge-Wilkinson just finally, nice to see him getting some action out there after such a lengthy lay-off

for him again?

GA

Again, important, our squad is not the biggest and we are trying to get everybody fit so the competition is there

and we can things round when things aren't quite going right. Which they weren't tonight and Scott has come on and

done a terrific job and after his introduction we went on to bigger and better things for us.

 


===========================
http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3216428,00.html

Carlisle booked a Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Area final date with Leeds after beating ten-man Bradford 3-0

at Brunton Park.

Richard Keogh netted just before the interval and two more in the second half from Scott Dobie and Matty Robson

extended Carlisle's unbeaten run to six games.

Events turned against the Bantams in the 39th minute when defender Simon Ramsden was sent off for a second yellow

card, both times for fouls on Carlisle danger man Robson.

Carlisle applied pressure as half-time approached and it paid dividends in the 44th minute when Keogh blasted home

the loose ball from six yards after City keeper Simon Eastwood had parried Robson's skimming low drive.

The hosts finally made it 2-0 midway through the second half when Kevan Hurst played Dobie in to space and the

striker, who had only been on the pitch for four minutes, had time to pick his spot and drill the ball low past

Eastwood and inside the left-hand post from 10 yards.

Robson then made it safe for Carlisle in the 74th minute with a stunning break from halfway. The winger latched on

to Vincent Pericard's clearance from a Bradford corner and evaded two defenders before slipping the ball past

Eastwood from the edge of the box.




===========================

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/4815120.City_focus_on_strong_finish/

Current table means nothing to McCall
7:40am Tuesday 22nd December 2009

By Simon Parker

Stuart McCall will urge City to learn the lessons of last season and "hang in there" in the play-off chase.

The Bantams will hit Christmas in the bottom half of League Two but McCall's only focus is the four-point gap from the crucial seventh spot.

Twelve months ago, City headed for Lincoln on Boxing Day in fourth. They reached March in the same position before the wheels came off with a nine-match winless run.

Hence McCall's disinterest over the current standings – and his determination to push on over the second half of the campaign.

"We've got to hang in there and look to do this season what we didn't do last year," he said.

"Where we tailed off last year, we're going to look to have a really strong finish. Hopefully that will take us to where we want to go."

City are currently 14th, their lowest position since August, although the compact nature of the table means the picture could change very quickly over the festive period.

The squad were back in training today to build up to the holiday schedule, which kicks off at Bury on Saturday.

"The league table at this moment in time means nothing to me, as I've said all along," insisted McCall.

"Last season we were in the top three for part of it and the top seven for most of it but ended up out of it.

"Whether we're eighth, 12th or 16th, it's how many points we are away from the play-off positions that's important to me. We've got to keep being in there and kick on in the new year when we get players back.

"All the lads are focused. They want to be here and they want to do well.

"We've just got to find a little bit of luck from somewhere and pick up a few wins where we've been drawing.

"Out of the five away draws we've had, even if two of them had been wins, we'd be in the play-offs.

"We have to look to the new year when the likes of Omar Daley will have had a few games. Hopefully Peter Thorne and Micky Boulding will be available and Stephen O'Leary but we'll see what happens there."

O'Leary, like loan keeper Simon Eastwood, is sweating on his Valley Parade future.

The injury-jinxed midfielder has played only one game since his summer arrival and McCall admitted: "Things have been so unfortunate for the kid.

"He's back running but he's still got a bit of pain and obviously his contract's up for renewal."



===========================
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/4798220.Daley__I_ve_still_got_it/

Daley: I've still got it
7:40am Thursday 17th December 2009

By Simon Parker

Omar Daley came through his first speed check and confirmed he is still as quick as ever.

The jet-paced Jamaican emerged unscathed from the final 20 minutes at Carlisle on Tuesday.

It was his first senior appearance since he snapped his cruciate against Darlington in February.

Daley was delighted to be back – and immediately set his sights on featuring again in the weekend trip to Aldershot.

He said: "The time has gone fast (since getting injured) and it's great to play with the lads and get to know them again.

"It was a bit hard coming back with ten men, I wasn't expecting that. I was hoping to enter the pitch leading 1-0 with 11 guys but came on 2-0 down and chasing the game.

"It took me five minutes to get there but I did in the end. And I checked the pace – and I've still got it.

"It's so much better getting out there on the pitch than training. The feel of a proper game is what it's all about.

"But I'll take any chance to play. I just need the games now to build up my sharpness."

The 3-0 defeat at Brunton Park knocked some gloss off the occasion but, after ten months stuck on the sidelines, Daley is determined to think positively.

He said: "It was a bad result but I thought the lads played well. It was always going to be hard coming on but it felt good. I appreciated the chance to do the business again."

City's resources have been further stretched for Saturday's long haul to Hampshire because Simon Ramsden is banned.

But boss Stuart McCall said: "We've been up against it with injuries and refereeing decisions lately.

"Aldershot will have been sitting at home in their free week watching our result at Carlisle and seeing we got a player sent off.

"But we'll go there on Saturday and give it a good go. It's a tough place to visit but I'm sure we can come back with something positive."





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