KEITH’S RELIEF AS ROT STOPS
CARLISLE United boss Keith Curle insisted this low-key draw could yet be the start of another long unbeaten run.
The Cumbrians were staring down the barrel of three successive league defeats for the first time since February 2015, especially when Aaron Wildig struck in the seventh minute.
But the visitors were pressed further and further back before Dean Winnard’s 73rd-minute red card preceded Charlie Wyke’s headed equaliser.
“Sometimes you need to start a run by a scruffy game, a battling performance and you know what that can turn into,” said Curle.
“I don’t know how many games I have been in charge and how many times we have lost three games (in a row).
“You will probably say it is a difficult time for the current changing room but we will come through it. It’s a long season and we are a durable squad.”
As for conceding so early, the United boss was honest in his assessment.
“You would have felt that nervous tension and thought ‘oh no’,” he continued.
“But the crowd played their part by staying with the players.”
Morecambe took the lead through Wildig’s neat finish, the midfielder drifting in from the right to side foot Kevin Ellison’s cross past United keeper Mark Gillespie.
More chances followed for the Shrimps, Peter Murphy netting but was offside before Michael Rose struck a 19thminute free-kick off a post.
That sparked the cumbersome hosts into life, dominating the rest of the half with no reward.
Their best chances came in the 25th minute but Jason Kennedy’s back-post header was pushed by Morecambe keeper Barry Roche into the path of Wyke, who thumped the close-range rebound off the bar.
As the hosts pressed, the pivotal moment arrived in the 73rd minute. Winnard, already on a yellow card, was needlessly booked again for a senseless challenge on Carlisle substitute Shaun Miller.
If that wasn’t bad enough for Morecambe, Nicky Adams immediately curled an inviting inswinging cross from the left, which Wyke flicked on to restore parity.
However Shrimps boss Jim Bentley felt more aggrieved about a penalty decision which went against his side in the second half.
“The one that was definite was the pass from Murphy into Wildig,” said Bentley. “He got there before the keeper, headed it past him and has been wiped out. These are the things that you have got to get right; it is so big. That could have been 2-0, game over, another three points on the board.
“It looked like it was going to be one of those away performances where you dig in and have a little bit of luck.
“We are a little relieved to get away with a point, but it could easily have been three for us.”