Curle has faith in Amoo to come good
KEITH Curle insists confidence is the key for Carlisle wide man David Amoo after he atoned for a first-half error to lead the Cumbrians to a vital victory over Northampton.
Troy ArchibaldHenville had nodded the home side in front before Amoo committed a clumsy foul to let Marc Richards level from the spot.
But the winger went from zero to hero after a dazzling second-half display on the wing saw him set up Brad Potts to net the winner.
And Curle said:“The way we conceded meant that everyone in the ground knew that it was David Amoo’s fault.
“So when he comes in at halftime, the easy thing to do is lambast him – but instead we chose to give him the ball more.
“He sets one up, but he could’ve had a few more and a couple himself. We don’t want a blame culture at the club. We pick people up and they reward us.”
The victory leaves Curle’s Carlisle record at six wins and six defeats, and he wants to find some consistency over the Christmas period.
He added: “In the past we have been a bit softcentred. Now is the time for us to lose that.We need to kick on.”
Carlisle’s game-plan had a clear focus around set-pieces and it was a home corner which brought the opening goal. Kyle Dempsey’s delivery was met by defender ArchibaldHenville, who cushioned his header into the far corner.
Northampton’s response was strong with midfielder Darren Carter twice calling Dan Hanford into action.
The visitors then had a penalty appeal turned down after an apparent handball on the line, but it was to prove irrelevant moments later when Cumbrians winger Amoo brought down former Carlisle man Evan Horwood in the area.
Richards calmly converted the spot-kick to bring the two sides in level.
After the break, it was the Cobblers who enjoyed the brighter start, yet once again they were caught cold after brilliant play from penalty villain Amoo.The winger showed an electric turn of foot to leave Horwood for dead before perfectly finding midfielder Potts to tap in from six yards.
Ivan Toney had a shot hacked off the line late and Cobblers boss Chris Wilder bemoaned a lack of cutting edge.
“It was a case of us not being good enough in both boxes again,” he said.“You see people going up for 50/50 headers and they were just wanting it more than us, which is so frustrating.
“We had a huge penalty shout which was a handball and a straight red card.”