HOMEWORK REQUIRED IF YOU PLAY US SAYS CURLE
Boss buoyed by Lambe’s winner
CARLISLE United boss Keith Curle believes his side are getting noticed by their League Two rivals after this victory over Plymouth Argyle.
After dominating the first half and scoring through Reggie Lambe, the Cumbrians saw out the game to seal another three points against one of the form teams of last season.
“I think (it) shows how much people are taking notice,” said the delighted manager.
“Plymouth all pre-season played four at the back. They must have watched us on Tuesday and thought ‘we can’t go there with a back four’.
“After 45 minutes they knew they didn’t have a foothold in the game and they needed to change.
“The very pleasing thing was how we responded to that. We stood up to the test.”
The Carlisle boss was full of praise for his side’s defensive strength as they made it two wins in a week.
“Good teams build off cleansheets,” Curle continued.
“We want the crowd to come and feel as if we have goals in the team. I think in the first half we definitely showed that.
“But, within that, you need a backbone, a resilience and you need a platform to build off and I think the lads at the back did their
job as and when needed. Second half we needed that little bit of steel and resilience.”
In a dominant first half, Carlisle offered plenty without delivering the end product until the 37th minute when Lambe struck from just inside the area.
The Bermuda midfielder latched on to a poor headed clearance, following another impressive Danny Grainger ball from the left, to drill a shot into the bottom corner.
It was a deserved reward for the Cumbrians as they had dominated proceedings, with the elusive Nicky Adams firing goal wards moments later as they threatened to double their advantage. But, for all their efforts, there was still only one goal in it at the break. That might have acted as an incentive for Argyle, but they showed only marginal improvement without truly threatening Mark Gillespie’s goal until the 83rd minute. With time slipping away, substitute Jake Jervis’s shot forced the stopper to parry the ball into the path of Gary Miller. With a sight of goal, the defender hit his shot into the turf, allowing Grainger to clear the danger with his head and ensure the points stayed in Cumbria.
Pilgrims boss Derek Adams, believing the clash was very much a game of contrasting halves, bemoaned his side’s inability to take one of their few chances.
“We haven’t created a great deal of opportunities in the game,” said the Scot.
“When they come along we have to get on the end of (them). Carlisle didn’t create many opportunities.”
Adams believes his team will improve but felt they had done well to nullify Carlisle’s threat up until the goal, and indeed after it.
“We have still got a wee bit to go with injuries and international clearance etc. (But) we are going to get to a point where we are going to get our best team out very soon,” he added.
“In the second half we had the better opportunities.
“The first half was about dealing with the long balls that were coming in from the start of play and throw-ins.
“We dealt with that particularly well until the goal.
“Other than that we have had them in their own half but they haven’t really damaged us at all.
“Luke (McCormick) hasn’t had a save to make in the game.”