Ibhere’s strike is enough for Curle

CARLISLE boss Keith Curle praised his side's mental toughness after Jabo Ibehre's strike earned the Cumbrians a victory over Barnet.

Ibehre's goal, during a dominant first-half display, maintained Carlisle's unbeaten start, while condemning the Bees to a first league defeat of the season.

Curle admitted his side needed to adopt different styles of play in either half to preserve their slender lead at The Hive Stadium.

“We’ve got to be mentally strong,” Curle said.

“We need to know when to play our passing style of football and we need to know that sometimes we need to play League Two. That means putting the ball into difficult areas for them.”

After dominating for long periods during the first 45, Carlisle were forced onto the back foot for much of the second period.

Resolute defending ensured the points would be heading back to Cumbria, leaving Curle delighted with the application shown by his players.

“First-half we put in a stellar performance and I think we caused them a lot of problems, we showed a real willingness to play,” Curle added.

“Second-half I think we needed to be a League Two team, we needed to be brave and we needed to make sure we had a good platform to build from because clean sheets win you games.”

Barnet boss Martin Allen conceded his side were well below par against Carlisle and deserved nothing from the game.

The Bees were much improved after the break. John Akinde came close to salvaging a late point but Allen felt an equaliser wouldn't have been a fair reflection on the game.

“The players are a really good bunch and are well aware that they didn't quite get up to the standard we've had all through pre-season,” Allen said.

“I really don't think we gave a good account of ourselves. They're an honest group of players. I suppose through 10 months it's going to happen but hopefully it doesn't happen too often.”

The introduction of second-half substitute Shaun Batt seemed to spark the Bees into life. The Barnet boss praised the 29-year-old striker's impact from the bench.

“Anyone could have come off the bench and improved the team but yes Shaun (Batt) did do that, he did improve the team and he did play well,” Allen continued.

“I want a reaction from our players, because they are better than that.”