- Written by Craig Lucock
Brad Potts, who was awarded the official Man Of The Match award today.
SUMMARY
Carlisle United recorded their first win in six games with a 3-0 win over MK Dons thanks to a solid all round team performance and some adept set piece taking.
Despite a drab start to the game, the hosts opened the scoring on the 38 minute mark when Lee Miller flicked in Tom Lawrence’s free kick from the right hand side of the box. Carlisle bagged their second goal of the evening when David Amoo was unleashed down the right wing thanks to a through ball from James Berrett, the former Preston man drilled a cross along the floor into the six yard box where an onrushing Potts poked the ball home.
The Cumbrians made sure of the victory early on in the second half when Amoo headed in Berrett’s corner at the near post. The result means that MK Dons have only won 3 of their last 23 away games played on a Tuesday night, a rather obscure statistic, but a worrying one for Dons’ fans.
Attendance: 3,007 (103 away fans)
Referee: David Coote
Official Man Of The Match: Brad Potts
My Man Of The Match: Pascal Chimbonda
LINEUPS
CARLISLE
Carlisle
SUBS:
Bouzanis (GK)
Livesey
Buaben
Symington (Lawrence, 90+2)
Dempsey (Amoo, 84′)
Guy
Drennan (Miller, 76′)
MK DONS
MK Dons
SUBS
Bowditch (Long, 61′)
Chadwick
Smith
McLeod
McLoughlin (GK)
Powell (Carruthers, 45′)
Baldock (Alli, 45′)
MATCH REPORT
There were a lot of nervous faces in both ends at Brunton Park as Carlisle and MK Dons came face to face, two teams who had been struggling for form in the league recently. The match started very tentatively, with both teams probing for gaps in each other’s defence, but no opportunities presented themselves in the early going. Jake Reeves looked the most likely to make something happen for MK Dons, operating exceptionally close to the right hand touchline, regardless of which side of the field the ball was on. Carlisle had their first real look at goal around the ten minute mark, as both Lee Miller and David Amoo ran at a gap in the Dons’ defence, Miller took the ball, and was inadvertently tripped by his team mate. Everton loanee Chris Long tried to make something happen for the visitors soon afterwards, bursting past Courtney Meppen-Walter to get into the penalty area, only to see his near post shot tipped wide by Greg Fleming, who was preferred between the sticks today over the recently signed Dean Bouzanis.
The match looked to be kicking into life, as both sides played very nice football, a refreshing sight after the recent long ball spectacles seen at Brunton Park in recent weeks. Sean O’Hanlon was the next to try his luck for the hosts, as a James Berrett corner found the head of the former Dons man, only to see it drift tamely into the hands of David Martin. Karl Robinson’s men were determined not to let the match slip away from them however, directing most of their attacks down the right flank as they attempted to use Reeves’ trickery to their advantage. Carlisle held firm, however, with strong tackles from Berrett and Noble stopping their moves. The game approached the hour mark, and Carlisle began to take a firm grip on the game, they nearly found the breakthrough as Brad Potts, reportedly subject to a £350k bid from Crawley Town and an un named Championship club, fired wide to the left of the goal from just inside the area.
Robinson shifted his team around a little around this point, moving Reeves to a more central role and bringing Aston Villa loanee Samir Carruthers out to the right flank, with Dele Alli moving to the left. One man who was seemingly unfazed by whoever he was facing was Pascal Chimbonda, who was putting on an excellent display at right full back for Graham Kavanagh’s side, showing a much improved performance from his recent games. Antony Kay made a surge forward from defence for the Dons, but could only fire his shot high over the goal.
The Cumbrians finally found the breakthrough that they probably deserved after 38 minutes. Following a foul on the exemplary Chimbonda, Manchester United loanee Tom Lawrence drilled in a free kick from the right hand side, which was flicked past Martin by Miller. This rattled the visitors, and they were pegged back even further just 5 minutes later as a through ball from Berrett found Amoo bursting down the right wing, and he saw his drilled cross stabbed home by Potts, who may have added another £50k or so to his price tag after his performance.
HALF TIME: CARLISLE 2 – 0 MK DONS (Miller 38′, Potts 43′)
Carlisle had all the momentum going into the second half of play following their quickfire goals late in the first half, MK Dons attempted to shift the balance of play in their favour however, as they brought George Baldock, brother of ex Dons striker Sam, and Daniel Powell on for Alli and Carruthers. This appeared to do very little to change things as Carlisle had the first couple of efforts on goal early in the second half, with Berrett and Lawrence both firing over from distance. Amoo nearly added to the hosts’ advantage as he turned superbly to get past Tom Flanagan, but he sliced the resulting effort wide to the right of the goal from just inside the area.
He made amends for his miss a couple of minutes later however, as he nodded in a Berrett corner at the near post. The third goal completely deflated MK Dons, although they were persistent in their attempts to break down Carlisle, as they proceeded to bring on Dean Bowditch for Long. The ex Yeovil striker could possibly have lowered the deficit to two not long after coming on, as the visitors found themselves outnumbering the opposition’s defence for the first time in the game. A through ball from Powell played in Bowditch, but his touch was poor, and he was eventually tackled by Carlisle full back Matty Robson. MK Dons had their penultimate effort on goal 20 minutes from time as Reeves fired a 20 yard shot just wide of Fleming’s right hand post.
The game fizzled out a little at this point, with neither side really looking like scoring a goal, Carlisle’s defence was resolute, and Chimbonda continued his excellent showing at right full back. Bowditch had another golden opportunity to get a goal back for his side, as a lovely through ball from Stephen Gleeson found the striker, but he could not take the ball round the onrushing Fleming, who dived at his feet well and snatched the ball away at the second attempt.
FULL TIME: CARLISLE 3 – 0 MK DONS (Miller 38′, Potts 43′, Amoo 59′)
Under The Floodlights 