“WE KNEW WE WERE coming here to make sure we didn’t lose,” Paul Simpson, the Carlisle United manager, said. That, and the scoreline, implies a flinty and cautious afternoon between these two automatic promotion contenders, but there were copious chances at both ends.
At times this felt more like a cup-tie than Leyton Orient’s FA Cup forays against Fulham and Charlton Athletic, especially at the end, as the home team threatened incessantly and Carlisle threw bodies in the way.
The bad pitch added to that sense, creating a nervous energy because the players could not feel secure in possession. Until recent seasons the best in the division, the Brisbane Road surface now looks as if it has been used for tunnelling practice by an army of moles.
The match was so compelling that an Orient pitch of a performance from Mick Fletcher, the referee, did not spoil it. “He was so far off with his levels of fitness it was incredible,” Simpson said. Fletcher denied both teams clear penalties, dubiously disallowed a Carlisle “goal” and decided not to give Zigor Aranalde, the Carlisle defender, a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
Aranalde’s booking was for a tackle on Shane Tudor that put the winger out of the game. Tudor was incensed at the challenge and his anger had hardly abated after the match. He could miss three or four weeks with an ankle problem. Although Orient gave a home debut to Paul Connor, the £40,000 signing from Swansea City who is one of four experienced strikers at the club, they are short of cover down the flanks.
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When Orient previously met Carlisle in East London, the Cumbrians were bottom and heading out of the league; now they are second and chasing their second successive promotion.
“Nothing at all has been achieved. So far we’ve given ourselves a chance,” Simpson said. His desire to avoid complacency is commendable, but he should give himself and his players more credit.
The presence of nearly 1,000 away fans on Saturday and Brunton Park’s average home attendance, the largest in Coca-Cola League Two, speak loudly of the club’s potential to sustain football in a higher division. Martin Ling, the Orient manager, felt that the raucous atmosphere that the travelling supporters generated helped to raise the tempo of the game and was of benefit to his own players.
He said that at the final whistle that Carlisle “were celebrating like they’d won the league title. I think they knew the better team was us.” He will know that momentum and confidence are the most valuable assets in this division and Simpson’s team possess plenty of both.