Leyton Orient 0, Carlisle United 0

Aug 25 2008 by Andy Hall, The Journal

CARLISLE United were left to ponder a string of missed chances at the Matchroom Stadium on Saturday as Leyton Orient weathered the early Cumbrian storm to mount a challenge of their own, pushing their visitors all the way to the wire in a feisty second half.

Simon Hackney and Evan Horwood were Orient’s main tormentors during an impressive opening 30 minutes, but the final killer touch was just out of reach for the mobile United front line.

Manager John Ward said: “From our point of view we created a number of chances, particularly in the first half, but we just weren’t clinical enough.

“You’d have fancied us to take some of those chances, but on this occasion we didn’t. “We then had to battle for a draw, and from that point of view you have to be happy we came away with something to show for the work that we have done.”

Having dictated the pace of the play from the off, United found themselves coming closer and closer to breaking the deadlock.

They should have taken the lead on 26 minutes when the Hackney-Horwood combination tore a path through the Orient defence.

A clipped cross took the central defenders out of the equation, but Scott Dobie could only look on in disbelief as his three-yard header in front of an open goal, went over the bar. The miss woke up the home side.

Simon Dawkins forced Williams into an excellent two-handed save shortly before the break when he raced in to the area and drilled a low shot towards the bottom right-hand corner.

The quality on show in the first half gave way to unforced errors in the second, with Orient gaining the upper hand as they pushed the Cumbrians ever-deeper in to their own half.

David Raven and Evan Horwood both had to make last-ditch tackles as Adam Boyd grew in confidence at the spearhead of the home side’s attack. Ryan Jarvis blazed over on the hour as he latched on to a Demetriou pull-back just inside the Carlisle area.

Keeper Ben Williams earned his corn in the 70th minute when he took up a far-post position for an Orient corner.

The delivery skidded through to Boyd, and he connected with a fierce volley that brought an impressive reaction save from the unsighted United stopper.

The football then gave way to some meaty challenges and the afternoon ended on a sour note for United when forward Scott Dobie found himself in a tangle with marker Brian Saah.

The pair fell to the ground, and referee Jones decided the United striker had taken things too far. He showed him a red card and sent him off.

Ward said: “Scott is very upset and very disappointed.

“We’ll have a look at it and see what we think, because I didn’t actually see it at the time.’’

LEYTON ORIENT: Morris, Purches, Thelwell, Saah, Granville (Palmer 31), Wayne Gray (Dawkins 26), Chambers, Demetriou, Boyd, Terry, Jarvis (Pires 87). Subs (not used): Ashworth, Jones.

Booked: Demetriou.

CARLISLE UNITED: Williams, Raven, Livesey, Murphy, Horwood, Dobie, Thirlwell, Bridge-Wilkinson, Hackney (Keogh 90), Graham (Taylor 81), Carlton (Bridges 71). Subs (not used): Joyce, Howarth.

Sent Off: Dobie (87).

Booked: Bridge-Wilkinson, Thirlwell, Bridges.

Attendance: 3,803.

Referee: M Jones (Mansfield).