Carlisle United 5 Milton Keynes Dons 0

Feb 15 2010 The Journal

CARLISLE United breezed past promotion-chasing MK Dons with an attacking display that brought five goals and a standing ovation at the end of a memorable week for the club.

The Dons looked like they might provide a stiff test, with Adam Clayton clearing off the line from a Jude Stirling header on nine minutes, but the cracks started to appear when Ian Harte took his tally to 12 for the season when he nodded a Hurst corner home midway through the half.

“It’s been unbelievable so far this season and I hope it continues,” said Harte. “If the deliveries are good it gives you a chance, and I’ve been lucky enough to be in the right place for a few of them.”

But if the Cumbrians were feeling comfortable when Matt Robson doubled the lead ahead of the break, it certainly wasn’t discussed during the half-time team talk.

“We’ve been in that position a few times recently and we’ve still managed to make it hard for ourselves,” the nippy winger admitted. “We spoke about doing things properly in the second half and we probably went out and played better, which was pleasing for everyone.”

The points became a formality on the hour mark when Darryl Duffy made amends for an earlier one-on-one miss by volleying a Robson cross into the bottom corner to notch one up on his home debut, and it was smiles all round when Scott Dobie’s last contribution to the game was to guide a Richard Keogh cross past Willy Gueret.