Carlisle United 3 Tamworth 2
Nov 29 2010 The Journal
BLUE Square Bet Premier strugglers Tamworth came within four minutes of pulling off one of the biggest shocks of this season’s FA Cup.
The non-league side scored goals either side of the break to take themselves to the brink of a place in the third round. But Carlisle United recovered from a sluggish start to assert their authority and snatch a place in the draw with the big boys courtesy of highly-rated striker Gary Madine’s 13th of the season and two late strikes from Francois Zoko and James Chester.
Their reward is a long trip to Torquay in January but while relieved to have made the draw, Cumbrians manager Greg Abbott was scathing about his side’s display.
“That was the worst first half performance since I took over,” he said. “I was actually preparing an apology to the fans because I couldn’t see a way back. There was a complete lack of energy and determination and there was absolutely no explanation for it.
“We gave them a rollocking at the break, we made a few changes, and we were fantastic in the second half. I don’t want to see anything like that first 45 minutes from my group again, and that has been made clear.”
It was a 7am start for the Brunton Park officials as they battled to clear four inches of overnight snow, but it looked like their sterling efforts were going to backfire as the Lambs showed that they hadn’t turned up for a slaughter.
“That was a really tough debut,” Blackpool loanee Ashley Eastham admitted. “The manager wasn’t happy at half time and they probably deserved to be in front. We got a bit of a talking to and we were much better in the second half. I thought we deserved the win.”
Gary Madine reacted first to level the scores just after the break and Carlisle started to turn the screw as they took control of the game.
But they were rocked back on their heels for the second time in the game when Danny Thomas put the visitors in the driving seat against the second half run of play.
Paul Thirlwell, said: “We still felt we could get something. We showed we weren’t prepared to give it up with the way we reacted.”
A switch to the left wing for Ben Marshall gave Tamworth plenty to think about, and it was his run and cross that allowed Francois Zoko to thump home the equaliser from close range.
United’s safe passage was assured with the last attack of the game when a pinpoint James Berrett free kick was headed past the stranded Ross Atkins by James Chester.
He explained: “We knew we’d let ourselves down in the first half, but we showed the spirit in the squad with the way we bounced back and won the game. Scoring like that was superb, especially with it being such an important goal.”
Abbott admitted his priority was working out how to right the wrongs of the first-half performance. “I need a bit of time to think about why we were so poor because we want to make sure we put that right,” he said. “Overall people will say that we got there in the end, but I’m disappointed we made it so difficult for ourselves. It’s not something we want to repeat.”
CARLISLE: Collin, Simek, Chester, Eastham, Comminges (Cruise 46), Marshall, Berrett, Taiwo (Curran 81), Robson (Thirlwell 46), Zoko, Madine. Subs (not used): Caig, Hurst, Cook, Todd.
Goals: Madine 50, Zoko 86, Chester 90.
TAMWORTH: Atkins, Tait (Lake-Gaskin 90), Wylde, Marshall, Barrow, Rodman (Sheridan 82), Oakes (Bojang 90), Smith, Bradley, Thomas, Perry. Subs (not used): Connor, Mitchell, MacKenzie, Wilkinson.
Booked: Bradley, Smith.
Goals: Marshall 30, Thomas 75.
Referee: Scott Mathieson (Cheshire)
Attendance: 3,599
