Latics faithful finally get their reward
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 19 April 2010
Carlisle 1, Athletic 2
Safety in sight after Smalley and Guy inspire win
ONE of the stations along the breathtaking Settle to Carlisle train line has a curious feature.
At Garsdale, a life-size statue of a Border Collie dog has been erected in honour of Ruswarp.
The tale goes that when Graham Nuttall, one of the main men behind campaigning to keep the route active in the 1980s, fatally fell while walking in the Welsh mountains his loyal best friend stayed with his master for 11 cold winter weeks.
When finally discovered, the poor canine was so weak he had to be carried down by the rescue team.
A few Athletic fans will no doubt sympathise with Ruswarp.
The hardy band who follow the club around England’s every nook and cranny – from Exeter to Norwich, Hartlepool to Wycombe, and no doubt to Southampton tomorrow night, have watched on dutifully this season.
At times hope has significantly outweighed expectation that the patient’s condition would improve.
Poor, frustrating performances were the rule rather than the exception as the points slipped away.
Recently, though, there has been something of an awakening.
Gone is the Athletic side who would succumb to their fate without much of a murmur — in terms of meaningful efforts on goal, at least — and in its place is a team which appears bright and confident of getting results even away from home.
The passing and movement at Huddersfield was excellent despite a defeat, the team dug in to grind out a 0-0 draw at MK Dons which should have been another win to add to the tally, and here at Carlisle this was a well-deserved three points that puts Athletic within touching distance of far-flung away trips in League One next season to such destinations as Notts County, Peterborough and, er, Rochdale.
The catalysts for this result were Deane Smalley and Lewis Guy.
Changing ends after an abject first half on a Stockport-esque pitch — three parts muddy dust to one part grass — Athletic emerged the brighter side in the second half and it was the dribbling of these two men which provided the dangerous moments in the game.
Ten minutes after half-time, Smalley embarked on a surging run that began in his own half. The rejuvenated Athletic winger had the edge on chasing Carlisle midfielder Adam Clayton, leaving him in his wake before mis-hitting a bobbling ball perfectly into the path of Guy, who slipped it under goalkeeper Adam Collin for the opening strike of the game.
Nine minutes later, Athletic were at it again. Smalley played a neat one-two in centre-field with Dale Stephens and charged towards the right of the area.
With the angle cut off by a defender, Smalley was able to dig out a cross-shot which Collin could only palm into the path of the following-up Stephens, who poked home from six yards.
At that stage it all seemed plain sailing against Greg Abbott’s mid-table side, who appeared to have one and a half eyes on a post-season beach break in Marbella.
But it would to unlike Athletic not to give their fans a scare and lone striker Gary Madine ensured a slightly uncomfortable final 20 minutes for the visitors when he headed home Clayton’s corner, initially awarded after visiting goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan had tipped over the scorer’s lobbed effort from the edge of the area.
Athletic were well worthy of the win, but it took plenty of time for Dave Penney’s men to get to grips with the conditions.
With a gusty wind and the poor surface, the game meandered along with barely any action of note up until the 36th minute, when Richard Keogh appealed in vain for a penalty.
Soon after, Flahavan had to be alert to charge off his line and smother the ball when Clayton tricked his way into the area and Athletic were forced into a change seven minutes before half-time when right-back Alex Marrow succumbed to injury. Paul Black came on to play on the opposite side with Kieran Lee switching flanks.
A minute before the break, local lad Guy — born 20 miles south in Penrith — eased past full-back David Raven on the left to put in a low cross that Evan Horwood was forced to clear with Pawel Abbott at his back.
Abbott again showed his shoot-on-sight intentions early in the second half, his 30-yard effort tipped round the post by Collin four minutes before the alert Guy’s opener.
Athletic had a minor scare moments before registering a second goal. Keogh, ever-keen to get forward, tried to jink past Sean Gregan and went down a little too easily under a half-challenge.
Referee Danny McDermid caused a few palpitations by pointing in the vague area of the penalty spot, but was merely indicating a goal kick.
Stephen’ strike was followed by Madine’s header and it brought Carlisle belatedly to life.
Reuben Hazell — not for the first time, excellent alongside Gregan — had to stoop to head away a dangerous Keogh cross as the home side pressed for an equaliser.
A Madine shot which drifted wide from the edge of the area and a deflected effort from substitute Scott Dobie were as close as Carlisle came to nicking a point on a day that belonged to the visitors.
Wingman flying, says jubilant boss
ATHLETIC boss Dave Penney praised the contribution of Deane Smalley, whose strong running set up both goals in a win which pushes the side to within touching distance of Coca-Cola League One safety.
The 21-year-old winger enlivened a game that appeared to be heading nowhere fast by teeing up the first goal for Lewis Guy — ultimately via a stray touch off his shin — and then hitting a cross-shot which was palmed away to enable Dale Stephens to put the visitors two up at Brunton Park.
Gary Madine pulled a goal back for Carlisle but it wasn’t enough to stop the visitors picking up a sixth away-day victory of the season.
“We left Deane out recently and got a reaction when he came on in the last two games,” said Penney (pictured, right).
“We didn’t get it wide enough to him in the first half but in the second we did and he could run at people on the outside, which we asked him to do, and he set two goals up.
“For the first he made a great run and as he tried to pass the ball to Lewis, it bobbled off his shin. It fell kindly to Lewis and he finished it off well.
“We were more positive running with the ball and tried to get it wide, where the better part of the pitch was.
“For the second goal Deane set off from the halfway line and came inside this time, managing to go through with his pace and his power.
“He went wide and his cross-come-shot was saved and Dale Stephens was there to tap it in.
“If you don’t get people in the box, you won’t score.
“So we are delighted with three points. It was important what we did, which was picking points up, and with four games to go there is no change to that.”
Penney was also moved to explain his substitutions. The first, which came seven minutes before half-time, saw an injured Alex Marrow replaced by Paul Black, while the latter two which saw front pair Pawel Abbott and Guy withdrawn were simply down to fatigue — despite Guy’s apparent exasperated gesture, which the Athletic boss said was intended simply to eat up a few more seconds.
“Alex got a whack on his shin and tweaked his ankle a bit,” Penney added. “But Paul Black came on and did ever so well.
“Lewis and Pawel were both absolutely shattered. They put a big shift in and we decided to go back to 4-1-4-1 with Tom Eaves up there to strengthen it a little bit and make sure with all the balls coming into our box that we could head them out.”
Latics’ next game: Tomorrow, Southampton (A), Coca-Cola League One
