Stevenage 2 Carlisle United 1: Twenty minutes had passed when Paul Simpson said something that could probably have been heard by all sides of the Lamex Stadium. It was a polite message to the defensive part of his team.
The first word was unrepeatable, the next three clear: “sort it out”. Alas, Carlisle did not sort it out – or, at least, not until it was too late. Simmo’s mini-tirade took place when the Blues were 1-0 down. A little while later, they were two adrift.
Their manager’s language at that point must have become extra choice, for you already sensed it might be too much for them this time. A team getting by on a goal a game from Kristian Dennis would have to find new reserves to overturn an emphatic Stevenage lead.
Instead they got…a goal from Kristian Dennis. This is where United’s scoring begins and ends just now, and is where the early-season scrutiny will have to go, just as much as the parts of Saturday’s performance that led Stevenage in through the front door.
The striker has, by netting in their first five games, done something which has eluded Blues players since 1953. It is a truly noteworthy achievement, and it would be further burnished if someone else, anyone, could now join in and help him along.
United obviously cannot rely on Dennis to score 100 per cent of their league goals, as is currently the case. When they are rocked as they were in a poor first half here, they need to go back at teams with the idea that danger can come from several angles.
It does in one sense – Jordan Gibson grew into an excellent game here, and United’s chance creation statistics are good overall – but not on the dancefloor. Carlisle, in truth, did not fashion many proper opportunities at Stevenage yet the sense still remained that unless something was going to fall to Dennis’s feet or head, the idea of a comeback was for the fairies.
The only way to change this pattern is with actions. United, it must be said, are stripped of several players to injury and by no means yet at full flow. A defeat like Saturday’s was always highly possible, if not likely, given the holes Simpson is trying to patch over.
There need be no over-reaction to such a result. A better fitted-out Blues, with players back next weekend, will be a better proposition. And it couldn’t be clearer what needs to be installed into whomever takes the field against Gillingham and tries to put victory number two on the board.
While United strive for more goals, they also need to pose better defensive arguments than they did here. Stevenage’s style of play was hiding in plain sight from minute one, yet Carlisle did not confront it well enough.
They were unable to prevent Steve Evans’ side bombing it wide, dropping it forward, or crucially swooping on second balls. Again – some of the Blues’ warrior defenders were not fit to start this game (it was tailor-made, you have to say, for someone like Morgan Feeney) and those selected could not be objectionable enough against an experienced, hard-edged home side.
Stevenage were able to play most of the first half on their own terms. By the sixth minute, they had hit the post through Arthur Read, after other players had doubled up on Jon Mellish.
By the 17th, they had taken the lead. Omari Patrick had, at that stage, been denied a penalty (it looked debatable, at first look), while Luke Norris and Kane Smith had gone close before Stevenage took that old familiar route of sending it up, their frontmen keeping it alive and Smith buzzing onto it with a shot that was going wide before flicking off Corey Whelan’s shin and spinning low into the net.
Carlisle, far from the first time lately, had conceded midway through the first half. Simpson let his players know his feelings but United struggled to flip things around. Patrick drew a token save from Taye Ashby-Hammond before the home side set the Blues a further examination by free-kick, corner and long throw, eventually getting their second when Smith broke onto another second ball, crossed through the six-yard box and saw Max Clark arriving to score.
Carlisle’s response this time was better, Gibson occupying defenders after shifting to the right, Jayden Harris coming into the midfield battle, and Gibson crossing nicely for Dennis to head United back into it just before the break.
Yet…were they back into it? Only in theory. Early in the second half Dennis tested the home keeper from an angle, and Whelan headed a teasing corner wide, but from there, the 331 fans behind the goal had little meat to chew on when watching a more even spectacle.
Carlisle had their spells, Gibson usually at the heart of them, Fin Back helping him push Stevenage back on the right, Harris going flying in the box (again, no penalty) and then a spate of subs changing the look of the Blues.
Paul Huntington, on his defensive debut, looked aerially strong while Duncan Idehen made a steady contribution. In the other half, though, frustrations remained: Jack Stretton unable to get much clarity after coming on, Jack Armer having a half-chance saved, the lack of a link man such as Owen Moxon as clear as day, Mellish launched into the midfield chase and Stevenage’s three big centre-halves munching anything aerial.
The hosts' own efforts to seal it were also lacking via Jordan Roberts and Jamie Reid's finishing, but the ball was at United’s end too much in the closing stages, Jake Taylor a canny introduction as Evans’ men killed the clock and left the Blues staring, after this first league defeat of term, at some rather obvious nuts to tighten.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here