Carlisle United 2 AFC Wimbledon 1: “It was like the good old days,” Paul Simpson said. He was referring to the needle, anger and spite that boiled up in the second half of Carlisle United's victory. He was certainly not talking about their first goal.
Where that was concerned, there were no good old days for Callum Guy, unless you count a Papa John’s Trophy goal for Blackpool at Macclesfield Town in September 2018.
In the Football League, there was not a single reference point for the midfielder, zero muscle memory. That made what happened in the 45th minute all the sweeter: the shaping inside, the blissfully clean left-footed contact, the thoroughly satisfying slap of ball against net.
It was a goal that deserved to be part of a winning cause. One sloppy defensive moment threatened to take that prospect away, but thanks to Kristian Dennis’s latest piece of poaching, Guy ended this rare day in his career with maximum satisfaction.
“I can’t even claim any credit and say we work on it, because we don’t,” added Simpson of Guy's United opener. “He’s just decided to have a go.” And how. Guy has tried and failed to varying degrees since joining the Blues in January 2020. Finally, after 145 career games without in the league, he nailed one.
His sublime strike set things up nicely here after a rather flaccid start. The game had started to get warmer by the half-hour and, after the break, got up to a more scalding temperature.
Carlisle, having taken the lead so attractively in the 45th minute, might have extended it before Ayoub Assal swept through space to equalise for AFC Wimbledon. Things then got peppery via a few naughty challenges, some headscratching refereeing from Andy Haines and other moments of aggression and niggle which brought the crowd up to full voice.
That United came through such a skirmish as winners, thanks to Dennis’s excellent penalty-box instincts, clearly pleased Simpson. No, the Blues had not passed and played with slickness. Yes, they made this harder than was ideal after getting in front. Yes, the totally stress-free day at Brunton Park comes around less often than Britain changes monarch.
But they got there. They stuck their elbows out and made sure of it. That’s an essential quality when trying to find your way through League Two. It will be in Carlisle’s interests to retain it for the duration.
The rest remains a mixed bag, but Won 3 Drew 4 Lost 1 represents a sturdy start. Phases of this game were a tough watch but there were signs, in how United won it, of certain things poking through. Omari Patrick, in a telling left-sided spell, had his most effective phase of the season so far.
Players like Jordan Gibson emptied the tank defensively, as well as going forward. And there’s Dennis. There’s usually Dennis.
At 3pm, things got under way rather coldly and flatly, after the solemn pre-match rituals in tribute to the Queen. Both United and Wimbledon found comfort on the ball at the back, without coming up with workable ideas upfield.
Other than a Patrick dash for Carlisle and an Ethan Chislett break for the visitors, there was not a great deal of early invention. Simpson's side sent the ball up without much sense of what would happen next. The Dons got Assal into a few tricky places but didn’t stress Tomas Holy.
It was not until two-thirds of the way through the half, after lots of scrappy stuff, that Carlisle finally built a little momentum, Gibson and Jon Mellish often the ones providing impetus. Gibson failed to make the most of a Jack Armer through ball and Patrick was hesitant at a cute Dennis cross, but the direction was at least positive – and then up stepped Guy.
If you’re going to break your duck, ideally do it in a style that the audience, and cameras, will appreciate. After an exchange with Fin Back, that’s exactly what happened. His fine hit shook some dust from the spectacle.
And then it got interesting. After the break, Patrick almost opened up a second, then Carlisle were enraged when Haines saw the ball rebound off a visiting arm but only awarded a corner.
Carlisle’s sense of injustice was not, though, any excuse for their switch-off in the 58th minute, when keeper Nikola Tzanev’s long kick was helped on by Josh Davison and Assal went untracked to clip a shot past a clearly furious Holy.
The scenic route, then, had presented itself again. Wimbledon briefly looked the likelier side, Johnnie Jackson’s double introduction of Harry Pell and the right-sided Paul Osew giving them better shape.
United, though, readjusted themselves. Simpson sent Mellish into midfield and asked Gibson and Patrick to hug the right and left whitewash. This had the effect of disturbing Paris Maghoma’s comfort in deep Wimbledon midfield, and also putting Carlisle’s two most dangerous runners back on their toes with space in front of them.
Often fed by the industrious Owen Moxon, United got enough of their mojo back. Patrick had a couple of attempts and then, with some of that old style, ran at Osew, cut in and saw a curling cross headed on by Armer for Dennis to dispatch at close range.
The rest, before and after…well, it was all rather prickly, not helped by Haines’ eccentric decision-making, Pell’s heavy-handed challenge on Moxon which might easily have brought a red card, repeated spates of grappling and a few confrontations with nostrils flaring.
Carlisle, though, stood their ground, did likewise when the Dons sent on 6ft 7in Kyle Hudlin for the final stages, survived a late Assal attempt, wiped the sweat from their brows after seven added minutes, and walked off on this cold September day with the exhausted glow of winners.
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