Carlisle United booked their place in the second round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Tranmere Rovers – but what did we learn from the game? Let’s take a closer look…
1 First round force
Although the last decade at Carlisle United has been…mixed, Saturday still fit into a pattern of good first round FA Cup outings.
Their 2-1 win over Tranmere means they have progressed through this stage in nine of the last ten campaigns.
Only the defeat by that scoreline at Peterborough United in 2014 has cost the Blues a clean sweep of second round places in the last decade.
Otherwise, they’ve got past a range of opponents in that time: Boreham Wood, Plymouth Argyle, St Albans City, Oldham Athletic, Crewe Alexandra, Dulwich Hamlet, Hayes & Yeading, Horsham and now Tranmere.
In the past nine attempts (other than that 2014 early exit), their progress has ended in the second round four times, the third round three times and the fourth round once.
At the very least, the Blues tend to give themselves a chance of a cup run. A kind draw tonight, and who knows…?
2 Sho time is back
Much credit to Tobi Sho-Silva for the way he led the Carlisle line on his first start of the season.
It has been a long wait for the striker to get back in United’s XI after a pre-season hamstring injury, and injuries to Kristian Dennis and Jack Stretton re-opened the door on Saturday.
Sho-Silva put so much into the game, including his hand in United’s opening goal, that he was struggling to move by the hour mark when Paul Simpson took him off.
Hopefully those 60 good minutes will prove a big step back for Sho-Silva.
The striker’s popularity is clear, not least a result of those late goals he scored when coming off the bench last season. Now the challenge is for the Londoner to show Simpson he is a regular starting option among his attacking alternatives.
Saturday was only Sho-Silva’s fifth start since his move from Sutton United in January, only his second under Simpson, and the first time United have won when he’s been in the XI.
With his powerful running and dogged battling against Tranmere defenders such as the experienced Tom Davies, it was a timely showcasing (Sho-casing) of what the 27-year-old can offer.
3 Charting a way forward
The adaptability of Carlisle’s squad was referred to in positive terms by Paul Simpson after the game.
And nowhere was it more apparent than in the performance of Taylor Charters.
The Maryport man started, as he had in the previous game, on the left of United’s attacking three.
Charters played his part in Carlisle’s first-half dominance, though more of their attacks tended to come down the right where Jack Ellis was having an outstanding game.
Yet United’s shortage of strikers later pressed Charters into the unusual position of leading the line from the hour mark, after Tobi Sho-Silva went off.
Charters may not be a natural No9 but deserves credit for the way he competed against Tranmere’s defenders to give Carlisle some sort of platform during a tricky spell.
By then, the west Cumbrian had also picked up an assist, helping Jayden Harris go through to score what turned out to be the winner.
Given their ongoing injury issues, a certain resourcefulness in the squad is essential – and Simpson now knows he can count on Charters in different respects.
4 He’s all right, Jack (again)
What more can you say about Jack Ellis? This was another magnificent display by the teenager from Staveley.
Each time Ellis performs like this you have to remind yourself how little first-team experience he has.
Saturday, as well as being his FA Cup debut, was just his tenth start for the Blues, while he only turned 19 a couple of weeks ago.
The former youth team captain, who is currently under contract until the summer of 2024, always looks composed in his work, and in the last two games – both against Tranmere – has looked increasingly confident in his attacking efforts too.
Ellis’s enterprise, and his care and persistence with the ball in tight spaces, was a major part in the platform Carlisle build against Micky Mellon’s team.
Indeed, the visiting manager conceded that the Blues were particularly hard to deal with on that side of the pitch.
Fin Back is a quality loan player who will surely be back in the side in due course. But it would take a brave person to leave Ellis out at the moment.
5 Drawing the sting
A feature of Carlisle’s better performances recently has been how well they’ve protected goalkeeper Tomas Holy.
It means when the Blues keeper has been truly needed, his saves have counted for something.
At Prenton Park the previous weekend, an athletic save from Kieron Morris kept Carlisle’s sheet clean.
On Saturday, an alert stop against Kane Hemmings denied Tranmere the bonus of an early lead.
United duly built a lead and, in both games, sucked the sting out of their opponent with some obdurate defending.
There was very little getting past Morgan Feeney, Paul Huntington and Jon Mellish in the centre on Saturday, while Jack Armer gave another sound showing on the left – and Ellis was the man to deny Rovers their best opportunity of an equaliser with a crucial interception on Elliott Nevitt.
Tranmere had the edge in possession at Brunton Park – 51 versus 49 per cent – but Carlisle’s shot count was far superior, 12 to five.
Their battling work put a high price on the visitors’ best chances, and although they did get a late goal through the Blues' one real lapse, they were generally kept at bay.
6 Fan power
United’s supporters had been under the microscope for the 48 hours before Saturday’s game, the Blues taking measures to combat aspects of “fan behaviour” which have been causing concern.
Football Association investigations continue and we are yet to learn whether United will face any sanctions for some of the alleged happenings in home and away games.
Saturday saw a relatively small area of the Paddock cordoned off behind the dugouts.
It did not appear to affect anything unduly in terms of atmosphere, though there did not seem any of the kind of needle – whether involving opposition managers/staff or officials – that brought things to a head in the Leyton Orient game last month.
A spicier contest will test United’s measures better – while Carlisle’s supporters deserve a word of respect after Saturday.
The crowd of 4,154 was a good cup attendance by recent standards; in fact, the biggest at Brunton Park for a first round tie since 2010, and better than some second round games too.
The Warwick Road was impressively vocal and, at a time when the FA Cup can feel something of an afterthought in certain quarters, Saturday was a good occasion with a good atmosphere.
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