Carlisle United 1 Tranmere Rovers 2: Oh, Marzi, it had to be you, didn’t it? The script was just too good, too precise. The man who ignited Paul Simpson’s second Carlisle United reign, then left because he wouldn’t play him on the wing, cuts in from the wing and, in Tranmere Rovers’ away colours, curls a quite beautiful shot into the home net.
Approximately four-and-a-half hours later, Simpson is no longer Carlisle United manager: a reign bookended by the same elusive, inconsistent, talented, likeable, unignorable footballer.
For Carlisle, Omari Patrick had only scored twice in a game on one occasion (against Hartlepool United a couple of seasons ago). Brunton Park’s glistening turf duly set something off inside him the moment he put eyes on it again.
The impact was brutal when it came to Simpson’s position and his waning hold on the Blues. Yet, as we unpick the detail of the manager’s departure, sift through the news and views and who’s-nexts, a nod of respect can still go Patrick’s way.
He came, he scored, he dominated the stage, he reminded us what he was like when at his very best, and he left: the defining figure in this game which joins the sad pantheon of trigger moments for big Carlisle United dugout decisions.
The result that cost Simpson it all was earned by Tranmere in the first half then secured by them in the second. Theirs was not a performance of silk or great enterprise. They did, though, have the day's inspired figure, and enough about them to see off Carlisle’s faulty aims.
Patrick’s first goal, on five minutes, was a shot threaded through a cluster of bodies and in off the post. The 28-year-old, who’d been given a very warm welcome from home fans who were never going to forget Wembley and all the rest, barely celebrated as team-mates swarmed to him.
His second, after Archie Davies had equalised for Carlisle, was as elegant as you’ll ever see a knife going in: Patrick cruising from the right, with that deceptively easy looking stride, then wrapping his left foot around the ball, sending it curling and spinning beyond Harry Lewis’s diving grasp.
It was that goal, the style and timing of it, that darkened United’s day profoundly. Simpson’s team had hauled themselves back into the game once, but doing so again required a greater leap of faith than a team not closely enough accustomed to winning habits could manage.
The rest…well, it’s why we are where we are. Carlisle tried but not often looked like they had a confident plan for the job. They had plenty of the ball in the second half, but their forward movement lacked imagination. There were runs, there were crosses, but rarely penetration. There was energy, but very little flair.
There was a new signing, the much-vaunted Jordan Jones, but he could not do this on his own; was never likely to. Initially he offered clear quality, particularly with some set-piece deliveries and a couple of skilful ripples. By the end, his distribution from the same wide positions faded.
In other cases it was a matter of hope over reality. Charlie Wyke had another marginal game and United’s next boss must get more from the striker, as well as the collective that is supposed to be feeding him. Midfield was, once more, too slow, too stodgy. When Carlisle’s defence had the ball, and Tranmere stepped off, you were never sure what the idea was to work it towards the Wirral side’s box.
As in other games, there were moments, but that was all. A second-minute cameo of pace from Daniel Adu-Adjei put Tranmere’s experienced defence on notice, but three minutes later and Patrick was finding room through a small thicket of bodies to score after United had been caught down their right side.
Carlisle, brightly, responded with an equaliser straight away, dispatched by the determined Davies when Tranmere, this time, struggled under a cross from Jones, helped on by Adu-Adjei. Yet what happened from there was a case of a home side journeying from hope to stalemate in stages. United, after the equaliser, were initially sharp, Davies particularly so, Ben Williams and Josh Vela meeting half-chances.
On occasion United disturbed Tranmere with some feisty tackling, be that Wyke tracking back or Harrison Neal biting into Patrick. Wyke headed a Jones cross just wide. Then Patrick scored again.
Of course he did: this time with that elegant, curling style, a short corner routine entirely out of United's reach. Ok, Marzi. Point taken.
Carlisle's next response and the conviction behind it was sand steadily going through a sieve. Jones put a first-timer wide but as things went on their play grew longer and more mundane. The second half saw Jon Mellish into midfield and moments of locomotion resulted, but only in terms of Carlisle persisting their way into reasonable wide positions but never threading things together fully.
There was not a proper chance to speak of all half, while Lewis’ haphazard punch at the other end gave the crowd unnecessary jitters. Jones drifted from the middle to the sides without nailing anything. Dominic Sadi, Ben Barclay and Luke Armstrong, a trio of substitutes, got involved in half-chances but once more this was not a campaign of clinical forward play, and certainly not dynamic pace or invention in the build-up.
It was Carlisle, all in all, as they have been for too prolonged a time. Boos from many sections of Brunton Park then soundtracked the end of Paul Simpson, who shook his head at some of the catcalls as he slipped down the tunnel. A few minutes later, there was an eruption of more appreciative noise.
It was the home crowd greeting Patrick, as he left with the points, the respect - and the scalp of a manager with whom it had once been so good.
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