CUSCLB Match Report by Al Millington
You're Not Fit to Refereee!
After 94 minutes of football at Brisbane road it was abundantly clear that Mr G Horwood from Bedfordshire (ultimately wants to referee at the highest level possible – I’d suggest Sunday league might be pushing it!) was in no way fit to referee a game of professional football. What remains less clear is whether Mr G Abbott is fit to manage a professional football team. Every time I think Greg is finally getting his act together he does something so utterly stupid I revert to my previous belief that the man is a complete fool!
The Birkbeck Tavern is one of my favourite pubs we visit as a branch. A proper East London local boozer with friendly locals and a good selection of real ales! I arrived a little before one to find the usual hardened drinkers in the beer garden. The sun is shining though we seem to be at the only table in the shade and Dave wants me to flog Hit The Bar. My excuse that I’m giving out tickets seems to wash and I get stuck into my pint of Rita’s Ale (a bit on the chewy side if truth be told) pleased I’ve managed to shirk some work! Gradually the pub filled up with Carlisle fans both London Branch and those who have made the long trip south. I move onto the Yellow Hammer pale ale which slips down much easier and my usual miss placed confidence starts to grow.
For once my beer fuelled confidence seems to be less misplaced than usual and we start the game playing some of the best football I’ve seen us play away from home in the last few years. At last Abbott has us playing fluent, exciting and aggressive football! Anyinsah causing the Orient defence all sorts of problems while Thirlwell and Taiwo boss the midfield leaving the home team pegged in their own half for most of the opening period. However for all our dominant possession we failed to convert a single chance for the first 42 minutes until Robson scored with an excellent goal on the break. At half time I’m feeling confident, Orient have barely been in the Carlisle half let alone penalty area and don’t look remotely like scoring. The missed chances are worrying but I see no reason to doubt this is going to be our day.
Unfortunately Mr G Horwood from Bedfordshire (hobbies include gardening and walking the dog - probably) had other ideas and decided to gift the most absurd penalty for many a year to the home side right after the restart. A long hopeful ball was floated into the Carlisle area and Murph stuck his leg out to clear. No appeal from the Orient players, no contact and no problem. Which begs the question why our inept official decided to blow his whistle and point to the spot? The Orient team looked a bit sheepish and our players were remarkably restrained considering the lunacy of Mr Horwood’s decision. Scott McGleish took a perfectly legal spot kick and scored only for the idiot ref to pull Orient back for some non existent infringement, forcing him to take it again. Second time Lenny got a hand to it and almost kept it out but it sneaked into the corner to give Orient an equalizer. Gutted!
Despite the set back Carlisle continue to play some good football with both Livesey and Dobie going close. Unfortunately we were made to pay the price for missed chances once again when veteran journeyman Scott McGleish chipped the ball over Lenny to give the O’s an undeserved and arguably dubious lead. Matters almost went from bad to worse when McGleish went through one on one with Pidgeley only for Len to make a cracking save with victory and a hat trick in the offing. Carlisle had gone from playing champagne football to staring defeat in the face in the space of 45 minutes. Thankfully captain Thirlwell had other ideas and grabbed a later equalizer 2 minutes into injury time with an excellent 18 yard shot into the corner of the net.
Under normal circumstances I’d be pretty happy with an exciting 2-2 draw away from home involving an injury time Carlisle goal. However this is a game we should have won easily and despite the pathetic display from the officials we had more than enough ability to over come a very poor Orient side. What went wrong? We started well enough but in the second half we seemed to run out of ideas. I have the impression Abbott never has a back up plan and an aversion to using substitutes. We clearly need a striker and have finally bought one. However Offing remained on the bench until the 88th minute. I appreciate he might not be 100% fit and Greg is keen to stick with his current line up but giving our new star signing 2 mins after we have conceded a second goal is pointless. After the criminal under utilisation of Bridges last season I’d have hoped Abbott might have learned he needs to give players a bit more time on the pitch if they are going to gain fitness and prove themselves. I can’t help thinking that Greg is a fine coach but a poor manager. He knows how the game should be played but remains tactically inept and a weak communicator.
As I trudged back to the Birkbeck an Orient fan asked me ‘How were you lot not 3-0 up at half time?’ Despite almost snatching all three points Orient were lucky to get a draw and they knew it. Thankfully the Yellow Hammer Pale Ale in the pub lightened my mood and the pool table provided an excellent distraction - even if Jugsy cleaned up with monotonous ease!
Mr G Horwood (his career highlight is refereeing a 2007 conference play off semi final) was on the day not fit to referee. Even the official Leyton Orient website stated that – ‘Peter Murphy was very harshly punished for a high foot on Ryan Jarvis inside the area’. He stopped the game for every little nudge and as a result the game was never allowed to flow. However the more important question remains, is Greg Abbott fit to manage Carlisle United? The jury is still out but I’d suggest he needs to start delivering soon! We should finish well clear of the relegation zone this season simply because there are plenty worse teams than us. However we need to be beating those teams, otherwise we will find ourselves back in the mire come May.
Al