Carlisle enjoyed good spells of domination through the first 45 minutes of Tuesday night’s EFL Trophy group game at Accrington, but missed chances ultimately proved to be costly as the home side nicked their win with just three minutes of normal time left to play.
“I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half,” manager Paul Simpson agreed. “We created some good chances but unfortunately, and I’m saying it again, you’ve got to be clinical.
“You have to take those chances and we really did have some good opportunities. Jayden Harris, Alfie McCalmont, they were getting forward well, and I thought the front two were a real handful.
“I thought they all caused all sorts of problems in that first half. We got into good areas with Fin Back getting down the right and Jack Robinson getting down the left.
“We keep saying it, don’t we, but you’ve got to finish things off. We could have been one, two or maybe even three goals up in that first half.
“That’s been the story of our season so far and it’s another game where we haven’t scored a goal. Set pieces were into the keeper’s range all the time instead of working him a bit better, and the shots were all too close to him.
“You need to finish the good chances you create, it’s as simple as that.”
Some of the movement was really good and JJ looks a real player,” he added. “He looks as if he’s got a good understanding of the game.
“Terry is such a threat with his pace and his power, and it would have been nice if he could have got a finish when he had that little bit of a link up on the edge of the box, but we had other opportunities.
“When JJ got smashed Alfie had an opportunity to score, and we’re trying to be too precise when sometimes you have to just have a bit of violence and put your foot through it and give it some power.
“We’ve allowed a young keeper who, I think I’m right in saying, was making his debut to have a comfortable night because all of the shots we’ve had have been put around his body.
“We’ve put two or three corners in where he’s collected it unopposed and really you have got to be a little bit more ruthless than that.”
The shift in the balance of power was there for all to see as Accrington grew in confidence throughout the second period.
“We had to change it at half time because Fin Back had a split on his eye after he got elbowed on the far side,” he told us. “He’s possibly going to need stitches in that, we’ll need to see how he is.
“It was one of those decisions again that the referee hasn’t seen properly, so he had to come off. We weren’t prepared to take any risks because the top of his eye was closing over a little bit.
“That’s why we changed the shape because of the personnel we have available to us, and we weren’t very good in the second half, which is the top and bottom of it.
“We were sloppy in possession, we lost too many duels and we didn’t create anywhere near as many chances after the break as we had in the first 45 minutes.
“We didn’t have the right desire that we’d showed in the first half. I think the goal was a little bit unfortunate in the way it took the deflection, but we had their player locked in on the touchline and there’s just no way he should get out of that.
“That’s another example of us losing those duels and you get punished for it. He’s penned in, I just don’t think he should be getting out of there, it’s as simple as that. He shouldn’t get out of that space.
“He’s hit it with real power and good quality, and it took the deflection and it’s gone in off the bar, and Tomas hasn’t really had a chance with it.
“I thought Nolan showed some really good quality, he’s got a lovely left foot. He hits things with power and he smashed it across goal. That’s what you need to do.
“That’s one incident in the second 45 minutes but we also didn’t keep the ball well enough and we lost too many of the important battles. We allowed them to get a bit of a foothold in the game and that was the biggest disappointment for me.”
There were still chances after the break, with United almost taking the game to penalties for the bonus point with a last-minute break.
“Ryan Edmondson did alright on that one, in that particular situation, but the keeper made a good save,” the manager insisted.
“He was stretching a little bit in trying to get the strike away, but it was a good run. At least he showed a bit of desire to get in behind and get a good strike away. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t do enough of that in the second half.
“Look, it’s a game we wanted to win. We didn’t manage that, but we have two more group games to go and we know we have to win them if we want to progress.
“That’s what I’m really disappointed about because in the second half we haven’t done enough to get that result. I’ve said it all along that I want to win games.
“This is a really good opportunity to get to Wembley and I’m disappointed for the fans who have made this journey. It’s not the most glamorous competition for supporters to come to, but they’ve made the journey down and backed us.
“As I say, in the first half we did enough we can be happy about, but in the second half we haven’t. That will always be disappointing.”