The Valiants kick off the new year with a trip to Cumbria to face Carlisle United.
Vale come into the game off the back of a dominant 3-0 victory over Blackpool on Friday night. Ben Garrity gave us the lead in the first half before James Wilson & Nathan Smith added to the score line to earn Andy Crosby’s side our third win in five games.
Crosby’s comments
Here’s what the gaffer had to say following our 3-0 victory against Blackpool:
“This was a really good performance both with and without the ball. There were four academy players in the 18, three on the pitch at once. I thought the two young boys who started the game, making their full league debuts were absolutely incredible”
“We were very good defensively. We have had a lot of conversations since the Barnsley game, particularly that first half. If you defend like we did as a team then you deserve to be 3-0 down and all the things that you then get on the back of that.”
“But the response in the second half against Barnsley was good and we had to build on that. It was about trying to play with real energy and quality when we could, break lines and pass forward. But ultimately that performance was based on what we did without the ball. I thought we showed a really good connection, we let them have possession in areas we wanted them to and then we stopped a number of balls into our box. But when the ball did come into our box I can’t remember them having many clear-cut chances. That is a testament to every single one of our players.”
The Opposition:
Carlisle sit bottom of the League, six points from safety. They haven’t picked up a league win since Tuesday 24th October when they beat Burton Albion 2-1.
In their last outing they lost 2-0 to Wigan at the DW Stadium. Two first half goals from Josh Magennis & Liam Morrison succumbed The Cumbrians to defeat Infront of more than 4,000 travelling fans.
They are managed by Paul Simpson who joined the club for his second managerial spell in February 2022. When he joined, Carlisle were in 23rd spot but he managed to guide them to safety after picking up five wins from seven games in March.
After securing safety he signed a three-year contract with the club. In the 2022/23 season, Simpson helped the Cumbrians earn promotion to League One via the play offs. After a 5th place finish, they managed to beat Bradford City in a dramatic two legged play off semi-final, the 2nd leg went to extra time with Simpson’s side eventually running out 4-1 winners on aggregate. This win set up a play-off final against Stockport County. The sides couldn’t be separate over the 90 minutes and extra time, so it went to penalties where Carlisle won 5-4 in a classic encounter at Wembley Stadium
Player to watch - Owen Moxon
The shining light for Carlisle this season has been midfielder Owen Moxon. The 25 year old has been involved in six goals so far. He’s has scored three and assisted three, his most recent goal came in their 1-1 draw against Fleetwood Town where Moxon gave them the lead after 27 minutes.
They also boast a few former Valiants in their squad. Ryan Edmonson and Thomas Holy both play for Carlisle, these players were involved in our 2021/22 promotion season.
Last time we met
Port Vale 1-0 Carlisle United, Saturday 24th August 2023.
Vale had the first chance of the game when James Plant cut inside from the left side but his low effort whistled the wrong side of the near post. Soon after, former Valiant Callum Guy forced a good save from Connor Ripley when he took aim from range.
Just five minutes into the second half, Vale were awarded a penalty when Carlisle keeper Jokull Andersen lost possession in his box and then bought down Ethan Chislett. James Wilson stepped up and dispatched his penalty into bottom right corner to give Vale the lead. Ben Garrity came ever so close to doubling Vale’s lead but Andersen was on hand to palm away his strike from the left side of the box. Josh Thomas was next to go close after he got in-behind but once again Andersen was on hand to race off his line and save well
The game ended 1-0 to the Vale who maintained their four-game unbeaten run with this victory over the Cumbrians
Fixture throwback
Carlisle United 1-3 Port Vale, Tuesday 8th February 2022
David Worrall gave us the lead after just one minute in our last visit to Brunton Park. After receiving a square ball from James Wilson, the Vale winger calmly slotted into the bottom corner to kick off give us the best possible start to the game. However, the lead didn’t last long when Owen Windsor ghosted in at the back post before diverting a low cross into the bottom corner in the 21st to level the scores. Just before the break, Vale regained the lead when James Wilson bundled home a rebound from close range after seeing his initial effort saved well by Mark Howard in the Carlisle goal.
The game was put to bed ten minutes from time when David Amoo intercepted a back pass before slotting home to complete the scoring and earn Vale all three points.