The Stan started the FA Vase road to Wembley on a high after 3 consecutive league wins and took on former Northern Alliance rivals Carlisle City. With Stoddart and Deagle on international duty in Benidorm, there were 4 changes including a competitive debut for Abu Salim who has impressed from the bench in the last 2 games.

Both sides tried to attack from the start and both had an early effort each cleared followed in the 3^rd minute with the Stan having a good opportunity from a freekick just outside the box which eventually resulted in a Holland long shot being cleared.. Smith blocked in 7 minutes followed by a Stan counter which ended with the visitor’s keeper Ballantyne catching Johnson’s effort.

In 10 minutes, a Salim ball into the box was cleared and Carlisle countered with Ray, trying to play the offside trap, bundling into the back of the advancing No 10 in the box and he was booked for his effort. The resulting penalty saw Smith dive the wrong way and it was 0-1.

Although both teams had tried to attack, and continued to do so after the goal, it had come against the overall initial run of play. In 14 minutes, Jones sent a free-kick into the box which Ballantyne punched out and in 22 minutes Salim shot just over and was blocked attacking again 4 minutes later. In 28 minutes, Ballantyne made a good save to stop a Salim shot set up by a Jones back flick. Carlisle then countered but Dixon blocked for a corner and this was the visitor’s last proper attack of the 1^st half.

The Stan continued to attack again but were getting sloppy when doing so and Carlisle were doing well to block their efforts. Most of the attacking was still by the Stan when a bad tackle on Johnson in 36 minutes led to some handbags. In 40 minutes Laidler passed to Salim who twisted and turned in the box before passing back to Jones who was brought down just outside the box but his free-kick went wide. Into injury time and after Salim was brought down, a Laidler free kick went over.

The half finished with another good opportunity for the Stan when a shot rebounded off the keeper to Jones who then blasted his shot straight at him. So the Stan, although also appearing a little disjointed, had loads of chances but no goals while the visitors had taken their best chance and were 1-0 up.

Tait replaced the injured Johnson for the 2^nd half. 3 minutes into it and a curling free-kick from Carlisle was put over by Smith with the ball from the resulting corner going just wide. A Tait attack then led to Jones shooting wide. It was Carlisle though who again scored in 51 minutes when a free-kick into the Stan box saw Ray fail to clear and the ball was slotted into the net. The Stan didn’t give up and should have scored a minute later when a Laidler cross was half cleared and a Jones blasted shot hit the bar before Dixon’s follow up shot was sliced wide.

In 55 minutes, Jones’s shot hit the hand of a Carlisle player but the claims for a penalty were ignored. It was all Stan again which made the next incident in 60 minutes even more disappointing. A Stan corner was punched clear by the keeper but at the same time a defender pushed Ray over. Razor was unhappy with the ref’s response and was given a yellow card for dissent. As it was his 2^nd he was sent off. The match had already seen lots of niggly tackles and the ref was failing to get a grip on the game.

The Stan fought on with 10 men and in 64 minutes a Holland ball into the box saw Salim head just wide followed by their keeper having to catch another effort. In 67 minutes, Tait was brought down in the box, recovered and his cross hit the bar before the ball was put out. The resulting corner ball was tapped in confidently by Joe Wear at the far post to give the Stan hope.

The Stan put extra fire power on in Wright and Robinson and kept pressurising the visiting defence although it was Carlisle who again scored against the run of play in 74 minutes. A forward cut across to the left of the box and shot past a defender and to the right of Smith on his line to make it 1-3. Another visiting player was booked in 77 minutes before a joined up Stan attack that saw shots by Wright and Salim blocked.

The Stan kept pressing but Carlisle dealt with their efforts. The next few minutes saw Wright, Tait and Robinson all shoot over the bar. In 86 minutes, Carlisle had a rare attack where they hit the angle before another Stan attack was blocked followed by Robinson shooting just over. The Stan continued to attack but Wright was blocked twice before shooting over. In the 3^rd minute of injury time, Smith had to catch before shortly after having to make a great stretching save. The match finished with Holland trying to take on 4 defenders.

The Stan had basically lost because they failed to convert a multiple of chances, unlike Carlisle who converted 3 of their limited chances, but can now focus again on going up the league table rather than up the steps to collect the Vase at Wembley.

Stan: Smith, Watchman, Dixon, Ray (Y&Y=R), Wear, Imray, Holland, Johnson (Tait 46), Jones (Robinson 71), Salim, Laidler (Wright 68).

Subs not used: Shaftoe, McCarthy.

Yellow Cards: Ray (x2).

Goals: Wear 67.

Attendance: 144

Kev Mochrie