Pressley hails Carlisle display at Forest Green as ‘best performance thus far’

Posted Sunday, March 17, 2019 by PA

Carlisle boss Steven Pressley lauded his side’s performance as one of the best during his tenure as the Cumbrians settled for a point at play-off rivals Forest Green.

It took a goalkeeping masterclass from Reading loanee Lewis Ward to deny the Cumbrians the three points as they bounced back from their midweek 3-1 defeat at home to struggling Notts County.

Reece Brown’s eighth goal of the season came in the 31st minute when Christian Doidge played in the midfielder, who lashed in a sumptuous strike from the edge of the box.

Carlisle should have been ahead after 24 minutes when Danny Grainger’s corner moved like a beach ball to leave Ward flapping, but Nathan Thomas watched his stooping header clip the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Thomas breezed inside Nathan McGinley, but Ward imposed himself to produce a fine block.

Carlisle were back in the game after 49 minutes. Nathan McGinley had his pocket picked by Thomas, who finally found his shooting boots to level proceedings.

Ward came to their rescue, saving well to divert a Mike Jones stinger over and then diving across his goal to tip a Thomas strike wide.

The on-loan goalkeeper kept the game level, producing another great save to deny Regan Slater with nine minutes to go, while at the other end, Rovers substitute George Williams smashed against a post from 35 yards three minutes later.

Despite failing to secure maximum points, Pressley was delighted with his team’s display.

He said: “I thought the players were excellent. Since I’ve been at the club, that’s been our best performance thus far.

“I thought we were really, really controlled in and out of possession, and we dominated against a really good side, restricted them to very few opportunities.

“The disappointing aspect for me was we probably had six or seven clearcut chances, not half-chances, so for us to draw the game is disappointing.

“As a manager I understand it’s about winning, but I also look at the performance to see if I see improvement.

“The last couple of games I felt we just got away from the controlled performances that I’d seen in my first six or seven games, and we returned to that today, we were excellent.”

Meanwhile, Forest Green boss Mark Cooper admitted his side failed to replicate the dizzy heights of their 3-0 victory at Colchester in the week.

“Carlisle dealt with the conditions better than us, but once we go in front we should win the game 1-0. But a horrendous mistake from a young player [Nathan McGinley] still learning the game (cost us), but we should still win the game 1-0.

“Lewis Ward was our best player, we had 11 players at it in the 3-0 win at Colchester, but today we were nowhere near. We hit the post near the end but we probably wouldn’t have deserved the three points.”