Calderwood hoping to enjoy the end of a tough season

Posted Sunday, March 24, 2019 by PA

Cambridge boss Colin Calderwood praised his side for weathering a storm that allowed the U’s to claim a point from a 2-2 Sky Bet League Two draw at Carlisle.

Former Carlisle striker Jabo Ibehre returned to Brunton Park to score an equaliser midway through the second half to deny his old club a vital play-off boost and keep Cambridge eight points clear of the bottom two.

Calderwood said: “It could have been a 5-4 game because there was a great threat from both teams.

“I’m not caring about what happens elsewhere, I just want us to gain points. A couple of home and away wins and maybe we can enjoy the last part of the season.”

After seeing his side make it four games unbeaten, Calderwood added: “We hung in and found a bit more space as the game went from end to end.

“I thought we had them in the palm of our hands in the opening stages, but we started making mistakes and afforded Carlisle some rhythm and danger.

“Real credit to the players who came through a really sticky period when they made individual and collective mistakes.

“Our slackness afforded Carlisle opportunities but it was a terrific game and they scored a couple of terrific goals and really opened us up more than any other team has done for a long, long time.”

In a game of many chances, Cambridge took an early lead through Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, lost it by half time via goals from Jamie Devitt and Nathan Thomas, levelled through Ibehre and almost snatched the victory in added time when Adam Collin saved dramatically as Jevani Brown homed in on goal.

Calderwood said: “The amount of opportunities we had is very satisfying. It was a proper effort with a bit of quality and threat which is something the away fans will have enjoyed.”

Carlisle manager Steven Pressley had no complaints about the result or his team’s effort, although he said: “We need to be more clinical and tighten up at the back.

“We played some good football and I’m disappointed for the players. It was a great performance, but not the result we wanted.

“We got caught cold for their second but we scored two great goals. We controlled long periods of the game and I’m happy with the way we went about our business and the application can’t be faulted.”