Game Sixty Four - Carlisle Home

4th April 2009

Ok... I know I've fallen behind in recent weeks and so I will cut this one short in an effort to try and get back on track, especially with the rush of games coming up.

With my dad away in the lake district over easter, the spare ticket was snapped up by my girlfriend Sam... well... snapped might not be the correct term but I have to at least pretend that she was very eager to be there for the sake of the blog.

We hopped on the train from syston in plenty of time and headed over to the 1884 bar for a quick drink and meet up with Katy and Stez while we waited for kick off. Katy and Sam seemed to hit it off which was pleasing... although not so in some respects as by hitting it off, I mean they seemed to enjoy insulting me.

With not long to go before kick off, we headed into the stadium to find our seats and hopefully get that elusive win which has been avoiding us in recent weeks.

With Steve Howard back in the starting line up, we were quietly optimistic about the game ahead as we had clearly missed him in recent games. There were few chances in the first half, a Howard effort going just the wrong side of the post and a volley from a Carlisle midfielder being lashed over the bar.

On 22 minutes, City produced the first real chance of the game. Turner in the away goal had to be at his very best to keep out first King and then Gradel in a brilliant double save to keep us out. He was at his best again minutes later to turn a Fryatt header around the post when we thought we had the lead.

10 minutes later though and we found ourselves behind. A long ball over the top was latched onto by Michael Bridges and he lifted the ball over the advancing Tony Warner and into the net. Bugger - was the Sam jinx going to strike again?

Matt Oakley went close right from the kick off when his brilliant effort from 25 yards looked destined for the top corner but Turner somehow clawed it away at the last second. Brilliant save.

At half time, and a goal down, we headed down to meet Katy and Stez who decided to join us for the second half in the East Stand.

7 minutes into the second half and we were finally level and Sam finally got to celebrate her first Leicester goal. Good work by Dyer down the left saw him pull the ball back for Oakley to smash past the keeper for the equalising goal.

The second half was a quiet affair until the final ten minutes when the game sprung into life. King had an effort well saved again before finally the breakthrough came again. King threaded the ball through to Dyer whose cross was inch perfect for Matty Fryatt to head us into the lead with only three minutes remaining. Just the win that we badly needed....

... but it wasn't to be and as we moved into injury time, Carlisle grabbed the unlikely leveler. A great cross from the left was headed into the net by sub Scott Dobie to send the away fans mental and leave us feeling shattered and really worried about the prospect of promotion. By the time we would play again, we may find ourseleves second in the league for the first time since November... not a happy thought.

To finish this entry, I'd like to spare a thought for the season ticket holder in the block next to ours who sadly passed away during the game against Carlisle. We noticed that something was wrong just before Fryatt's goal when members of the crowd behind us started called for the stewards and medics to come up. Despite their best efforts though, Derek, a Leicester fan since 1949, passed away at the stadium and the thoughts of all Leicester fans go out to his family at this horrible time. Things like this always puts football into perspective and hopefully the club will mark his memory at the game against Leeds on Easter Monday.

RIP Derek - true blue since '49.