Part four of our mini-series counting down to the 25th anniversary of the incredible events of May 8, 1999...
“Not the easiest of starts. Didn’t have much chance with the goals, made one great save and looked commanding from crosses. 6.”
So began the short but astonishing Carlisle United career of Jimmy Glass. The above is how the News & Star’s Anthony Ferguson rated the goalkeeper’s debut in a 3-3 draw with Darlington which left the Blues’ survival hopes…well, dangling by the same thread as before.
Glass came into the side three days after joining from Swindon Town on an emergency loan deal. The Blues, having sold main No1 Tony Caig for £5,000 to Blackpool on deadline day, before losing loan replacement Richard Knight to a recall by parent club Derby County, at last had a stand-in for their final three games.
The build-up to the Brunton Park encounter with Darlington brought the stress of United’s second-bottom Division Three position firmly to the fore. From the dressing room came an appeal from a senior figure: Billy Barr, the defender/midfielder who called for those boycotting the club, over its running by Michael Knighton, to think of United’s future.
“Forget about everyone here and just think about Carlisle United and Cumbria in general,” Barr said.
“Forget what’s gone on last season and this one that you don’t like, and come back and help. If it is certain people they don’t like, I would ask them to just forget about them for two [home] games.
“It is not just a relegation. It is much more than that. When you are going out of the league there are 22 other teams fighting to get to be one of the big boys and get all that goes with it. They all want to beat the ex-league club.”
The idea of being a scalp in the Conference seemed the least of United’s problems, given their crisis under Knighton and talk of a merger with Scottish club Clydebank.
The Blues’ owner at least played down the latter idea on the day of the Darlington game – to a point. “They are making noises, but it is pure speculation,” Knighton said.
“There are certainly moves from the Clydebank end to do something with us, but not from the Carlisle end. Not at the moment.”
Suitably reassured, 3,808 fans filed into Brunton Park to watch a side with one win in ten try to summon some nerve against mid-table Darlo. Yet Carlisle fell behind to a Craig Liddle goal on seven minutes, the visiting defender beating Glass via a Stuart Whitehead deflection.
Yet a game of melodrama further unfolded when, in the 38th minute, Blues striker Richard Tracey chased a long Glass punt and left a shoulder on Darlo keeper David Preece after he had gathered the ball. Preece, allowed to play an advantage by the officials, responded rashly, charging at Tracey, who duly fell to earth.
After a heated stoppage, referee David Pugh awarded Carlisle a penalty as police officers moved in to calm some heated outbursts from the dugout areas. Scott Dobie converted it – and then, four minuets later, Tracey took advantage of Preece’s halting run from his line to turn a tight-angle chance home.
Yet the eventful game remained on an untamed course. Darlington levelled early in the second half when Whitehead left a long Preece punt for Glass to deal with, only to find the loan debutant was not getting there. Martin Carruthers pounced to equalise…and then Paul Campbell shot the Quakers ahead.
And then…Carlisle equalised themselves, Ian Stevens scoring from close range to make it 3-3, as United once more punctured a defence that included ex-Blues veteran Gary Bennett. And that’s how it remained, and the Blues' new goalkeeping arrival from Swindon was already versed in the idea that the Cumbrians did not do things simply.
The upshot in terms of the table was this: Carlisle were second bottom with two games to go, four points now above Scarborough, who had a game in hand in their increasingly desperate bid to escape the relegation place. A home defeat to Cardiff for Division Three’s bottom side left survival in United’s hands.
It would be a smooth journey from there.
Wouldn’t it?
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