Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson believes his players excelled in the "ugly" part of the game to defeat Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Kristian Dennis scored the only goal at Brunton Park, tapping in with 18 minutes to play to dent the Gas' promotion hopes and continue the Cumbrian's resurgence under former Bristol City coach Simpson.
Rovers controlled possession and had themselves to blame for their profligacy, but they were also met by a stubborn and dogged Carlisle that has been galvanised by Simpson, who was part of the Robins' coaching staff under Dean Holden and Nigel Pearson in 2021. The 55-year-old, who led Carlisle to two promotions as player-manager from 2003-06, has won six of the first seven games of his second spell in charge.
Simpson believes it was Carlisle's hard graft that got them over the line on Saturday, holding onto their lead despite Joey Barton's Rovers having 18 shots, 66 per cent of possession and 11 corners.
The hosts certainly were experts at bleeding the clock – a skill Rovers showed at Northampton Town a week previously – with several players hitting the deck and complaining of cramp as the Gas applied intense pressure in the closing stages. Carlisle also had well-trained ball boys to thank for taking a few extra seconds out of the game by slowly returning the ball to the field of play.
Such tactics, frustrating as they might be for the side on the receiving end, are part of the game, but Simpson believes his players' defensive shift earned them the three points.
“Their work rate was incredible and the way they did the ugly side of the game with the defending, the blocks and the heading everything that came in,” Simpson told the News & Star. “We had the keeper making saves when he was needed, and that’s how you earn results.
“I’ve just said to the players, football isn’t always pretty, you can’t always play the silky stuff, you have to earn the right, and we did that against a really good Bristol Rovers side.
“I just want the players to start believing in themselves and in how good they can be. Through the first six games [since I took charge] they’ve shown everybody that they’re a good team, so all they need to do is keep showing it. We got it in patches from them, and they look really good when they do it.
"I think the two things I thought we didn’t do particularly well to start with was we were a little bit frantic with our clearances, and we kept giving the ball back cheaply to them. We needed a bit of calmness about us. Sorry to use the expression, but we needed to have a bit of balls about us to take control and play. When we did have some balls and get it down and move it and switch play, I thought we got into some really good areas."
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