'Incredibly frustrating' - Williamson on Blues' defeat to Bradford
Mike Williamson blamed a failure of “concentration” for Carlisle United’s defeat to Bradford City.
Calum Kavanagh’s goal early in the second half dashed the Blues’ hopes of a positive afternoon after a major spell of January recruitment.
The new-look Cumbrians, after bright first-half spells, faded badly in the second half and remain seven points adrift of League Two safety.
On the way their performance declined, head coach Williamson said: “It was just out of concentration, I think.
“The goal and the manner of it was incredibly frustrating. That just can't happen.
“I give the lads a lot of credit for how we've defended and especially contact in the box, but their striker finds that two yards out.
“And then that shapes the whole complexion of the game and it takes the wind out of our sails.
“It was encouraging by half-time and we knew it was going to be like a war of attrition against ourselves because [if we could] stay on that front foot, stay positive, stay aggressive, we can match them.
“They [Bradford] deserve a lot of credit. They're having a really good season. They're really organised and disciplined in what they do. And if you switch off for a second, they punish you.
“They did. That's how they get the win. And then after that, they killed the game. So that's what happened from our point of view, and it’s really frustrating.”
Williamson involved eight of his new signings in the game – six from the start and two coming off the bench – but Carlisle failed to build on some bright early work.
United captain Sam Lavelle after the final whistle (Image: Ben Holmes)
Graham Alexander’s Bantams, who won at Brunton Park for the first time since 1985, managed the game with increasing comfort as Carlisle failed to create much of note in the second half.
“They’ve got a lot of football intelligence. They've got a lot of experience. You always know that they're going to be aggressive on that front foot. They're a team that will just wait for someone to switch off a lapse of concentration,” Williamson said of the visitors.
“And that's what you can't give them. And then after the goal went in, I felt as though we lost our identity a little bit, and we'd come away from what got us to a good foothold in the game in the first half.
“It allowed them just to be able to turn the screw, kill the game.”
Williamson insisted Carlisle tried to alter their strategy in the second half in pursuit of a way back.
Asked what was the tactical plan to respond to going behind, he said: “We wanted to push Ceds [substitute Cedwyn Scott] up, so there was Ceds and Joe [Hugill] up top, with Kadeem [Harris] in behind, and trying to get Kads on the ball, get Whelo [Callum Whelan] on the ball, higher up.
“I thought Will Patching was very good in the first half, but we knew we were going to have to change him because of [his lack of recent] game time.
“The plan was to try and pin them back and get [them] on the back foot behind their midfield, which was proving difficult.
“Joe turned a couple of long balls into positive moments, but overall we didn't sustain enough attacks. And that's a credit to them and a disappointment for ourselves.”
Williamson felt there were good aspects to United’s first-half showing but accepted their best work did not last long enough.
He said: “The first half…there wasn't much in it. I thought we controlled large periods of it.
“I think we need to try and manufacture more clear-cut chances. But we had a few half-chances.
“We got behind them a few times. We had a few moments and on another day we get the goal.
“But we've just got to make sure that the sustained concentration is there and that for 95 minutes we have those attacking moments and not just 45.”
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