Filed under: League One, Football, Match Reports
Carlisle defender Peter Murphy earned victory in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final just two days after becoming a father for the first time.Fans making the 600-mile round trip to London were celebrating within 12 minutes of the kick-off as Murphy opened the scoring at Wembley.
He had already offered a warning with a far-post header that bounced wide and he was given another chance from a corner after a fine save from Brentford goalkeeper Simon Moore to deny Francois Zoko.
James Berrett's set-piece was met by Zoko, with the ball falling kindly for Murphy to control with his thigh and volley powerfully into the net.
Murphy's strike atoned for his handball in the final last season during the defeat to Southampton, but that was a distant memory as he wheeled away celebrating as his new son and partner Lisa watched in the stands.
Despite leading, Greg Abbott's team suffered a blow shortly after the opener when Ben Marshall was carried off on a stretcher following a tackle by Adam Reed, earning the midfielder a yellow card.
Reed appeared fortunate not to receive a red card and was taken off at the break as Brentford looked to get back in the game. They went close through Sam Saunders' long-range efforts and Gary Alexander's header going over the crossbar.
Jeffrey Schlupp struck the post for Brentford 10 minutes after the restart following a run where he evaded Lubomir Michalik's challenge before cutting inside and getting a shot away.
Toumani Diaouraga was dismissed for Brentford four minutes from full-time for his second bookable offence, the latter being a late tackle on Tom Taiwo.
REACTION:
Peter Murphy on his winning goal two days after becoming a father:
"It's been the best two days of my life. I wasn't able to spend much time with them after the birth and it's been pretty tiring, but you've got to handle it."
On the team's performance:
"We felt we had something to prove after last year's final. Brentford are a good side and put us under pressure in the second half, but we held out."
Skipper Paul Thirlwell on his feelings:
"It's brilliant. We had experience of how not to do it last year when we didn't produce, so we were up for it today. We wanted to put a few things right."
Manager Greg Abbott gives his verdict:
"It's a fantastic achievement. We had a tough time last year when Peter Murphy handed to give away a penalty that set us back. I'm delighted for him because he is a true professional. Last year was awful, but it's been different this time I knew there was a better feeling about everything we did this time. Now I'm going to help the players have a good night. Times are hard, but 14,000 fans paid to come down here and they were outstanding."
Brentford manager Nicky Forster admitted his team struggled to impose themselves on the game.
"I thought we were off the pace in the first half because of the occasion. Overall in the 90 minutes we didn't have enough quality balls in the box and didn't really test their keeper. Second half the response was encouraging."
On the sending off:
"I haven't seen it again but it looked like a sending off. I thought the referee was quick to get his yellow card out early on but I have no complaints at all as it had no bearing on the game."
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