Carlisle boss Mike Williamson says his side’s “standards weren’t good enough” after they slumped to the bottom of the Football League with a 1-0 defeat to relegation rivals Morecambe.
A nightmare two-minute spell just after the hour mark led to the home side’s defeat, with Gwion Edwards scoring the all-important goal and Jon Mellish sent off moments later.
Williamson said: “I think the standards were not good enough for a game that had a lot of pressure attached to it.
“Obviously it was going to be a cagey start. I thought we started the game reasonably well, there was nothing in it. We missed a few opportunities and that really affected us.
“I think because of where we are and our emotions, our focus wavers at times and that’s led to us being where we are.”
The manner of Carlisle’s performance against another side who are struggling at the bottom of League Two prompted boos from the home faithful at the end of the game and Williamson understands supporters’ frustrations.
“I can’t make excuses for that performance,” he admitted.
“I can say that the boys are hurting and they’re down. They have a lot of heart, but it’s not correlating to performances on the pitch.”
The straight red card for Mellish compounded a miserable day for the hosts, but the Carlisle head coach disagreed with the decision.
“The ref said to me the reasoning was ‘late and forceful’, which it was, but the decision was harsh and we’re definitely going to appeal it,” he said.
On the other hand, Morecambe were thrilled to come away from Brunton Park with the three points and assistant manager Danny Grainger was pleased with the Shrimps’ performance.
Grainger, who played at Carlisle during his career on the pitch, said: “It’s a huge win, first and foremost that’s what it is, but for me it was a fantastic performance.
“We gave the ball up for long periods of the game, they had a lot of possession. They had an opening early on, Harry (Burgoyne) made a good save. Apart from that, we had the better of the game, the better of the opportunities and on another day, if we’d been clinical, we could have won the game comfortably.”
While Edwards will have his name in the headlines, Grainger said Morecambe’s win was a team effort.
“This is a tough place to come, they’ve been on a good run lately and last week they got a point against one of the top sides, Port Vale,” he added.
“I thought every single player to the man and all the substitutes who came on put in a tremendous performance today.
“The first goal is vital in this league, you get the first goal and it can be a momentum changer. It gives teams something to hang on to. The gaffer’s alluded to it and a lot of managers have too.
“We’ve virtually played everyone now and bar one or two teams who’ve got the better of us, there’s been nothing in the games.”
