Paul Simpson was left “raging” after his Carlisle side’s 1-0 defeat to Port Vale.
James Wilson’s penalty was all that separated the two sides, leaving Simpson’s side are still looking for their first league victory since promotion.
The manager was angered by the mix-up between Jokull Andresson and Jon Mellish which eventually led to his keeper conceding the match-winning penalty for a foul on Ethan Chislett.
“I’m absolutely raging to be honest,” said Simpson.
“We’ve gifted three points to Port Vale. Jokull just shouldn’t have been in that position.
“It’s been a frustrating day all round. We managed to get ourselves into some good positions in and around their box, but we’ve then not tested their keeper enough.
“Perhaps we’ve not been brave enough in certain situations. It’s something we’ll have to work on of course, but it’s difficult sometimes.
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy getting used to the higher level, and that’s how it’s proving.
“I can’t fault any of the players in terms of effort and endeavour, we’ve come to a tough place today and given it a real go. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with a really strong Port Vale team – it’s just not been our day unfortunately.”
Both sides created chances in an entertaining first half at Vale Park.
Wilson went closest for the hosts while Callum Guy threatened more than once for Carlisle.
Vale struck shortly after the restart when Andresson tugged back Chislett in the box, leaving Wilson to coolly slot home.
Carlisle pressed for a leveller late on, but Vale hung on and stretched their unbeaten run to four games to the delight of manager Andy Crosby.
“It was a really hard-earned victory for us,” said Crosby.
“We tried our hardest to control the game and that did prove difficult at times.
“What is disappointing is that we didn’t necessarily capitalise on the periods when we were dominant.
“When you allow a game like that to head into the latter stages and you’re still only 1-0 up, then you know you’re only an individual error away from potentially throwing away two points.
“We should really have finished the game off sooner but we ran around a lot, showed a real togetherness, and in the end that has got us the result.
“We need to find more of that ruthless nature that you need to be really successful at this level.
“You have to take the game away from teams earlier than we have done today, but it’s still a big three points and it keeps the positive momentum going.”
