The two goals scored by the Cumbrians on Tuesday night were worthy of winning any game, with great build-ups followed by excellent execution from strikers Ryan Edmondson and Kristian Dennis respectively.
Speaking about Ryan’s first of the season, manager Paul Simpson said: “It was a really good goal.
“Jayden Harris was excellent, he linked up with Sonny, and the pass into the box needed a striker’s finish. That’s what it got. That was excellent from all of them and it’ll mean a lot to Ryan.
“I thought Denno came on and he led the line really well. Omari was a threat up there with him. Mox has got a great delivery and there’s good awareness as well, when he makes those passes.
“To be able to execute it is really good. Denno makes the runs, and it’s a great ball for him to get on to. The first touch was really good and it’s a lovely finish. Denno is flying at the moment. He’s getting goals for us, and hopefully he carries that on.”
“It’s the same scenario overall, we’ve got into some really good situations but we didn’t quite finish them off,” he added.
“Our set play delivery was excellent and we’ve been really close to getting on the end of things. Some of our football was good, but I thought in the first half we could have been a bit more decisive and gone for the jugular.
“There are certainly things we need to be better at, I’m not saying it was a complete performance by any means, but it’s one where we’re really disappointed to come away with nothing.
“All we can do now is dust ourselves off and make sure we’re ready for the league game on Saturday.”
And on what he said to the players as a group after the game, he told us: “I’ve told them I’m delighted with the way they played.
“I’ll review the game, we’ll debrief it and we’ll talk about areas where we could maybe be better. I ask for performances and I do honestly believe that if we get it consistently, we’ll be ok.
“We’ll get our fair share of wins with that. We’ve had three really good performances, maybe not as complete against Shrewsbury. We’ve had a win, a draw and we’ve lost this one.
“Now it’s back to the league games, with a really good one to look forward to on Saturday. Hopefully the fans will come and back us – it was fantastic support on Tuesday, for them to make the journey here in those numbers is amazing.
“They showed their appreciation at the end, and that matters to us. We need them in on Saturday, we want them to come and help us and give us a lift. Hopefully the players will be able to lift themselves as well and go out and perform again.
“There’s a good spirit in there, they’re demanding of each other, which is the most important thing, and they’re demanding of themselves as well.
“To have any chance of achieving anything that’s what you have to do. They’re doing that for us, and long may that continue.
“We’ll hit some bumps, this is one, but we’ve got to make sure we ride it and we’re ready for the next game.
“That’s all we can do. The result can’t change now, we’re out of the cup. We can all be disappointed and we can stamp our feet and blame other people, but it’s down to us now.
“We have to sort ourselves and get ready to go again. If we’re going to be a good side we have to be able to show that we can react if we lose a game. We’ve lost one, don’t lose two.”
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