Unless you’re a Carlisle United fan, you might well associate Adam Clayton with a bass guitar and the world’s biggest rock band. But after last Tuesday night’s performance for the Cumbrians in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area final, a lot more people are taking note of a man by the same name – and he doesn’t play for U2!
Man-of-the-match Clayton scored the important opener for Carlisle in their nail-biting win over Leeds United and caught the eye with an all action, lung busting display.
The youngster, on loan from Manchester City, certainly found what he was looking for at Brunton Park and can look forward to a trip to Wembley on March 28.
While Leeds were ultimately running to stand still, Clayton moved in mysterious ways and even scored a penalty in the nerve-jangling shoot-out.
He said: “We did it the hard way in the end, didn’t we? When Hursty scored (Kevan Hurst) to make it 2-1, I thought we were there, but it ended up going to penalties.
“Beating Leeds United over two legs is no mean feat.”
Clayton said that reaching the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final was the highlight of his fledgling career.
“It doesn’t get much better than this. When you look at Ian Harte and the career he has had, it makes me realise how special this is because he has never been before.”
The midfielder has been at Manchester City since the age of eight and thanked Mark Hughes for giving him a break in their first team squad.
Since returning from his first loan spell at Brunton Park, new manager Roberto Mancini allowed Clayton to return to Cumbria, and he is enjoying every minute.
He added: “I’m doing something that a lot of my City team-mates won’t be doing, as I’m off to Wembley. Coming to Carlisle has been a brilliant decision for me.”
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