Match reports

Solid Carlisle take point from high-flying Oldham

Published 29 December 2008

Carlisle action photo Oldham 0 Carlile Utd 0: Anyone expecting cold reality to return to Carlisle United’s season at a stadium known locally as Ice Station Zebra had reckoned without the Blues’ ability to pull their defensive stubbornness out of the freezer for the second successive game.

Bridges on song as Carlisle Utd rout Huddersfield

Published 27 December 2008

Carlisle United 3 Huddersfield 0: Cover versions are all the rage this Christmas, so this was the perfect time for Carlisle United’s most illustrious name to join in and finally belt out some familiar old tunes.

Crowe goal condemns Carlisle United to another away defeat

Published 22 December 2008

Northampton 1 Carlisle United 0: Up there with any festive fairy story you might hear this week is the idea that Carlisle United will emerge from their winter freeze and make a bolt for League One’s play-offs in the early months of 2009.

Foxes come from behind to snatch victory from Carlisle

Published 21 December 2008

Carlisle Utd 1 Leicester City 2: Niegel Pearson gets another scruffy goal at the Waterworks End to dine out on, and the rest of us are handed a precise lesson on why Leicester City are sailing away from the likes of Carlisle United and towards the Championship.

Last-gasp Thirlwell saves Carlisle Utd against Swindon

Published 8 December 2008

Swindon Town 1 Carlisle Utd 1: Paul Thirlwell as goalscoring midfielder is a concept that will take some time to get used to, so let’s be thankful for the reassuring sight of Peter Murphy in a blue shirt again while the brain readjusts.

Crewe's Miller grabs brace to dump Carlisle United out of FA Cup

Published 4 December 2008

Carlisle Utd 0 Crewe 2: The only victory Carlisle United chalked up last night was over Jack Frost.

Graham and Kavanagh strikes put Carlisle United into FA Cup second round

Published 1 December 2008

FA Cup first round replay: Grays Athletic 0 Carlisle United 2: Greg Abbott has sent a pretty strong gust of change through Carlisle United these past few weeks, but the Blues owe their place in the FA Cup’s second round to one of their oldest certainties.

Carlisle United fall to late Millwall winner

Published 26 November 2008

Millwall 1 Carlisle United 0: Carlisle United’s inability to keep Millwall at the gates for 90 minutes is a distant third on the charge sheet today behind two more serious failings.

Kavanagh strike earns Carlisle United three vital points against Cheltenham

Published 24 November 2008

Carlisle Utd 1 Cheltenham 0: Life at Cheltenham Town ceased to be boring the moment they hired a manager who a) carries the nickname “Mad Dog”, b) goes jumping into icy rivers when he’s in the mood, and c) thinks nothing of signing 11 players in the space of 40 days, including a jobbing striker called Elvis.

Carlisle United have it all to do again after floodlight failure at Grays

Published 19 November 2008

FA Cup First Round Replay: Grays Athletic 1, United 0 (abandoned after 20 minutes): Greg Abbott’s unbeaten run continues. Carlisle United supporters with a love for the country’s highways get another 660-mile round trip to stick in the diary.

Carlisle kids cruise through to FA Youth Cup third round

Published 18 November 2008

Accrington Stanley 0 Carlisle Utd 3: Carlisle United's youth team stole a march on their senior counterparts by cruising through their own cup tie last night.

Brighton win makes it lucky thirteen for Carlisle United

Published 17 November 2008

Carlisle Utd 3 Brighton 1: All this, and the pasta still to come. Greg Abbott’s assault on the sluggish eating habits of his playing staff begins in earnest today, when the era of the greasy sandwich is declared over at Brunton Park.

Carlisle United face replay after failing to beat non-league Grays Athletic

Published 10 November 2008

FA Cup round one: Carlisle United 1 Grays Athletic 1: Greg Abbott can’t avoid Grays just now, whether that’s a reference to the non-league team who earned another pot at Carlisle United on Saturday, or the things which showed up on his head when he glanced in the mirror a few hours later, having learned the precise scale of his rescue assignment.

Carlisle United lose the battle at Stockport

Published 3 November 2008

Stockport 3 Carlisle United 0: This was a war zone, alright, to quote Carlisle’s assistant manager Greg Abbott from the eve of combat.

Hartlepool defeat leaves Carlisle United with one point from possible 27

Published 1 November 2008

Carlisle United 0 Hartlepool 1: As if the grim task of chalking up defeats hasn’t induced stat-fatigue in the average Carlisle United supporter, here’s another batch of numbers which are making increasingly bleak reading.

Colchester hammer woeful Carlisle United

Published 27 October 2008

Colchester 5 Carlisle United 0: News just in: Carlisle United are to be nationalised in the public interest. It is the final remaining hope of salvation for the Blues in October 2008, which can now be recorded as the month they entered their own Great Depression.

Woeful Carlisle United slump to another defeat at Hereford

Published 22 October 2008

Hereford 1 Carlisle United 0: The realisation thumped home just as Hereford’s journeymen strikers were making traffic cones out of the visiting defenders on this desolate night in League One which dragged just 2,300 people out of their homes.

Carlisle United stung by late Peterborough equaliser

Published 20 October 2008

Carlisle Utd 3 Peterborough 3: Memo to Cumbria Constabulary: gather your finest law-enforcing minds around a table and brainstorm as many ways of getting up Graham Kavanagh’s nose as possible. Carlisle United’s season, no less, may depend on your efforts.

Carlisle United on worst losing run for five years

Published 13 October 2008

MK Dons 3 Carlisle United 1: John Ward wouldn’t entertain our use of the word in the post-match questioning, so let’s hurl it down onto the page and see if it looks inappropriate there.

Rochdale dump Carlisle United out of cup in penalty shoot-out

Published 8 October 2008

Rochdale 2 Carlisle United 2 (4-3 pens): Plenty of new problems have landed on John Ward’s desk these past few weeks, but this was an old glitch flashing up on the screen.