Brian Little's Tigers failed to live up to the pre-match hype and if this is the best the division has to offer, there seems little reason why Carlisle can't improve on last season's 22nd-place finish - assuming they can find a goalscorer, that is.

The Cumbrians dominated long stretches of the first half. With Collins ringing the changes, bringing back Mark Winstanley into central defence and starting with newcomers Stuart Elliott, Mo Harkin and Alex Haddow, all making their home debuts, Hull were forced back by some probing play by the home side.

Elliott had one of the first chances on seven minutes. He swivelled to hit a bouncing ball some ten yards out but ex-United keeper Matty Glennon got down well to save. On 10 minutes came the closest effort of the whole game. Tony Hopper (pictured) sped into space down the right channel and blasted his shot across Glennon but back off the inside of the far post.

Still United looked the more lively side, despite the skillful contributions from midfield of Hull ace Theo Whitmore. Steve Halliday turned the defence inside out only to see Glennon make another good stop from his close-range effort.

Hull began to look a little more dangerous towards the interval as Whitmore and his fellow Jamaican Ian Goodison got more into the game. Down the left David Beresford was a menace, but Mark Birch kept him well shackled for long periods.

The half-time team talk from Roddy would have been to keep it simple and keep the ball moving. Although the visitors started to find their form a little, Carlisle still looked the sharper team.

City launched a raid down the right and defender Michael Edwards should have done better with a header that cleared Luke Weaver's cross bar. Collins made a change with Ian Stevens coming off and big Craig McAughtrie thrown on to add more weight to the attack. Unfortunately the makeshift striker made little real impression although he did eventually get a header in after a good run and cross by the highly impressive subtitute Austin Berkley.

Hull got another header in on goal inside the last ten minutes but stopper Mark Greaves saw his flicked attempt steal just wide of the right hand upright.

With Berkley adding pace and Mark Birch looking to raid down the right, United never lacked sparkle. Birch and Beresford got involved down the left touchline late on and both went into the book of refree Fraser Stretton as the game got a little fractious.

Al's Verdict : The best home display for a long time. 9/10 for effort and passing execution but only 5/10 for finishing. We still lack a goalscorer and last season's hero Stevo is not at his best, at least not at the moment. Hull were highly disappointing considering one of their supporters informed me today that their second XI would beat most teams in Division Three. Perhaps they should have played them today instead of the team they put out. It just goes to show that there is still not a huge gap in footballing terms between the top and bottom in this company.