Bright sunny weather greeted the two teams as they trotted out. Stuart Whitehead was passed fit and replaced the suspended Lee Andrews in defence. Steve Soley came into midfield for his first start since the Luton match on the opening day of the season.

It was Soley who grabbed the early limelight, featuring twice as the visitors could have taken an early lead. Dave Morley delivered a good cross after barely a minute that Soley headed over the bar. Two minutes later it was Soley again who shot wide with his right foot after a cross over from Brendan McGill.

Exeter's first effort was a half-hit shot from Geoff Breslan in the 7th minute that Peter Keen collected easily. Steve Halliday had perhaps the best chance of the half on 10 minutes when he was put through down the right side but drilled his shot wide when he should at least have hit the target. In the 12th minute the diminutive McGill headed across goal with Richie Foran lurking but the ball deflected away for a corner.

The home team made a rapid break upfield. Roscoe taking the ball forward and firing in a shot that Keen had to tip aside for a corner. Then Gary Birch shot sharply on the turn to bring Keen into action again.

Foran produced a good run inside and chose to pass to Halliday when a shot was a better option. On 23 minutes Breslan tried a first-time effort that flew wide. Carlisle were still calling the tune but the home team looked sporadically dangerous. Seven minutes from the interval a Peter Murphy cross was heading towards Halliday when it was cleared for another Cumbrians' corner. Exeter's best moment of the half arrived in the 43rd minute when Breslan laid the ball back to Martin Barlow whose shot was well blocked by Whitehead. Just before the break Mark Birch collected yet another booking for a poor lunge on Roscoe.

Exeter began the second half brightly and Keen was forced into an early save from a close-range shot straight at him. An Alex Watson back-pass then went for a corner. Murphy's kick was cleared to Morley who's header back in found Foran in an offside position. Rogers was booked for a challenge near the half-way line. Keen dropped Sean McCarthy's deep cross and Whitehead was forced into a hasty clearance.

Foran, seemingly injured, was taken off in the 54th minute to be replaced by Steven Skinner. Within a minute he had a chance when Soley put him in on goal. Unfortunately his shot was poorly struck and wide of the target. McGill and Skinner then combined well on 59 minutes, with McGill having a golden chance from the return ball but shooting wide. It was United well on top again and Skinner was put through again on the hour only to see Arjan Van Heusden come off his line and take the ball off him as he tried to steer a path around the keeper.

All those chances wasted were to prove costly in the 63rd minute. A long ball in from the right was pumped towards goal and both Roscoe and sub. Graeme Tomlinson went for it, Tomlinson adjudged to get the touch to stab the ball home and give Exeter an undeserved lead. Roddy Collins reacted by hauling off Soley and bringing on young Michael Jack, a change perhaps forced on him by Soley's lack of match fitness. Tomlinson the goalscorer then set up Breslan but Keen made the save. Then Birch broke Carlisle's offside trap, squared to Roscoe at the far post who blazed over the bar.

It could have been a let-off for United that should have been capitalised on in the 77th minute. Murphy was adjudged to have been brought down as he made for the by-line inside the area. After a long delay Murphy himself took the penalty kick but Van Heusden saved and the ball was cleared for a corner. It was more agony for Roddy Collins as he watched from the sidelines. Both his regular penalty takers, Soley and Foran had been taken off the field. Craig McAughtrie came on and United went for three men up front. Van Heusden came out sharply to deny Halliday who was racing on to a long ball forward. Inside four minutes of injury time, United resorted to longer balls aimed at McAughtrie but neither he nor Halliday could make the difference.

Al's Verdict : Desperate times for United and for Roddy Collins. This was a reasonable performance let down by a total lack of finishing. Had Carlisle taken their chances, the game would have been in the bag. But the same failings let us down last week when Bristol should have been rolled over far more comfortably than the 1-0 margin. Lack of goals has been a problem, although our defensive problems were far worse until the last couple of games. Now it seems we look a little sounder at the back but can't score.