Roddy Collins pulled his usual trick of replacing the man you'd least expect with Dave Morley dropped to the bench in favour of Tony Hopper. Mark Birch came back after suspension. For Macc, Kyle Lightbourne came back into the side, but there was no place for ex-CUFC star Richard Tracey, not even on the bench.

The first chance of note came on five minutes when Lee Glover found space on the edge of the box, turned sharply and brought a save out of Peter Keen. Three minutes later a Birch foul brought a free kick for the home side but Richie Foran produced a terrific defensive header to clear the danger. In the 10th minute Stuart Whitehead caught Lightbourne a little late and referee Cooper showed him a yellow card.

Carlisle's football was improving and they started to create chances. On 18 minutes the livewire Richie Foran got around goalkeeper Wilson but was unable to steer the ball home from an acute angle. Just past the half-hour mark Chris Byrne was brought down in the box by Mark Birch but the referee ruled he had dived. As fine drizzle began to fall, control of the ball became more difficult. The game though remained open with chances being created at both ends.

Matt Bullock's left footed shot on 33 minutes brought a smart save out of Keen. The United keeper was again looking in good form and giving confidence to the defenders in front of him. On 36 minutes the industrious Steve Soley got in a half-volley that flew over the bar. Almost immediately it appeared Collins was going to substitute him with Dave Morley but appeared to change his mind and got a sharp word from the officials.

Another Byrne shot took a big deflection of Rogers but Keen was able to gather it with comfort. Two minutes from the interval the Cumbrians made the big breakthrough. Birch's cross in was met by Soley whose header came back off the bar. Foran was first to react and he hammered the ball into the roof of the net to claim his seventh goal since his £100,000 move from Shelbourne. Keen needed to make a great double-save to keep Carlisle ahead at the break.

Morley did make his entrance at half-time, replacing Soley. Within two minutes he was in referee Cooper's notebook for time-wasting. Halliday did well to find Brendan McGill but the nippy winger's shot in the 49th minute went skimming over the bar. Halliday then departed to be replaced by Steve Skinner. Morley found himself through the home defence with a clear 4 versus 2 advantage for Carlisle. Unfortunately he chose the wrong option, passing to an offside Skinner.

The home team began to get more men forward and Danny Adams shot over the cross-bar as the rain continued to come down. Damien Whitehead replaced Bullock. In the 65th minute Lightbourne tried his luck from over 25 yards but Keen did very well to hold on to his excellent skidding shot. Keen was having another great day between the sticks. Whitehead and Lightbourne wasted further chances then Peter Murphy shot wide after Foran found him with a good header. On 77 minutes a set-piece again proved damaging for the Cumbrians. Player-coach Kevin Keen produced the perfect delivery from a corner kick to find an unmarked Lightbourne who headed past Peter Keen.

Referee Cooper enraged Skinner a couple of minutes later when he failed to spot a blatant pull on the striker's shirt inside the box. Skinner continued the argument and was booked for his pains. With seven minutes left Lightbourne reached the by-line and crossed but Glover sliced his attempt wide. Whitehead then stuck a header into the side-netting that some home fans thought for a second had gone in. As the game went into injury time Glover was again the culprit when he headed over from close range.

Al's Verdict : Familiar failings cost us three points. Another game unbeaten is progress of a sort but we are an infuriating side, capable I feel of so much more. The goal was a good poacher's effort by Foran and showed once again the value of Soley getting forward into the box. It was a surprise to see him taken off and to see Morley start the game on the bench when he's been probably our best player in recent weeks. Another set-piece proved our undoing and it's worrying to see such little improvement in dealing with these, especially away from home. We have yet to play away at any of the top eight sides at kick-off time and that is a little worrying considering we haven't won away anywhere since March.