Our biggest game of what’s been an incredible first season back in the Football League sees us travel to promotion rivals Carlisle United on Tuesday night, looking to take another step towards a return to League One.
Both teams come into this game locked on 71 points in League Two; two points shy of Stevenage in the final automatic promotion place, with a goal difference margin of just one, in County’s favour, separating the two teams.
Our 1-1 draw at Gillingham at the weekend saw us drop out of the top three with four games to go, but it remains very much all to play for thanks to Will Collar’s late equaliser – with everyone from Northampton Town in 2nd down to Salford City in 8th still in with a chance of securing one of those automatic promotion places.
The rest of our fellow promotion contenders are also in action on Tuesday, as Northampton travel to Sutton United, Stevenage host Doncaster, Bradford City are away at Swindon, Mansfield go to Newport County and Salford take on Hartlepool United.
Victory could see County end the day as high as second should other results go our way, but defeat would see us drop below Carlisle and possibly Bradford too, down into sixth.
Things you need to know:
- We have been sent an additional 586 tickets in the away end for this game, having sold out our initial allocation. These tickets are available to purchase online now – click here to get yours today!
- Carlisle have provided a fan guide for supporters travelling to Brunton Park on Tuesday night – click here to download.
Since we last met:
The return fixture between these two sides in October saw County put in one of their most complete performances of the season, with goals from Myles Hippolyte and Kyle Wootton securing a 2-0 win for the dominant Hatters at Edgeley Park.
It marked a third league win in four for Dave Challinor’s side as we began our climb up the league table – moving up to 15th in the table at the time. For the Cumbrians though it was a second successive defeat that briefly saw them drop out of the play-off places, as they slipped to tenth.
A run of just one defeat from their next eight games was to follow though as they quickly established their promotion credentials, finishing 2022 in fourth place – just four points shy of the top three.
The club were battling against relegation this time last year, but it continues their remarkable revival since the return of club legend Paul Simpson as manager – the former County boss looking to guide Carlisle to promotion from League Two for the second time, having won the title with them in 2005/06.
Four straight wins in January, with eleven goals scored, moved Simpson’s side into the top three at Northampton’s expense, sitting twelve points clear of County at the time.
A three-game winless run was to follow, compounded by a damaging 4-0 loss at home to Mansfield Town, but once again the Cumbrians bounced back impressively with another four game winning run – marking them out as the division’s top scorers at the time, as they rose up to 2nd place by mid-March.
Both goals and wins have dried up significantly since then, however. The previously free-scoring Blues have now failed to score in six of their last seven outings, with four goalless draws and two defeats, at Gillingham and Leyton Orient, in that run.
A Kristian Dennis double against Tranmere on Good Friday is all they have mustered over that period, a run that has seen them drop from 2nd down to fifth. A point against Northampton Town in their last outing will be viewed as a good result however, should they now go on to back that up with a win against County on Tuesday night. After nine straight seasons in League Two, these final four games represent their best opportunity yet of a return to the third tier, which would surely cement Simpson’s status as a club legend.
One to watch:
There are a few familiar faces to County fans in amongst the Carlisle squad. Loanee Ben Barclay is unable to play against his parent club, but veteran centre-half partner Paul Huntington had a brief spell at Edgeley Park during the 2009/10 season in League One.
Carlisle’s main man, however, remains former Hatters hitman Kristian Dennis, who is enjoying the best goalscoring season of his Football League career for the Cumbrian outfit. The 33-year-old spent two seasons at Edgeley Park in the National League North, and has gone on to have a successful career at the likes of Chesterfield, Notts County and Macclesfield Town.
He made the move to Brunton Park in January 2022 and has shown he still has that predatory instinct in front of goal – he is currently the third highest goalscorer in League Two, having hit 19 goals in 40 league appearances.
Match Stats:
- This will be the 84th competitive meeting between the two sides, with County winning 34 of the previous meetings compared to Carlisle’s 33. We are unbeaten in our last three visits to Brunton Park, last losing there in October 2005.
- If selected, striker Kyle Wootton will make his 50th appearance for the club
- Having scored just once in his first 30 appearances for the club, Will Collar has now scored 24 in his subsequent 68 games. With ten goals, he is the highest-scoring central midfielder in League Two this season.
