What did we learn from Carlisle United's defeat at Doncaster Rovers?

1 Creativity shortfall

Paul Simpson felt Carlisle started the game poorly, and there can be no disputing that.

United seemed up against it even before Doncaster got their opening goal after five minutes.

Jon Mellish fails to connect in the Doncaster box (Image: Richard Parkes)

What is also undeniable is that it was one of the lesser Blues showings this season in terms of creativity.

For one thing, they didn’t force a single corner in the game – a damaging stat considering their goals from corners in their two previous festive games.

Doncaster clearly limited United’s ability to raid down the wings, while it was also a thin afternoon individually and collectively in an attacking sense overall.

According to WhoScored.com, for instance, Kristian Dennis touched the ball just 17 times in the entire game, although one of those touches did end up in Doncaster’s net for United’s consolation goal.

Jordan Gibson’s stats also show how the midfielder struggled to come in from the margins, making only 15 touches in the first half before being hooked, and managing no dribbles of note, no shots, key passes or invitations for Doncaster to foul him.

The hosts deserve credit for stifling some of United’s most obvious threats and Carlisle, try as they might, just couldn’t do enough to disrupt Donny’s dominance of key areas.

2 Senior service

It was a mixed return, to say the least, for Joel Senior as he stepped back into the first XI for the first time since last February.

The game at first saw a brutal reintroduction as Senior’s slip in the fifth minute enabled Doncaster to score.

Joel Senior goes on the attack (Image: Richard Parkes)

Welcome back, Joel.

To give the wing-back credit, though, he recovered from that painful moment and became one of United’s better players across the game.

He showed some enterprise going forward, strangely denied a free-kick when a Doncaster player pulled him back when bursting towards the box, and also completed 90 minutes – a major milestone indeed since his cruciate injury – which will do Senior no harm at all.

It may not have begun the way the former Burnley and Altrincham man would have imagined, but there were good things to take from Senior’s return, the obvious disappointments aside.

3 Holy bible?

Is it a given that Tomas Holy will remain United’s No1 for the foreseeable?

It has long seemed that way. Paul Simpson openly said, upon signing the Czech, that he had brought him in to be Carlisle’s first-choice keeper with little argument.

Paul Simpson criticised Tomas Holy's role in Doncaster's opener (Image: Richard Parkes)

He remains an ever-present in the league, and has enjoyed some strong games across the first half of the campaign.

All the same, Simpson did not conceal his frustration when analysing Doncaster’s opening goal.

“He [the keeper] shouldn’t be beaten like that,” he said of James Maxwell’s narrow-angle strike. “It should be saved.”

There were, it should be said, other issues in the build-up to that goal, such as Carlisle’s snoozing when Doncaster sent a throw into a dangerous area.

And it has not yet been the case that Simpson has felt the need to make a change to the goalkeeping position so far.

The likelihood, then, is that Holy will remain in situ. Perhaps, though, it would do Michael Kelly no harm to be totally ready, just in case Simmo’s frustration is given cause to recur.

4 Never out of it

This may be a rather flattering search for a silver lining to a fairly grey afternoon, but one thing you have to say about Carlisle is they are always in games, even when performing poorly.

They have lost just once in the league this season by a margin of two goals (at Stockport County). Their other four setbacks have been by a single-goal margin – and in some of those cases (such as Northampton Town), they might easily have taken a point.

United went to the end in search of a point on Sunday (Image: Richard Parkes)

This points to a general sense of resilience under Simpson even at those times when they are looking short, as they did on New Year’s Day.

Sunday’s showing was far from their best; a rather jaded-looking display where their injuries did appear to be catching up with them.

Their attempts to right the wrongs never quite gave you confidence of succeeding either, with Tobi Sho-Silva toiling on the left of the attack, Jayden Harris producing mixed offerings from the bench and another sub, Jamie Devitt, only introduced late on.

United could not wrest anything out of the game, and would have been flattered by a point or more.

It remains the case, though, that every time they go onto the pitch, their opponents know they’re going to have to go the distance to see them off.

That’s still a quality they can promote as they aim to regroup (and recruit) over a two-week fixture break.

5 Numbers game still strong

This may not be the best start to a season points-wise of recent years, but it says something about the work done under Simpson that it’s still up there.

The most prolific 24-game opening to a campaign of late is the 2016/17 season, when Keith Curle’s side began with a long unbeaten run.

United remain well placed in League Two (Image: Richard Parkes)

They had accrued 46 points by this stage, compared with the current side’s 39.

Chris Beech’s temporary table-toppers of 2020/21 had picked up 42 points by this juncture. United’s last promotion side – Simpson’s 2005/6 vintage – had 41 by the 24-match mark.

To be just a result or two away from those mid-season high performers speaks well of United’s efforts so far, especially considering the rebuilding Simpson needed to undertake when accepting the job 11 months ago.

They have more points, too, than John Sheridan’s side did after 24 games of 2018/19, a campaign when the Blues brushed the automatic places in the winter.

Defeats like Sunday’s highlight the fact this was never going to be a smooth road, and undoubtedly more challenges await.

But United remain fourth, remain in the running, and remain in sight of a fine opportunity, if they can equip themselves to take it.