Big match verdict: Crawley Town 2-5 Carlisle United

This is not the same team. In many respects it’s not the same club. In terms of mood, hope, vibes, levels of competence, ability to engage, it’s the exact opposite. And the most exciting thing: this may not be their limit.

In terms of their year under Paul Simpson, this is the high point so far – second in League Two, a little puff of breathing space to the play-off places, five goals on the road for the first time since 2017, and a spell against Crawley Town that resembled a pre-season friendly against non-league amateurs who simply couldn’t keep up.

Compare the feelings now to how you felt after that Swindon game, which triggered Simmo’s return last February (and the revival that began at Leyton Orient). That wretched day, the only thought was for how much lower United could go.

Now they are considering second – but also above. The p-word is flashing at you in neon. “At the start of this season my remit was to finish in the top half of the table,” said Simpson. “I thought, ‘We’ll have done really well if we get there’. But these players have been outstanding. Now I want them to carry on being outstanding for the last 13.”

Keeper Ryan Schofield can't keep out Joel Senior's header for the opener (Image: Richard Parkes)

That’s Simpson – always looking at the next one, never settling for this one. The Blues boss, in his delight at this 5-2 cuffing aside of Crawley, made time to bemoan the fact United did not get six or seven, and criticised the two they conceded.

Again: changed times. Imagine the Carlisle of Millen, or latter-day Beech, detecting flaws in a 5-2 win? Simpson is right to be ruthless on anything that might hinder United against better opponents, of which there will be many between now and May.

Yet we are also obliged to shine warm light on the way they humiliated Crawley, the reasons why they’re second. In 23 first-half minutes on Saturday it was laid on relentlessly, like one plate of treats after another.

You almost felt sorry for Crawley as Carlisle flexed their muscles. Almost. Actually, not almost. Why waste sympathy on the crypto bros? This Sussex club are being questionably handled all the way to the brink of non-league. Here, they were trampled on by a side with a man in charge who is everything Crawley haven’t been: smart, wise, even – a phrase he embraced on a BBC Football Focus interview recently – old-school.

Omari Patrick finishes off an impressive move to make it 2-0 (Image: Richard Parkes)

Carlisle, from front to back, from the aggressive, demanding Joe Garner to everywhere else in the XI, had the shape and aura of a top side. They bullied Crawley. Again – United, in the painfully recent past, were not bullies.

So let us cut the fat from this match report and get straight to the meat. The period from 15 to 38 minutes, when the Blues danced on Crawley’s sandpit of a pitch. Jon Mellish, a central defender turned left winger turned whatever you want him to be, created the first with a brilliant Jon Mellish run down the left and a cross which Joel Senior crashed in.

As the wing-back’s diving header rippled the roof of the net, you sensed something give in Crawley. The following period was harrowing for the hosts. On 19 minutes, Callum Guy fed Owen Moxon, who fed Omari Patrick, who fed the bottom corner. Too stylish, too easy.

Scott Lindsey’s defence was broken by Carlisle’s pressing, their running, their chest-out belief. Minute 26: Moxon dancing around defenders as though dodging drunks on the pavement, finally tucking the ball past keeper Ryan Schofield.

Owen Moxon makes it three (Image: Richard Parkes)

Another reminder: this lad was a delivery driver by trade last year. Now he’s taking seasoned professionals to town. Carlisle could have had more goals in the interim but let’s leap forward to their next: a Moxon free-kick Crawley never looked like defending, and didn’t. Morgan Feeney, at the second stab, peeled behind the goal with arm raised. Stop the count, as they say.

In fact – no, don’t. Keep going. Crawley, who had made a substitution amid United’s rampant scoring, pulled one back early in the second half when Carlisle went loose and Aramide Oteh, the poor soul thrown into the rout, scored from close range.

The Blues’ highly pleasing response was to score again. Another set-piece, this one from Jack Armer, attacked by Paul Huntington and gobbled up by Mellish. For a moment, the raised linesman’s flag made you wonder if Crawley were going to get some sort of reprieve. Nope – it was indicating a goal. Even the officials were rubbing it in.

A thumbs up from Paul Simpson, left, as Carlisle thrash Crawley (Image: Richard Parkes)

There is not much more you need to know. Carlisle, in midfield and defence, snuffed out Dom Telford other than the moment Crawley’s expensive summer signing scored a microscopic consolation late on. Up front, they generously passed up a few more gold-plated chances after running at, through and behind Lindsey’s wafer-like defence.

Garner, despite not scoring, was magnificent: all menace, all presence, all…standards. Come the final whistle, the sounds from the away end were not of ecstasy, but of admiration. The job had long been done, the kill long since completed.

Once more: this didn’t used to happen, other than to United. Same name, same badge, but in all other respects, something else entirely.