Carlisle United 0 Stevenage 0: Carlisle United were held to a goalless draw by Stevenage in the battle of the promotion-chasers at Brunton Park.

The Blues had the better of the chances and had a goal disallowed but couldn't fully open up Steve Evans' side in fronytt of an 8,029 crowd.

United slipped out of the automatic promotion places after the hard-fought but frustrating encounter, when home fans regularly complained about the visiting side's time-wasting.

Carlisle, who are now fourth in League Two, had the ball in the net on 27 minutes through Joe Garner but the strike was chalked off for offside.

Paul Simpson's side forced other half-chances to no avail, while at the other end United survived the visitors' best attempts through Alex Gilbey and Dan Sweeney, defending solidly to secure a 15th clean sheet of the campaign.

Evans' defence was also largely secure, Carl Piergianni and Sweeney keeping the Blues' attackers at bay as they remained second in the table.

Simpson named an unchanged XI and bench as United looked to extend a four-game winning run.

That meant another start at right wing-back for Joel Senior, while the front two of Omari Patrick and Garner were retained.

Stevenage's side saw one change, with midweek matchwinner Jamie Reid coming in for the injured Jordan Roberts.

Carlisle looked to make a rapid start on the break with Jack Armer and Garner almost getting in on the break inside the first two minutes.

A Reid shot from distance that went wide was the visitors' first attempt, but real chances were scarce in a hard-fought first half.

Carlisle survived a scare when Tomas Holy came off his line then had to retreat as Josh March beat him to the ball to the left of the box, but the angle was tight and Paul Huntington intercepted March's attempt for the Blues.

Owen Moxon then tried to beat Jon McCracken with an ambitious chip after keeping the ball in play on the left, but the Stevenage goalkeeper backpedalled to hold onto the attempt.

READ MORE: Carlisle United 0-0 Stevenage - as it happened

Both sides' frontmen were showing some dogged hold-up play while the visitors' taking time over set-pieces became a frustrating feature of proceedings.

On 27 minutes Carlisle had the ball in the net through Garner's diving header at close range, but the flag had already gone up for offside against Morgan Feeney as he met a diagonal ball at the back post.

United were having the better of things without cutting open an obdurate Stevenage back line, while the visitors lost midfielder Jake Taylor to injury after half-an-hour, Jake Forster-Caskey taking his place.

Patrick's outswinging cross almost opened something up for United, while a melee amid a series of corners saw bookings for home skipper Feeney and visiting captain Piergianni.

That brought the half to a suitably frustrating end with neither of these promotion-chasers giving the other much change.

Evans' side looked to step things up early in the second half, keeping the ball alive near the United box, and Gilbey twice running onto chances and shooting wide.

Garner headed a Moxon cross over the bar at the other end before Sweeney hooked a volley past the Blues post following a Stevenage corner.

Simpson made his first changes on 65 minutes, both in attack, as top scorer Kristian Dennis and last weekend's matchwinner Ryan Edmondson replaced Patrick and Garner.

Edmondson was quickly into the action with a break down the left onto a long Guy ball which saw him get behind Sweeney, who fouled him.

Despite Blues' fans loud calls for a red card, only a yellow was shown, and a training-ground free-kick routine involving Moxon, Guy and McCalmont didn't come off.

Further changes then followed, Jordan Gibson replacing McCalmont and March going off injured for Stevenage, Michael Bostwick taking his place.

Bostwick shot wide with ten minutes to go after driving through midfield, before a Jon Mellish challenge denied Norris a sight of goal after Reid almost glanced him through.

For Carlisle, Moxon had a shot blocked after his free-kick was cleared back to him, then Armer almost set up Dennis on the break.

United then had to defend some late set-pieces as the game finished goalless, a latest clean sheet for the Blues but Simpson's side also out of the automatic promotion places ahead of Tuesday's trip to Bradford City.

United: Holy, Feeney, Huntington, Mellish, Senior, Armer, Guy, Moxon, McCalmont (Gibson 76), Patrick (Dennis 65), Garner (Edmondson 65). Not used: Kelly, Whelan, Robinson, Gordon.

Booked: Feeney, Mellish.

Stevenage: McCracken, Clark, Smith, Piergianni, Sweeney, Taylor (Forster-Caskey 31), Reeves, Gilbey, Reid, March (Bostwick 76), Norris. Not used: Przybek, Wildin, Vancooten, Tomkinson, Rose.

Booked: Piergianni, March, Sweeney.

Ref: Tom Reeves.

Crowd: 8,029 (141 Stevenage fans).