Big match verdict: Carlisle United 0-0 Stevenage

The former are justifiably one of League Two’s high-riders: full of experience, muscle and a streetwise capability to snap their jaws down on you at any moment. The side that finishes above them will have earned it. They will also be absolutely knackered.

The latter are their shady alter ego, their evil twin; the Hugo to their Bart. They function in the margins, take years over goal kicks, direct a little melee under the referee’s eyes, flap arms at the fourth official like drunken pterodactyls, test your patience until it twangs.

Both XIs, it was apparent from an early stage here, had shown up. Carlisle were certainly up for the contest against both, and were never beaten by either, but rarely looked like conquering either too.

The result, then – a little soap opera of a 0-0 that did not shed a great deal of light on the promotion outcome other than to say: thank goodness it won’t be like this every week until May 8. Not sure we could cope with the exasperation.

The truth, of course, is that United cannot expect the best sides in their division – of which Stevenage are unquestionably one – to provide them with friendly circumstances. They are within their rights to make it horrible.

Joe Garner's goal is disallowed (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Officials, too, are within their rights to deal with certain things, and Tom Reeves only acted upon some of Stevenage’s grey-area stuff. The feeling was they were able to dictate the irksome side of these 95 minutes more than should have been allowed. A couple of key decisions, too, might easily have gone United’s way.

Other, though, than the moment Paul Huntington was almost disrobed in the box by Dan Sweeney, and the later point when the Stevenage defender upended Ryan Edmondson as the striker bore down on the box but avoided dismissal, Carlisle cannot say they did enough; not really.

This is the area where Stevenage deserve credit. Sweeney, in all the other defensive scenarios, was forbidding, likewise Carl Piergianni. The aptitude of Stevenage’s rearguard work was high. The same can be said of Carlisle’s, both inside and in front of their box.

There was not a blade of grass that Callum Guy’s studs did not meet, nor did any challenge lack Cumbrian commitment.

What was missing was that piece of poise, that moment of magic when everything else has met its match. United tried via set-pieces, via general pressure, but couldn’t outwit Stevenage between the lines. In summary: you can credit both sides, and also find flaws from this duel in the sun and the rain.

An 8,000 crowd – mostly from Carlisle – came with anticipation that was never truly satisfied. United got the juices flowing with two early counter-attacks, and a goal at that stage might have taken each roof off Brunton Park.

Paul Huntington shows his frustration after being denied a penalty (Image: Barbara Abbott)

It was not to be. And then the true story unfolded. The ball went back and forth, aerial contests were waged, appeals for decisions this way and that were tabled, actual quality was sidelined in favour of percentages and slog. Joe Garner lost in size against Piergianni but not in bite. Likewise, Luke Norris and Jamie Reid offered a degree of canny hold-up play that suggested Stevenage could make certain things happen in United’s third.

Nor could they, though, pierce Paul Simpson’s back line. Tomas Holy’s dash outside his box led to a brief tremor when Josh March got to the ball first, but Huntington was alive to the danger. The Paddock, meanwhile, was alive to Evans’ outbursts and the regular, whirling pantomime of Paul Raynor, his assistant.

Things remained on a high heat. Owen Moxon almost fashioned a goal out of nothing, burgling possession on the left then nearly chipping Jon McCracken from distance. From a period of substance in the Stevenage half – a spell when the visitors felt they got nothing from the referee – Jack Armer drilled a shot wide and Garner had a diving header disallowed for offside.

United had forced these chances rather than crafted them. Stevenage, from this point, began to take their sweet time over throws and defensive set-pieces, and when the Blues broke through this frustration, Omari Patrick almost created something with a cross, and then came the corner which saw Huntington practically stripped to the waist, as if being prepared for a bare-knuckle fight against his wishes.

Joel Senior tries to get past his man (Image: Ben Holmes)

Nothing untoward was Mr Reeves’ questionable conclusion, while the scuffle that followed was entirely in keeping with the sharp-elbowed, unfriendly nature of things generally (not that these games should be all sweetness and light).

After the break, opportunities were even more scarce, Stevenage this time having the better of them. Alex Gilbey ran onto a couple of things but shot wide, then United made some determined combinations on the left, but no dice. As the sun went in, and a gloomier sky hung over Brunton Park, subs were made and one, Edmondson, went after a long ball with teeth bared, only to be sent flying by Sweeney, the situation arguably just on the outer fringe of red card territory.

It rarely got as promising again, and was rarely a great watch. Stevenage landed a few things in United’s region late on, and Norris almost sneaked in (Jon Mellish to the rescue) before a final outbreak of shoving and head-to-head rutting brought things to an apt conclusion – though not one that much cleared up how this is all going to end. That, you sense, will take a good while yet.