Carlisle United 2 Tranmere Rovers 0: On this glistening, packed Brunton Park day, everything paused for a second midway through the second half. The ball had broken into space, and Tranmere’s Chris Merrie was preparing to meet it.
So, for Carlisle, was Paul Huntington. The experienced defender, the oldest player on the pitch, went into the 50-50 as though the Blues’ promotion, survival and going concern status all depended on the outcome.
Naturally, he won it. Marginally, but also emphatically. The challenge shook a few layers of dust from Brunton Park’s oldest corners. In itself, it was a moment that told you – yeah, we’re having this. You’re not.
As a cameo that summed up the urgency of the day, that did the job nicely. The rest was, all in all, on the same level. Carlisle were better, sharper, quicker and, crucially, good enough. As a result, they're third in the league again with six games to go.
Not bad, as Paul Simpson was eager to remind us even before this timely climb. Not bad at all. United avoided the big-crowd slump which some believe is their painful destiny on days like this. Instead, they flourished in front of those crammed stands and terraces.
Tranmere, let us be honest, were not the most devilish of opponents. Fourteenth place, their starting position, looked an adequate home for a side of such general limitations.
United, though, came into this with a weight of pressure. Four games without a goal or a win, the fostering of certain conspiracy theories Simpson felt the need to shoot down on Thursday, a few more questions about their promotion capabilities than had been tabled for most of this largely refreshing and positive campaign.
So give this side credit for lifting that pressure, for rebuking some of the doubts. Kristian Dennis, with his first goals since January, cracked the door back open – he’s now on 20 for the season – and he was backed up by a display of some appetite from those alongside and behind him.
That includes most of the 13,410 attendance. Brunton Park looked as it could, how it can, all four sides of the ground filled by Carlisle fans. Beforehand, just the sight of it lifted you: golden weather, sun shining on Blues supporters in the Waterworks End for the first time since 2009, flags and banners in the packed-out Warwick, more stalls and attractions than normal outside the ground.
A buzz in the air. A taste of something extra. Are you watching…well, everyone from Purepay down? Come and make the most of this, from whichever angle you’re venturing.
A fiesta sort of day is reduced, though, if the football doesn’t measure up. And so, when the build-up faded and the excitable roars finally quietened, all that remained was a simple question: could the Blues perform on this shimmering stage?
The answer came with heartening speed. There were some tentative Tranmere attempts to play out from the back, one of which saw Alfie McCalmont snap into an interception, the next of which saw Carlisle score.
It was just the start Simpson would have drawn up – simple in its execution, sharp in its making, as Omari Patrick sped onto a carelessly loose ball, squared for Dennis, and the striker passing it into the net with the smallest fuss.
Brunton Park was loud once more. Carlisle gained more zip and brightness about their play, working the ball speedier than they had in those recent grinds. Patrick, in this early spell, was excellent, closing down a clearance from keeper Mateusz Hewelt, then drawing Tom Davies as Dennis sniffed out another chance behind them which went just wide.
Another spell of good United ball-retention and spreading saw Patrick receive the ball from Jon Mellish, dribble infield and test Hewelt at his near post. This was the forward approaching last season's run-in mood. Carlisle had often used that left side, and Jack Armer, in the opening stages too, and only when Tranmere adapted to that did they build anything worth talking about.
Their best spell came two-thirds of the way into the half, with Josh Hawkes threatening a couple of times, and Josh Dacres-Cogley and Ethan Bristow finding space on either flank as Ian Dawes’ side found a better range of possession.
Carlisle, though, denied them when push came to shove – and duly snapped back at them again. Patrick showed his value once more, stretching Tranmere by peeling to the right, before Owen Moxon’s sweet cross was nodded by Armer into Dennis’ poaching path.
Two-nil, too easy again – but, once more, only because Carlisle made it so. Only because Dennis, whose return to the side looks timely indeed, has the knack of making it so.
It ought to have been three before the break, Dennis close to a hat-trick and Patrick foiled by Hewelt when clean through, and United had to adjust at half-time, Callum Guy withdrawn with injury and Jamie Devitt sent on.
In his first outing for two months the sub shot wide from the edge of the box as he involved himself immediately in Carlisle’s attempt to kill things off, going on to perform in general with refreshing calm and control.
At their best, the Blues kept using their width well, Armer very nearly slotting Dennis in for his treble, before captain Huntington, from the heart of Carlisle’s box, cleared umpteen crosses and Ben Barclay, to his right, excelled. From a relatively early stage in the half, truth be told, there felt little chance of Tranmere upsetting United’s day.
The industrious Jack Ellis, impressive on his recall, almost got a third from Moxon’s neat pass, and the remainder involved deserved ovations for Patrick and Dennis upon their substitutions, a sparse attempt from visiting sub Joel Mumbongo which prompted Tranmere’s fans to sing, ‘We’ve had a shot’, a late effort from Devitt, a missed sitter from visiting sub Logan Chalmers, and the clearing of nearly 13,000 throats at full-time.
Don’t dare write us off, they all seemed to be saying. And we won't. We shouldn't. Who knows, just yet, where that force could take the Blues?
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