Carlisle United 0-2 Notts County: Jon Colman's verdict

The result? Another night of flaws and angst, a revival which met the sort of defiance Carlisle themselves can only dream of and, at the end, it being very difficult not to come to the conclusion which the league table is shouting ever louder.

Anyone still unwilling to class this as a relegation battle is facing an increasingly one-sided fight against the stats. Seven defeats in nine, the worst defensive record in the EFL...as the old saying sort of has it, if it looks like one, sounds like one, feels like one…well, you know the rest.

And this is the tension that will accompany the attempted Mike Williamson reboot in these early stages at the very least. Can Carlisle play their way out of this? Can they evolve fast enough to make evenings like this an exception, rather than the norm? Even if it is accepted that changing United's identity cannot be an immediate job, can they put enough results on the table in the meantime?

Nobody can answer that confidently just now. Notts County, for whom midfielder Dan Crowley rose superbly above everyone else on the pitch, were too good not to take greedy advantage of the problems United are bringing regularly to the table, especially defensively.

The first goal was a grim sight indeed, their second little better in terms of the Blues being secure with the ball anywhere near their red zone, and if there was, finally, some better energy and zest about Carlisle in the last half hour, it was too late, and still yielded nothing, for Notts' resistance was strong.

Dominic Sadi fails to get a decision in the box (Image: Ben Holmes)

Any fresh start with a struggling team surely has to address leaks first. While Williamson's United have shown good aspects in certain phases of games, that critical improvement is yet to occur. Until the reasons for their defensive problems are routed, this struggle won’t get easier.

The third game under Williamson saw the head coach make one selection call that lifted a few eyebrows. Later he explained the decision to drop Charlie Wyke as a matter of "protection" applied to a squad that's "down to the bare bones."

Still. When Carlisle re-signed Wyke to some fanfare in the summer it would have been a brave soul who predicted that he’d be on the bench by October as United looked for new solutions. Ben Barclay was also dropped from Saturday’s XI and Terell Thomas and Jon Mellish brought back in against a Notts side without a couple of clear threats in Jodi Jones and David McGoldrick, but with the dangerous Alassana Jatta recalled.

Working out a formula is a task in its early stages for Williamson. Carlisle’s opponents, by contrast, were yet to lose on their travels, and perched nicely in fourth at the start of the evening. The need, certainly, for a more durable United performance than against Grimsby was plain. In the beginning, though, a gap was torn into their left side in a matter of seconds, and Carlisle were thankful Sam Austin’s cross was a few inches too far in front of Jatta.

Neither side, initially, seemed content to die wondering. In the second minute Carlisle broke eagerly from a County corner as Cameron Harper’s shot on the overlap was blocked. Jordan Jones then examined the visitors with a cluster of crosses, and there was a good early pace about United’s forward movement.

Luke Armstrong flashes a header wide (Image: Ben Holmes)

A loss of balance cost Luke Armstrong the chance to end a determined run with an assist for Dominic Sadi, and by the ten-minute point, things appeared on a decent keel. Yet nothing, where Carlisle are concerned, can be entirely positive when you have the structural firmness of a bowl of jelly.

And so, as keeper Alex Bass unleashed a long goal kick, the latest depressing goal-against arrived, Thomas allowing the ball to clear Carlisle’s defence, Jatta sniffing the chance, beating Harry Lewis to it, and clipping it home. Sigh.

From here, Notts settled as the more capable footballing side and United’s attempts to play out grew more anxious, the weight of their difficulties growing. Sadi forced a good stop from Bass, as did Harper from a free-kick, but on the other side of those chances was a solid spell where County, orchestrated by Crowley, dictated play, passed around an energetically uncertain Carlisle, as noises of disgruntlement rose from the home support.

There was the odd moment when it seemed balls forward for Armstrong to pressure Matty Platt might cause a crack or two in the County defence, and when the striker flashed a good Jones delivery across goal it seemed to herald some renewed vigour about Carlisle.

But..no. It seems that nothing good can ever be permanent with this team and duly Notts got their second when a deep Crowley cross was turned back into the box and Scott Robertson lingered in space to blast it home.

Double sigh. Carlisle were then fortunate, in the 40th minute, not to be punished a third time when their possession crumbled, amid howls of discontent from the Main Stand, and their second-half efforts also duly took time to appear, a couple more marking malfunctions almost letting in Jatta twice. United then did find some panache around the hour mark, with Harrison Biggins close from 25 yards and both Harper and Jones near with other attempts.

Cameron Harper reacts after hitting the bar (Image: Ben Holmes)

Wyke, and Harrison Neal, were then introduced, Biggins rifling another wide from distance, Carlisle much more persistent now but still at arm’s length from the County goal as the visitors looked to contain. They forced their way closer as Wyke had a penalty shout ignored, then headed a Harper cross wide, and duly United’s attacking grew relentless, Neal pickpocketing a Notts man, getting it back from Wyke but denied on the line, Jones the same, the way back into things still refusing to come, Bass excellent in the County goal, their last-ditch defending all-in.

Harper, watching a Jones cross onto his instep, came closest, crashing the bar with a volley, and in the final seconds Biggins was denied on the line. If only Carlisle could have found this much purpose earlier. The difference was that Notts County, defensively, did enough.

That concept, when it comes to the home side at Brunton Park, remains too alien for this to be anything other than a worrying old time.