Carlisle United's journey under Keith Curle might not yet be complete, but their progress in League Two has now gone the full distance.

From bottom to top in just over two years, the Blues have been put on a positive path by the manager who took charge in September 2014.

Overall it has taken Curle 103 league games to take the Cumbrians to the opposite end of their division.

But which of those matches have most defined his reign so far?

1. Hartlepool 0 Carlisle 3, October 4, 2014

The first bristles of Curle's new broom had barely moved by October 2014. But United's new manager was not being paid to wait around while the old ways continued to fail.

He was hands-on from his first game, at Mansfield, and then wasted no time in imposing new ideas.

A glimpse at this was revealed in his second away fixture, at Hartlepool.

Steven Rigg, signed from Penrith in the summer, was still awaiting his big chance. Under Curle, a good performance in a reserve friendly was all it took for this to change.

Rigg came in, ahead of some more established pros, and scored. It was a symbolic afternoon under a new boss willing to look at things afresh.

2. Portsmouth 3 Carlisle 0, November 1, 2014

This was the first time United had been comprehensively beaten under Curle. They trailed from the second minute at Fratton Park.

But it remained a significant afternoon for other reasons, and its impact continues to resonate today.

Not in terms of result or performance - but in the individual efforts of Danny Grainger in United's defence.

Curle came out after the 3-0 defeat and declared he would be offering the Cumbrian a new contract.

Grainger also quickly gained Curle's faith as captain. In a difficult season individually and overall, the man from Eamont Bridge revealed character - and the boss was right to spot it.

3. Carlisle 1 Dagenham 0, April 11, 2015

Some 3,660 people filed into Brunton Park on a spring afternoon wanting to know one thing: did Carlisle United's players have male genitalia?

This was the question posed by Curle after the previous, miserable defeat at Accrington Stanley.

The Blues were risking relegation and the manager's tactic was publicly to question their very manhood.

The record says it worked, demonstrated by a gritty 1-0 win five days later that showed nerve under fire and a canny eye for goal from Jason Kennedy, whose loan displays convinced Curle to sign him the next summer.

4. Carlisle 4 Cambridge 4, August 15, 2015

Curle's first summer revamp was always going to attract scrutiny, and also some scepticism, until the results were seen.

Was it going to be a genuinely fresh start, or more of the same with only the names on the shirts changed?

The former, thankfully - and in a season of overall improvement there were some welcome new faces and characters changing the tone.

Jabo Ibehre did more than anyone to set this new mood. His hat-trick in a high-scoring draw against Cambridge was a stunning vindication of Curle and Lee Dykes' approach in the market.

It was also a glimpse at a resilient spirit which has grown ever since.

5. Luton 3 Carlisle 4, November 24, 2015

The multiple fightback against Cambridge could have been an entertaining rarity.

Yet events in the following months confirmed that it had actually been the sign of a new attitude in Curle's overhauled squad.

The previous season, and the couple before, Carlisle needed little invitation to go under after conceding a goal or two.

Against Luton, they roared back spectacularly from 3-1 down to win 4-3, Derek Asamoah skimming home the dramatic winner.

This, then, was the new United: almost no cause was lost.

6. Oxford 1 Carlisle 1, December 12, 2015

There were more eyecatching performances in the difficult, post-flood period - thrashing Notts County at Deepdale, for instance - but that day they surfed a wave of goodwill to topple a mediocre opponent.

Going to Oxford, who were destined for promotion, was a more difficult examination. It was also the first weekend after Storm Desmond had devastated Carlisle.

United's display at the Kassam Stadium, then, was significant because it showed Curle's squad to be supremely focused and not in a mood to feel down on their luck.

Tactically, it was also a triumph, as they fought back to equalise and had much the better of the game against a home team containing talent like Kemar Roofe.

This wasn't a performance, or a mindset, that would have been associated with previous United teams.

7. Carlisle 1 Northampton 4, March 5, 2016

In the middle of a grinding bid to remain play-off hopefuls, Carlisle encountered one visiting side that was simply too good.

Northampton located every flaw in a transitional side and rattled in four goals at Brunton Park.

While Curle's selection was experimental in places (Bastien Hery on the right wing), the defeat by the champions-elect was also richly educational for Curle and his staff.

So much so that they have since sought to emulate the Cobblers in certain ways, including from set-pieces.

United have not been so comfortably beaten since.

8. Portsmouth 1 Carlisle 1, August 6, 2016

The opening day. The title favourites. The risk that a positive summer of recruitment could be exposed after 90 minutes.

Not always is a tone set on the opening day. But a false start can make things difficult in certain ways.

Carlisle, thankfully, were in better shape than this. Curle arranged his new signings into an effective 4-2-3-1 shape and saw one of them, Reggie Lambe, snatch an early lead.

Later, after Jamie Devitt's dismissal and a home equaliser, United's boss had no shame in taking entertainment right off the menu for 45 minutes.

Carlisle actually ended the game with no strikers. They also ended it with a point. The end justified the means from which other bosses might have recoiled.

9. Carlisle 1 Wycombe 0, September 24, 2016

Was this going to be one of the most frustrating United sides in recent memory? One that knew how to draw, but seldom to win?

At some stage, in a September of one-point returns, they were going to have to show something more.

Eventually, they did - and it came against Wycombe, when they cracked a tight game 1-0 through Shaun Miller's deadly finish.

Psychologically, that removed the block. Since then, Curle's side have won 10 from 13 in all competitions.

10. Carlisle 3 Hartlepool 2, October 15, 2016

United have not been shy with late goals or drama recently, and it was in the toppling of Hartlepool that the gold standard was set.

This, it emerged, was a Carlisle side who always had something left to offer even when it seemed they were on the canvas.

They took the lead twice, were pegged back twice, and had a man sent off early in the second half.

The stage seemed set for a dangerous Pools side to end Curle's unbeaten run. Instead, Michael Raynes scored a soaring winner and belief surged around Brunton Park once more.

It has been there ever since, and this refusal to crumble has now put them at the very top.