Carlisle United break new ground with hard-fought win at Stevenage

Not since the Blues first stepped into the Football League 88 years ago, with a 3-2 win over Accrington Stanley on August 25, 1928, have they begun a campaign quite like this.

Seven wins, seven draws, no defeats. The longest wait the club has ever had for a number in the latter column. Whatever the circumstances, and however it unfolds from here, that is a formidable tribute to the team and the ethos Curle has built.

It is right that the manager stands at the top of the hill today, taking much of the credit. While this is a fine collective effort, it has been motivated principally by a man some did not take to during his first season in charge.

Those difficult and sometimes fractious early days are long gone and an entirely different mood now exists in United's dressing room. Their boss, meanwhile, is now making a pleasing habit of walking off the pitch after full-time and roaring his delight to the familiar faces he spots in the stand.

At home, the Paddock and Main Stand get to share his joy the most. Here it was the small pocket of Carlisle directors amongst Stevenage fans and officials. Curle spied them and threw up his hands as normal. "Come on," he bellowed. "Have it!"

That dash of old-school Peter Kay closed out successive win number four: the first such run from Carlisle in the league since spring 2008. This puts Curle firmly in manager-of-the-month contention while United now sit second in League Two, five points clear of the play-off places.

This position was a speck on the horizon when Curle took control of a shattered team in September 2014. Now the stage is set for a promotion challenge. "We want to be successful," the manager said. "People at the club have a burning desire to improve."

Yearning to succeed is one thing, but it is useless without the tools. And so to the team, who dug out victory here in a not particularly attractive game, and did so because of the resilience that has become their most familiar trait.

The previous week they hurdled a sending-off and a persistent Hartlepool fightback to prevail 3-2. This time they coped with conceding a highly avoidable penalty, and a period of annoyance with the officials which threatened to unsettle a side more accustomed to things going their way.

In his post-match interviews Curle claimed he threatened to fine players £500 apiece if they were booked for dissent in the second half. This was his half-time deterrent after the spell when Nick Kinseley, the ref, had awarded Stevenage their spot-kick (fairly, it looked) but also waved yellow in the face of several United players, whilst seldom seeming in control of events.

Curle's warning worked. Carlisle ended the game with six bookings but three points. The latter always looked within their reach here but they were made to toil for them against a Stevenage side who were not the most gifted but certainly subdued United at times.

With Shaun Miller's creative running absent, through suspension, Charlie Wyke returned as a central striker in support of Jabo Ibehre. Wyke had the first United attempt - volleying a Nicky Adams cross over the bar - and this featured in a battling start where second balls, midfield snapping and long throws were the dominant features.

Carlisle can certainly cope with this sort of skirmish and it was from a Tom Miller missile that they opened the scoring. His heave from the right, helped on by Michael Raynes, reached Wyke, who was denied by Jamie Jones - but when the ball cleared Ibehre's head, Jason Kennedy arrived to force it over the line.

Jones was booked for protesting - feeling the prone Ibehre was causing a big distraction in an offside position - as Kennedy celebrated his fifth of the season. As Carlisle then found a little flow, ref Kinesley drew a first wave of criticism from home fans, who felt he was falling for some United cunning as he awarded a few free-kicks.

Along with the various flashpoints there were spells of Stevenage possession in the middle third which did not particularly test United. But they did knife through twice, with a Matt Godden run that required Macaulay Gillesphey's timely tackle, and a Ben Kennedy dash which brought Luke Joyce out of the trenches.

It is undeniable that Stevenage unsettled Carlisle a little with these bursts, even if Mark Gillespie's gloves did not get dirty. After Dale Gorman was tripped by Danny Grainger on the break - the captain's booking rules him out of the next game - the hosts then earned a corner that saw Miller grab Charlie Lee's shirt, leading to a penalty which Godden smashed home.

This was in the 44th minute - still time for Godden to waste another fine chance and Adams to be booked for dissent (harshly, he felt). At the half-time whistle Grainger had to be urged away from the officials by Curle, who then paused by the tunnel for a chat of his own.

Carlisle may have had a point that they had been penalised despite Kinseley deeming certain challenges in the other box as fair. The Essex ref would certainly have failed any consistency test - but Curle was right to identify the more serious risk of his players losing control.

The 15 minutes' breather did them good. They also began the second half with new vigour, Wyke under-hitting a decent early chance before Kennedy forced a corner, Joyce returned it into the box, Luke Wilkinson climbed over Raynes, and Grainger stepped up to slot home from 12 yards.

Four in four for the captain, who will be a miss against Crawley. Here he went on to perform strongly in a defensive sense to protect the lead until a groin tweak forced him off seven minutes from time.

Before then, United had to deal with a more direct approach from the previously possession-based home side, and a flurry of crosses that tested Gillespie, Raynes and Gillesphey's concentration.

It was, thankfully, a challenge they met. A couple of Gillesphey headers were last-ditch, and there was a rushed clearance or two among the many. But Stevenage seldom played their way into truly dangerous positions. Sub Harry McKirdy's running gave them a few fresh angles, and he almost set up Jake King, but again Carlisle coped.

Gillespie later saved from the same substitute as Darren Sarll's team threw over another delivery from the right. Carlisle themselves did not often break the home lines but with Shaun Brisley also on for Grainger, and Derek Asamoah also enjoying a late cameo as a lone striker, United's containment strategy was ample for the task.

As it has been in most circumstances since August. This particular afternoon was more about destination than journey - but the same often applies in a glorious League Two season. "I need to be successful," said Curle, immediately eyeing game 15, and the chance to carve this notch in history ever deeper.