Jamie Proctor shines again as Carlisle Utd end 20-year Wycombe hoodoo

Three appearances from the man signed to replace Charlie Wyke have yielded two goals, nine points and, just as critically, the knowledge United are going into battle with a line-leader worthy of the number on his back.

At Wycombe, as at Leyton Orient and against Doncaster, the Blues' latest No9 appeared exactly what he is: a frontman on loan from a higher level. Proctor scored a timely equaliser here and ensured Carlisle always had an aggressive face at the very front of their team.

This was a gritty team effort, for sure. United's defenders again answered a few questions about whether they can stand up to examination. A first win at Adams Park since 1997 is a result all can share in.

But how much more substance this side seems to have because they are also defending, and attacking, from the front, with the controlled hostility Proctor brings.

Already looking like a linchpin in this promotion bid, the man borrowed from Bolton exerted pressure in just enough places on Saturday. Certainly he helped unsettle an imperfect Wycombe defence on a day when Gareth Ainsworth's men tried all they could to bash United's house down.

Both United's goals resulted from an awareness of where the home side could be weakened. First Proctor found enough space on the edge of the box in the ninth minute to cancel out Adebayo Akinfenwa's opener.

Later, his reading of a long Mark Gillespie ball was such that Ainsworth's back line was too occupied to notice Reggie Lambe stealing onto his flick-on to poke in the winner.

Sometimes the impact is clear, at others it is subtle. You also notice it when it isn't there. Is it too early in his Carlisle career to think it no coincidence how they struggled without Proctor, in that horror show against Blackpool the previous weekend?

Perhaps. It would be wrong to describe this as a one-man show and also wrong to ignore the other parts of a tenacious performance. But still. Six points from two games against fellow contenders is an outcome most fans would have traded limbs for after that 4-1 drubbing last Saturday.

Confidence is now flowing back through Cumbrian veins and next weekend's visit of Portsmouth now shapes up to be a humdinger.

With Proctor at the front, and streetwise enough to be a lone centre-forward, Curle has returned to a system we saw at the very start of 2016//17, which allows an extra attacking midfielder, such as Lambe, to roam dangerously in support. Mike Jones' return has also strengthened the spine while a return to a back four has also brought a little more security.

Not that it necessarily seemed that way to begin with here. Quite how a man of Akinfenwa's shape goes unnoticed in the penalty box is one of life's mysteries but there the Wycombe striker was, two minutes in, glancing Anthony Stewart's cross into the far corner of United's net and extending the wait for a clean-sheet another week.

It is folly to underestimate Akinfenwa, who still has quality to burn at this level. But pleasingly it's again foolish to write off United. Even in a stop-start spell, littered with contentious refereeing calls by Darren Drysdale, they got a quick way back, Lambe linking sharply with Nicky Adams down the left before finding Proctor in space to skim a fine low shot past Jamal Blackman.

Carlisle's response to going behind was already effective, and a sometimes hectic contest brought more forward motion. John O'Sullivan was bright in flashes on the right, setting up Michael Raynes to have a shot blocked, while United fed off further Proctor battling and back-to-goal strength in the first 20 minutes.

There was conflict in the dugouts, too, Drysdale pausing play early on to wag his finger at Curle, and then United had to show their mettle at the back. For Wycombe, the influential Sam Saunders went close with a deflected free-kick in a spell that also saw Paris Cowan-Hall run at the defence, Luke O'Nien test Gillespie, Will De Havilland fail to convert a cross and Joe Jacobson drill into a red shirt after Alex Jakubiak had glided past Gary Liddle.

These forays required serious concentration, and no frills. At one stage Macaulay Gillesphey aimed a no-nonsense clearance so far that it cleared the high roof of the Frank Adams Stand. It was important United kept absorbing and dealing with pressure while Wycombe's tempo was at its highest.

What happened next was a golden bonus. Gillespie aimed a long clearance into the home half and a back four without the injured Aaron Pierre malfunctioned, with Blackman also off his line. After Proctor got his head to it, Lambe sped in to snaffle his first goal since November.

This sort of defending can be fatal if the other team are minded to be stubborn for the rest of the game. And this, more or less, is how Carlisle were. Before half-time, as home fans now turned on Drysdale, they survived another Saunders effort (Gillespie saved well) and a couple of tame penalty appeals, United then narrowly failing to increase their own tally through Raynes.

After the break, things grew more tense and also shorter of fuse, with more of the action in Carlisle's half. Akinfenwa headed a long set-piece against the post. The meaty frontman then fed Jakubiak but Gillespie was equal to the shot.

More Wycombe attempts were high on effort, and persistence, but not on accuracy, as Raynes and Shaun Brisley battled away. Cowan-Hall was speedy but erratic, Saunders one final pass away from being decisive, and Curle's first substitution, sending Jamie Devitt on for O'Sullivan, helped take United back into home territory with some new ideas.

Adams, a flitting danger, was close to setting things up with some deliveries from the left, while Proctor fed Devitt for a cross that Wycombe hacked away. Raynes, towering in the air, won plenty without quite being rewarded. United also enraged the home contingent when their players were awarded free-kicks and didn't exactly leap to their feet.

Further Buckinghamshire ire was reserved for Drysdale, who penalised Akinfenwa more than he favoured him when crosses came into United's zone. Substitute Matt Bloomfield flashed a shot wide and then, the edgier things became, things overspilled on the touchline - in the fourth official's view, at least, as he invited Drysdale for a chat before the ref ordered Curle to the stand.

"It's like being refused entry to a nightclub," Curle later said of his banishment, which followed arguments with Ainsworth. "You walk away and go and find a party elsewhere." His alternative shindig took place in the directors' seats as United, aided by Jabo Ibehre's imposing arrival, held Wycombe off for seven added minutes.

Curle, who swapped some sharp words with Akinfenwa after full-time, later joked that his dismissal had been for the crime of "being too good-looking".

The secret admirer who sent him a Valentine's card last week may concur - and nobody will deny that United are looking easier on the eye again. The reasons, such as Proctor, are no great mystery.