Exeter City 1 Carlisle United 1: Compared to last season's goal-fests, this season's encounters between Carlisle and Exeter have been much tighter affairs: one strike settling things in October, and now this draw, when the hosts found a single gap in the Blues' defensive line and Ashley Nadesan then punched a hole in Paul Tisdale's rearguard.

In the main, those at the back have been on top in 2017/18. Only twice here was there true clarity between shooter and goal - first when Dean Moxey sneaked in to open the scoring and then when Nadesan sped through to fire United a point closer to those play-off places.

These were precisely the qualities United hoped they had unearthed when taking a chance on Nadesan in January. The man from Fleetwood is fleet of foot and in a game of at times stodgy attacking on a poor pitch, his anticipation, pace and direct running allowed Carlisle to take what they deserved.

That is, a decent result against a side who have been among the contenders all campaign. United's run of victories stopped here but their belief is likely to be intact. If any team was going to win it, the longer things went on, it was probably Keith Curle's team, and while this was not a silky spectacle by any means, the Blues can be pleased with how quiet they kept Jayden Stockley, Tisdale's 17-goal target-man.

The memory draws a blank when asked to summon any shots or headers on goal from the big, blond frontman. That is a tribute to the work of Clint Hill and Mark Ellis on an often aerial day. With United also going long, to Richie Bennett and Cole Stockton before Nadesan changed their approach, there were second balls to be had and semi-openings to be spied.

Little else, though. A touch more poise around the box from their creators and either team could have gone home with all three. In a sometimes perplexing division, though, it is sometimes enough to bank the result and not get too hung up on how you got there.

In Exeter's case, it is certainly a different environment than the one that hosted Carlisle's play-off heartbreak last May. Two stands are no more, notably the old grandstand, demolished to make way for a £3.5million rebuild. Nor is their surface helpful to the sort of football typically produced by Tisdale, the EFL's longest-serving boss.

Heavy rain had also dampened the pitch, and its low quality offered some mitigation against some of the heavy touches both teams produced. It also influenced Curle's selection, the manager opting for Stockton's physical attributes from the start instead of Nadesan's dash.

Alongside Bennett, Stockton did help United build an early platform when the ball was aimed high and honest. The ex-Tranmere man is not, though, in a groove yet for the Blues, and after he met an early Jamie Devitt cross with an unconvincing finish, he often toiled to impress.

Again, though, it was more about destination than journey. Carlisle spent plenty of the first 25 minutes or so in Exeter's half, as Hallam Hope looked to test Pierce Sweeney on the left and Curle's midfielders were alive to the breaking ball.

The hosts were also wounded by Jordan Moore-Taylor's sixth-minute injury, which forced the captain's withdrawal. Exeter did look occasionally threatening from there through Lee Holmes' trickery on the right, but so did Hope, whipping a shot narrowly wide amid a spell of steady pressure.

Amid all this was a difficulty from ref John Busby in getting things under control. One late Luke Joyce slide on Hiram Boateng raised home temperatures - the midfielder was rightly booked - while a poor Jake Taylor foul on Mike Jones provoked an outbreak of jostling which saw Hill, the oldest head, try to force his way in as peacemaker.

Joyce was in the thick of the shoving and did not enjoy his best half in United colours, too many passes going wayward. On the touchlines, Curle and Lee Dykes also gave Busby a barrage of angry words as we awaited a lift in the game's overall quality.

It came in small stages, not helped by Holmes' withdrawal on 33 minutes, by which point Jack Bonham had barely been tested. The experienced winger's 20-year-old replacement, though, Kyle Edwards, offered different qualities, such as pace on the run, and he stretched United enough down the left to alter the game's general direction.

That resulted in an outbreak of chances for the Grecians that eventually told. Gary Liddle's slip almost let in Moxey - the defender took a booking in order to avert greater woe - but then United were broken by a series of inswinging, left-footed Boateng corners, the last of which was cleared, returned, helped on and finally drilled past Bonham by Moxey, deemed onside by the officials despite Carlisle's protests (a second look suggests he was a fraction off).

United's first goal against for four hours and 22 minutes boosted Exeter, for whom Taylor's deflected cross engaged Bonham at his near post, and by this stage it was clear Curle needed to find some fresh ideas. The second half, though, began with too many unforced passing errors in promising areas, and Bonham was again needed to stop Taylor making the comeback job even harder.

That he did, and before the hour mark Curle decided to change tack. Nadesan's frontrunning immediately concerned a home defence who had been happier devouring the meat and drink of United's less inventive play. A minute after coming on, the loanee held off his man on the right and had a cross cleared.

A short while later, he broke past Exeter's back line on the left, allowing Bennett to transfer the ball to Jamie Devitt, who clipped his shot wide. Then came the opening Carlisle craved, as Bennett pestered Taylor into a slip and Nadesan did the rest, dropping the shoulder to motor past Moxey before finishing cleanly past Christy Pym.

This, you felt, was a dimension United didn't have during their lesser periods of 2017/18. It allowed them to entertain thoughts of victory here in a finely-poised closing spell. Reggie Lambe, on for Joyce, drew a foul from Jordan Tillson but Devitt's free-kick was saved.

Bennett, involved in plenty, did well to engineer a chance to the right but his finish lacked power. Another opening died when the big striker tried and failed to change direction under defensive pressure, and so it went on, both sides committed to finding the space they needed, but never quite the precision.

At United's end, Taylor curled a 25-yarder narrowly over, while Boateng's left foot often threatened to open doors but, in the end, only fumbled in the lock. With Kris Twardek also adding pace, Carlisle finished things with intent, but Troy Brown tackled Hope on the dribble, Pym thwarted the forward, Lambe had two follow-ups blocked, and the game ended to the sight of all these attacking ideas being denied; some change, it must be said, from all the melodrama of last May.

United: Bonham, Liddle, Parkes, Hill, Ellis, Joyce (Lambe 65), Jones, Devitt, Hope, Bennett (Twardek 76), Stockton (Nadesan 57). Not used: Gray, Grainger, J Brown, O'Sullivan.

Goal: Nadesan 64

Booked: Joyce, Liddle

Exeter City: Pym, Sweeney, Moxey, Moore-Taylor (Woodman 8), T Brown, Tillson, Boateng, Holmes (Edwards 33), Harley, Taylor, Stockley. Not used: Jones, James, Archibald-Henville, Simpson, Jay.

Goal: Moxey 42

Ref: John Busby

Crowd: 3,488 (201 Carlisle fans)