By Dave Noble - CUOSC

The regular readers of this column will be aware there are now 15 of our aforementioned cup finals left. I reckoned we could probably afford to lose no more than seven of the original 17 to have any hope of survival if we won all the rest.

The good news is we’ve already polished off two of those defeats in a little over a week, so mostly positive results to look forward to from now on in. The Portsmouth game was a step in the right direction in terms of performance and carrying that level through to the Burton Albion game was a must to get the first win of the required run on the board.

One factor we didn’t take into account was the Staffordshire weather. The Pirelli Stadium pitch wasn’t in any fit state and halted our chances of capitalising on Saturday’s improvements.

Frustrating as it was to arrive just as the match was postponed, there really was no other option and it was just a case of suck it up and about turn.

No doubt frustrations will see criticism heading the way of Burton and the match officials, but the referee is really in a no-win situation and no doubt gave the game every opportunity to be played if at all possible. There was criticism of the Cheltenham postponement the day before the game a few weeks ago. They really are damned if they do and damned if they don’t!

Off the pitch, something that continues to impress is the attitude of our players towards our young fans, a larger number than usual who had travelled with it being half term. All the lads and coaching staff were happy to chat and have photos outside the ground as they got back on the team coach, really helping to alleviate the disappointment of a wasted trip for the youngsters. As ever, a credit to the club and themselves.

Behind the scenes CUOSC are working hard on our revamp project. There is a short questionnaire which will be reaching out to members and non members in the coming weeks to gather data to help move our organisation forward.

We are in continued dialogue with the other stakeholders of Carlisle United to achieve a CUOSC we can all be proud of, and one that will serve supporters well as we move towards an exciting and sustainable future.

Head over to our website www.cuosc.org.uk to join and be a part of that future, and also have the chance to spend the Reading game with us in the boardroom in our monthly draw. It currently costs £10 for an adult for one year and £5 for seniors and under-18s.