Carlisle United 0 Blackpool 1: The truth would be to say Carlisle United lost to one Blackpool side and came close to beating another, and not a great deal more analysis is required. The real result, the one that lingered long after full-time, was beyond the boundaries of Brunton Park’s immaculate pitch.

It was the sight and sound of the faithful that truly cheered. The sun shone on this warm summer’s day and more than 1,800 people made the stadium feel a little normal again.

Yes, the Warwick Road End was empty, and yes, the Main Stand’s seats were unoccupied. There was plenty of life, though, in the Pioneer Stand and Paddock. There was even that 2021 novelty: away fans.

So let us welcome all that before getting into the detail of the football, which is still being sharpened and polished with two weeks to wait before the new season kicks off.

Let us hope all those who came back for this pre-season friendly thoroughly enjoyed finding their old matchday grooves again – and, in some cases, the odd new one, given the fresh catering outlets laid on by United in a bid to improve the “matchday experience”.

It was a rehearsal of sorts for the days when more people are back in these post-Covid, mid-Covid times. Hopefully it was a success. Exactly how many people that refers to, naturally, will depend on the quality of the football and the quantity of points Chris Beech’s side can rack up.

After a series of non-league engagements, this was big-boy stuff: the only EFL side United will face before August 7, and a serious one at that. Blackpool’s second-tier risers gave United a fair few lessons in quality before a glut of substitutions, midway through the second half, enabled Carlisle to change the tone and feel of the contest.

After struggling to create anything of real significance, the closing third of the game was practically all blue. United missed one great chance through Brennan Dickenson, passed up a couple more that were a little further to the margins, and allowed the home contingent to enjoy the sight of their players bearing down on a Championship side, even if Chris Maxwell’s net remained undisturbed.

Demetri Mitchell’s 37th-minute Blackpool effort was the game's only moment of clinical class, the result of a ruthless break and a composed finish after the visitors caught United just enough to capitalise. Neil Critchley’s team were, as you would expect, the more capable overall, but a rusty final ball cost them more goals from their best spells before Carlisle found their own eventual impetus.

The other news line was a 30th-minute injury withdrawal of Morgan Feeney, in the spell when United were more often on the defensive; something which, given the way he jogged to the touchline after treatment, hopefully seemed more precaution than panic.

After a hearty welcome from the 1,863 fans, Blackpool had taken control, their initial passing and movement a few notches up from United’s, CJ Hamilton a recurring threat on the left but the final incision from his team-mates not especially good.

Aaron Hayden got his head in the way of a Keshi Anderson shot before Carlisle finally put together a more composed move themselves, teenager Lewis Bell producing a neat flick before arriving on the edge of the box to pull Tristan Abrahams’ lay-off wide.

That was, though, rare invention, before the more powerful approach of Dickenson (who replaced Feeney, amid a rejig to a wing-back system) gave United more directness down the left.

Blackpool, though, had that quality too and also the poise needed to finish when Mitchell beat the otherwise excellent Jack Armer to the ball in United’s half and then showed pace to run clear of the defender down the middle, also evading Hayden’s attempt to bring him down as he sent the ball low past keeper Lukas Jensen.

Carlisle may hope not to encounter such clinical punishment in League Two, but at the same time can’t afford that sort of looseness down the heart of the pitch when the serious stuff begins. The root of the goal was their own attack and cross.

At the other end, Abrahams and Zach Clough, who have helped themselves greedily against lower-ranked pre-season sides thus far, fed off thinner scraps against these opponents, though in fairness so did the normally dangerous Jerry Yates, fresh from signing a new three-year Blackpool deal but kept quiet by his former loan club.

The second half then saw Hamilton denied a goal by the offside flag which ref Anthony Backhouse eventually spotted, and Callum Connolly cursed by his own inaccuracy after a smooth Blackpool move. Yates whipped a shot over the bar from the left, and then came Critchley’s eight-man change, the visitors’ new defensive signing Richard Keogh welcomed back generously to Brunton Park by home fans - one or two even singing his name - and Carlisle, with their own changes taking effect, applying new pressure on their rejigged guests.

Clough glanced a Callum Guy free-kick close, and then the busy Joe Riley fed Dickenson with a lovely outside-of-the-foot pass, only for Dickenson to control and clip the ball past both Maxwell and the left-hand post.

Carlisle kept coming, another sub in Gime Toure, having been introduced to add flair, duly keeping them on the front foot, a few crosses from left and right skidding narrowly out of reach, a few set-pieces seeing Blues men stretching to convert but never quite able to do so, as Keogh and company toiled to clear lines.

Taylor Charters and Josh Dixon joined Manny Mampala, Carlisle’s latest signing, in the energetic pursuit of an equaliser, and Toure came close to one when he narrowly cleared the bar from the left of the six-yard box. It saw United just short, on a day that was otherwise not so much about players but more the loyal people in the seats and on those warm yards of terrace, back home again and at last. How they’ve been missed; let us pray they can stay there this time.