Carlisle United’s start to the 1974/5 season is without doubt the most famous three-game spell in their history. It was always, though, going to end eventually - and they were perhaps fated to be brought back to earth by one of the finest players of his generation.

The Blues had won their opening trio of matches in the First Division, accounting for Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Tottenham and sitting top of the league by late August.

It was a truly remarkable position, even if most realists knew even then it was likely to be fleeting.

All the same, there was a sense of frustration when the Blues’ winning run did come to an end when they quickly faced Boro again, with a 21-year-old Graeme Souness patrolling Jack Charlton’s midfield in the return game at Brunton Park.

Another midfield man, Les O’Neill, had scored twice for the Blues in the Ayresome Park game but a tight contest unfolded at Brunton Park seven days later as 18,473 turned up to watch Alan Ashman’s men try to make it four from four.

Souness, who had joined from Spurs the previous year, had helped Charlton’s side win the Second Division title in 1973/4, as Carlisle followed the Teessiders up in third place. It was an undoubtedly capable Boro side and one with an opportunist edge, as they displayed at the start of this close encounter.

They scored after just two minutes and went about setting United a demanding task in turning things around thereafter.

David Armstrong was the man to make the early breakthrough. Boro had come close to an even earlier opener, when Alan Foggon finished weakly from a good position, but Armstrong provided a better strike, drilling home a low, right-footed effort from 18 yards.

It was the first goal Carlisle had conceded as a top-flight side – and left them up against an organised, effective visiting team who did a capable job in smothering the Blues’ attacking movement.

Souness, in midfield, was the young player who set the Middlesbrough tempo, spreading play well to both left and right flanks.They also adopted a counter-attacking style win which Foggon and Armstrong tested Carlisle through the middle, and David Mills and John Hickton also working things wide.

Yet Charlton’s men were more content in a defensive shape, the style that had helped them build a strong away record the previous season coming to the fore again.

United themselves were not short on confidence even though creativity was at a premium. Shortly before half-time, the Blues thought they had found a way back when Chris Balderstone showed calmness on the ball to curl the ball into the danger area.

Keeper Jim Platt clawed it away but O’Neill, seeking to pounce, could only drive the ball against a defender.

After the interval, with Peter Carr breaking well down the right for the Cumbrians, O’Neill was again in the thick of things. He got on the end of a cross from the full-back but Platt recovered to save his low drive.

By and large, it was otherwise frustrating for United, Boro protecting their penalty area with determined intent and Hugh McIlmoyle’s line-leading, with Joe Laidlaw in support, lacking the service of true chances whether Carlisle went short or long.

Allan Ross, the Blues’ keeper, did well to deny Armstrong when Charlton’s men broke in search of a second, while United’s final scrapes couldn’t quite see them to a leveller.

One shot from John Gorman, who had passed a pre-match fitness test, was handled, but outside the area according to referee Ivan Smith. That free-kick came to nought, while a last-minute volley from McIlmoyle – in his third Blues spell – cleared the bar.

Ashman declined to use the attacking capabilities of Frank Clarke, who was left an unused sub, and Middlesbrough returned to Teesside with the points.

The attendance proved the fourth highest United would attract in a First Division season which duly tailed off. Although Ashman insisted the “bubble has not burst” after the 1-0 loss - and McIlmoyle then scored at his former club Leicester to earn a 1-1 draw next up - the Cumbrians found the winning habit harder to retain as things went on, their often admired football lacking enough potency to keep them truly competitive at the peak of English football.

There were, though, some memorable interludes in their fall back towards second-tier football, notably wins over Arsenal, Everton and future champions Derby. As the Blues finished bottom, Middlesbrough came seventh, Souness remaining there until 1978 before his career took off to greater heights with Liverpool.

United: Ross, Carr, Gorman, Green, Parker, O’Neill, Martin, Train, Balderstone, McIlmoyle, Laidlaw. Not used: Clarke.

Middlesbrough: Platt, Craggs, Spraggon, Souness, Boam, Madren, Murdoch, Mills, Hickton, Foggon, Armstrong. Not used: Brine.

Crowd: 18,473.