Carlisle United 0 Port Vale 0: Carlisle United were held to their third consecutive draw in a scrappy encounter with Port Vale.
The Blues inched a point closer to the play-off places but were unable to grab the winner that could have taken them into League Two's top seven.
It was a game of few serious chances and little quality at Brunton Park as Vale also missed out on making it seven wins in a row for the first time since 1893.
Their centre-halves, Leon Legge and the ex-Blues man Shaun Brisley, were largely dominant in handling Carlisle's aerial play.
It was an even game on chances with Joe Riley and Danny Devine going close before the break for the Blues, and Nathan Smith coming close for the visitors in the second half.
Neither side, though, could summon much attacking inspiration and it was a second consecutive goalless draw for the Cumbrians, who are unbeaten in six but now 10th in League Two with five games to go - and who also lost striker Offrande Zanzala to a second-half injury.
Few sides in the play-off race made serious inroads either, with Exeter drawing and Newport beaten, though sixth-placed Forest Green opened up a gap above the chasing pack by beating Scunthorpe, while Leyton Orient's win over Barrow took them ahead of the Blues.
United boss Chris Beech named an unchanged side which saw Devine retained at right-back and Joshua Kayode again among the subs.
Vale promoted Cristian Montano to the side in place of the departed Manny Oyeleke, while five ex-Blues were in their squad. Luke Joyce and Brisley started, while Mark Cullen, David Amoo and the returning Harry McKirdy were among the subs.
Callum Guy saw a second-minute free-kick saved by Scott Brown, while at the other end Riley blocked a Tom Conlon effort.
A hard-working half of few chances and little serious quality then unfolded, Carlisle looking for Jack Armer to cross from the left and Lewis Alessandra, on his 500th career appearance, dropping between the lines in a bid to create.
Amid plenty of aerial battling, Carlisle forced a half-chance from a short corner, Omari Patrick seeing a shot deflect wide, while Guy's next delivery saw Riley shoot just past the left-hand post.
At the other end, a Vale corner picked out Devante Rodney but he missed his kick, and later Brisley failed to keep a close-range header on target from another set-piece.
The combative Zanzala, for Carlisle, was in the thick of the action, warned by ref Peter Wright after a tussle with Montano and a challenge on Legge.
The Blues then went close just before the break as a bright attack saw Armer's cross headed just wide by the arriving Devine, and while they edged the half on chances, they were looking for more quality when their attacking players got on the ball in the final third.
The visitors brought on ex-United man David Amoo for Montano for the break, while early in the half Carlisle lost Zanzala to injury, Kayode coming on.
On the hour mark, Blues keeper Paul Farman had to be alert to save a Theo Robinson effort as the Vale frontman had space to shoot on the turn.
James Gibbons, switched from the right to the left, tested United at times in the second half and saw a shot blocked by Alessandra on 67 minutes, before Smith's attempt deflected just over the Blues bar.
Beech brought on George Tanner and Gime Toure, while Vale's Darrell Clarke introduced McKirdy and Cullen with 15 minutes to go.
With five minutes to go, a Riley cross reached Toure but the sub couldn't make anything of the back-post chance.
United launched a series of long throws into the Vale box but these were, in the main, easily dealt with by the visiting defence.
It was a fifth clean sheet in six games for Beech's side but leaves them still with work to do in order to keep their top-seven hopes on track, with United on Tuesday heading to Bolton, who suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at bottom side Grimsby.
United: Farman, Devine (Toure 68), Armer (Anderton 90), Hayden, McDonald, Guy, Riley, Mellish, Alessandra, Patrick (Tanner 68), Zanzala (Kayode 52). Not used: Norman, Furman, Walker.
Booked: Toure
Port Vale: Brown, Gibbons, Smith, Brisley, Legge, Joyce, Conlon, Montano (Amoo 46), Worrall (Pope 90), Robinson (Cullen 75), Rodney (McKirdy 75). Not used: Scott, Burgess, Olagunju.
Booked: Worrall.
Ref: Peter Wright.
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