Harrogate Town 3 Carlisle United 0: Six hundred supporters perhaps were not ready to see it this way as they trudged out of Harrogate’s ground in the sun, but this might be the best and most reliable afternoon yet in the 13 games under Paul Simpson so far.

The manager, out quickly for his post-match interviews, selected several items from the menu. Carlisle were “embarrassing”, “shambolic” and “horrendous”, and that’s before we got onto what it might all mean for the future.

That was swiftly laid out in as many words too. If Monday’s stirring display against Mansfield had caused the Blues to mull over a few contracts, consider a few reprieves, this appalling performance at the EnviroVent Stadium sent paperwork and pens firmly back into the drawers.

News and Star: Lewis Alessandra tries to evade Warren BurrellLewis Alessandra tries to evade Warren Burrell

We were soon back onto talk of “overhauls” and reinventing a club, a team, that has gone too many miles down the wrong road. So it has to be. That pressing requirement was highlighted with bright light on the penultimate away day of this rickety old campaign.

This insipid effort in front of all those travelling fans, albeit with survival already in the can, is to some clear degree the level we are dealing with here, even accounting for Carlisle's several better days under Simpson since late February.

It’s not just the matter of one stinker in isolation. It is the basics of consistency. If you can play so vibrantly one week, then go so deeply into the gutter the next…no, you haven’t got it. Not really. Not when it comes to the bottom line that must be in place for the Blues to rise from the disturbing mess of 2021/22.

News and Star: Jack Diamond heads Harrogate's openerJack Diamond heads Harrogate's opener (Image: Richard Parkes)

When Simpson talks of getting his fingers properly under the bonnet lid, and speaks as angrily as he did after full-time here, this is what he means: not one 3-0 reverse but the flaws, holes, dodgy foundations and chronic limitations that made it possible.

Again: these are excellent and timely reflections if they focus minds in the crucial talks that are continuing over the manager’s future. The moral right to lead Carlisle forward remains very much Simpson’s and for United’s sake let us hope those at the helm give him enough of the tools to rebuild the place.

Otherwise – see Scunthorpe, down to non-league with an embarrassing whimper? See Oldham, chaotically down after a pitch invasion, a closed-doors finish and further mutiny against their dreadful ownership? See the others, scrambling and scuffling in the lower places of the fourth tier?

News and Star: Rory McArdle heads the home side's secondRory McArdle heads the home side's second

That will be Carlisle again and again until fate gobbles them up, and the “flourishing club” their erstwhile backers Edinburgh Woollen Mill once said they were so passionate about seeing will be something very different.

Are these over-heavy conclusions to draw from a dead rubber? Only if you ignored the vein-throbbing expression on Simpson’s face after it. Carlisle, let’s be truthful, were flattered by 3-0 against. Harrogate, after eight defeats in ten, could have doubled that score without hitting their own heights.

Carlisle were short both in idea and, more critically, effort. After Jordan Gibson had an early counter-attack intercepted, a dismally out of form Harrogate (we’ve been here before with United, haven’t we?) got on their toes and started zipping around the visitors’ defensive third.

News and Star: Brennan Dickenson fires a shotBrennan Dickenson fires a shot

Jack Diamond sparkled as his name suggested. The Sunderland loanee’s quality was above this skirmish between sides at the rump of League Two. With Carlisle on such a mundane footing, Diamond’s fluttering footwork opened up the first true opportunity, as he beat two players on the left before ghosting into space to beat a leaden-footed Mark Howard to head home a cross.

United’s defence and keeper, plus their midfield at the earlier stages, were off the mark there, and soon afterwards they conjured a second goal for Harrogate: Brennan Dickenson clumsily fouling, and nobody picking up Rory McArdle as he got behind the back line to head in George Thomson’s free-kick.

News and Star: Morgan Feeney and Mark Howard show their disappointmentMorgan Feeney and Mark Howard show their disappointment

It was savagely basic, and United offered pitiful things in response. In midfield, they failed to apply any presence, in attack they chased ghosts, while certain players drifted to the absolute margins when it came to fighting their way back into the game with the conviction Simpson’s old teams did.

There were too many sort-of touches that were an insult to the idea of executing the hard basics well. Howard denied Harrogate a third goal, saving from Alex Pattison with his feet, and by the time Joe Riley dribbled a shot on target for Carlisle in the 44th minute, even the home fans offered ironic cheers.

Again – with both teams safe, this occasion was as taut and tense as custard. All the same, it was still a professional contest and after the break United only upped things marginally in their bid to fulfil their side of that situation.

News and Star: Dynel Simeu receives treatmentDynel Simeu receives treatment

An enforced change thanks to a 50th-minute injury to Dynel Simeu saw Simpson rejig to a back four, as Tyrese Omotoye joined a wider attacking line. A little spate of pressure then saw Dickenson test keeper Joe Cracknell, Omari Patrick guide a shot wide and Lewis Alessandra examine the home No1’s reflexes with a header.

News and Star: Jack Diamond completes the Harrogate scoringJack Diamond completes the Harrogate scoring

Even then, though, Harrogate’s chances were better, this downwardly-mobile, bottom-half side knifing through Carlisle’s exposed and underdone midfield time and again. Jack Muldoon hit the underside of the bar, Pattison overcooked a chip, Diamond wasted another break, Jordan Gibson extended Cracknell after briefly popping up at the other end, and then Simon Power shot over as Simon Weaver’s men rallied for a final surge.

Diamond, appropriately, then skipped through to finish clinically in the 91st minute: the cream on the scone for Harrogate, as Simpson’s expression and mood turned sour. If rage on its own can be a useful tool, Carlisle will go places after this.