Mansfield Town 0 Carlisle United 0: In the credit column was the fact Carlisle United rendered Mansfield’s attackers about as useful as the stepladders that were brought onto the pitch by groundstaff in the 28th minute.
No need for those, chaps, when there’s a 6ft 9in goalkeeper knocking about. Tomas Holy reached up to fix a problem with the goal netting and barely needed to get on his tiptoes to tether it back to the crossbar.
It was about as much as the big Czech was extended. That, against a side accustomed to winning at their home ground, is testament to Carlisle’s defensive ethic at the One Call Stadium.
In shape, positional discipline and the basics of reading crosses, heading things away, competing, United were excellent at Mansfield’s ground. Paul Huntington, in fact, might still be there hours on, just in case another aerial delivery needs dealing with.
Point very much gained, then. But also…another draw that could, perhaps should, have been converted into the maximum. Kristian Dennis earns some grace because of his impressive scoring since the start of the campaign, but it is undeniable that he squandered the best of a little cluster of good chances Carlisle forced here.
Maybe, as he met Jordan Gibson’s 46th-minute cross, he was a tiny fraction in front of the ball. All the same – it was still a red-carpet opportunity, the kind that has to go in if a visiting team is to win at Mansfield, who’d prevailed in 17 of their previous 19 League Two fixtures here.
The fact Carlisle aren’t losing games means you have to strike a fair balance when interpreting such moments. The fact they’ve drawn four winnable games, though, leaves a genuine bite of frustration.
There is a foundation here with Paul Simpson’s side. What there is not, yet, is matchwinning devil. Fill that void, and really interesting things could happen in 2022/23. Keep us wondering, and 13th – their current position – will be their approximate region for the longer run.
These mixed offerings at the One Call Stadium occurred, to begin with, in strangely sombre circumstances. There was, after Saturday’s postponements, a pre-match ritual like no other. Advertisements on the big screen were replaced with a message of mourning.
As players warmed up, gentle piano music was heard in the stands, followed by Rule Britannia. Once they came out for the game, it was the first evening since 1952 that the words ‘God Save The King’ had been sung at football.
There were black armbands, a minute’s silence, and then the unique feature of the remembrance: the release of 96 doves; one for each of Elizabeth II’s years.
Out of the ground they swooped and fluttered. There was then the reassuring roar as the solemn formalities ended. Normality, in these curious times, was now back.
Carlisle, with Callum Guy and Omari Patrick back in their side, stayed in touch with Mansfield amid a tight start, where the hosts bright movement between the midfield lines met a largely obdurate United defence and counter-attacking intent.
READ MORE: Mansfield v Carlisle - as it happened
Patrick, peeling to the left, created one early half chance while George Maris, a string-puller in the Stags’ midfield, sidefooted a shot which Holy saved without much trouble.
Mansfield often worked it wide, trying to stretch United, but Fin Back and Jack Armer were steadfast. Gibson was deployed on the right, while Morgan Feeney, staying up after a free-kick, volleyed an Armer cross too close to Christy Pym.
That, plus a low cross Dennis couldn't convert under pressure, was the first belting chance they squandered. A couple of minutes after that, George Lapslie pounced on a Holy save to score, only for the offside flag to deny Mansfield: a very marginal call.
And this is how it was – plenty of intrigue, something threatening to happen, not quite getting there, Stephen McLaughlin next to rifle wide for Mansfield, and then an unexpected stoppage when part of the net at Carlisle’s end came unattached from the crossbar.
Holy, to much amusement, did his DIY job, and the game resumed. Gibson forced a parry from Pym, and United drew fouls, frustrating the hosts, continuing to seek something from a few clever Dennis touches and the industry of those behind.
Carlisle didn’t make enough of some more decent positions, but Simpson’s defenders certainly dug in to limit the hosts’ opportunities. By the time the Stags tried and failed with a free-kick routine, you sensed they were ready for half-time.
At this point and beyond, there was much to admire in the way Guy and Owen Moxon had kept their disciplined central positions, without any risky roaming, sticking to the tactical design Simpson had clearly set out.
There was less to cheer, alas, in their finishing. When Dennis put Gibson’s delivery over a minute into the second period, you wondered how many more such opportunities the Blues could create.
None, really, was the answer. Back came Mansfield, Lapslie almost opening something up on the right, Holy saving a Lucas Akins shot. There was still, though, a general sense of a lid being kept on things as Jordan Bowery turned and shot waywardly from 30 yards for Mansfield.
Carlisle’s strategy made the hosts apprehensive enough about coming forward with real abandon. There was always the hint of a counter-attack with the pace of Patrick and the appetite of Gibson. The latter skimmed a shot wide after a Moxon ball, while Mansfield’s fans grew agitated by the decisions of ref Sam Allison.
On it went, without much of a conclusion. The outstanding Back, defending on the front foot, denied Maris after a long throw, and later popped up at the other end, failing to steer a chance past Pym.
Stephen Quinn’s introduction gave Mansfield an overlapping left-sided threat, but they couldn’t make good on their territory. Simpson sent on Sonny Hilton, and then Jack Stretton, eating up time, Mansfield’s last ideas running dry, Carlisle eventually leaving the pitch with a good point tucked in their pockets...perhaps still wondering how much better victory would have felt.
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