Carlisle United 0-0 Northampton Town: Blues fifth after stalemate

The pair of League Two high-fliers could not be separated on a hard-fought afternoon at Brunton Park.

Neither side could find enough attacking inspiration and it was a sixth game in seven without a goal for the Cumbrians - as well as a 19th clean sheet of the season.

It saw Paul Simpson's team drop to fifth with four games to go, two points outside the automatic promotion places.

In front of a 8,292 crowd, Kristian Dennis came closest with a second-half scramble which was saved on the line.

Ben Barclay also went close while, for Northampton, Will Hondermarck was denied by Tomas Holy when clean through, the Blues keeper also denying Sam Hoskins.

It resulted in a fourth 0-0 draw in seven games as Carlisle failed to grab the win that could have seriously boosted their top-three hopes, Northampton holding onto second place.

Simpson made one change to his XI, sidelined Jack Ellis's place taken by Jordan Gibson at right wing-back, while there was a return to the bench for John-Kymani Gordon.

Visitors Northampton also made one change as former Blues man Jack Sowerby came in for the injured Harvey Lintott.

Owen Moxon wins a header (Image: Ben Holmes)

United made a couple of early inroads with Jack Armer almost setting Dennis up in the second minute before an attractive passing move saw Omari Patrick test keeper Lee Burge.

Northampton then settled into the contest the better and looked the more likely side for a good first-half spell.

Marc Leonard failed with an ambitious attempt to lob Holy from halfway, before a corner broke to David Norman, who shot wide under pressure.

Barclay made a strong start in Carlisle's defence and he was alert to prevent Hoskins setting up Louis Appere from the right.

United improved midway through the half with Gibson narrowly failing to tee up Patrick, before Barclay saw a header from Owen Moxon's corner flash across goal and wide.

Jon Brady's side then fashioned half-chances for Leonard, who pulled a shot wide, and Mitch Pinnock, who rifled an attempt high over the bar after finding midfield space.

United passed up some other good positions, their final ball letting them down, as Ryan Haynes came close with a first-time attempt for the visitors which curled just over.

At the other end, Jon Mellish popped up on the edge of the Cobblers' box with a rifled low attempt which Burge dived to save.

It was a more open game than might have been anticipated but neither side were able to impose superiority for long as the first half went on.

United began the second half with attempts from Moxon and Patrick which went too high and too near the keeper respectively.

The visitors then gave Carlisle two scares - first when Hoskins found space to shoot from outside the box, Holy responding with an excellent diving save.

Moments later, assistant referee Paul Newhouse's flag stayed down as Pinnock found acres of space behind the defence, and he squared to Hondermarck who looked set to score - but Holy was there to keep out the shot.

Kristian Dennis on the attack for Carlisle (Image: Ben Holmes)

On the hour mark Carlisle then came millimetres from an opener, when Gibson's excellent cross found Dennis, and his initial header was saved by Burge, then broke back to the frontman, but the visiting keeper managed to save on the goalline.

Simpson then made his first change, Gordon replacing Patrick in attack.

Carlisle then had some defending to do, Paul Huntington sliding in to deny Appere, Pinnock shooting wide from a good position and Kieron Bowie shooting over after tussling with Mellish.

Callum Guy and Gordon tried to combine for United but were denied by the home defence, with Simpson then turning to Jamie Devitt and Joe Garner from the bench for the closing stages.

Things remained cagey with neither side able to create anything clear, both sides making further substitutions with Ryan Edmondson on for the final few minutes for United.

Carlisle ended the game on the front foot, forcing a series of set-pieces the last of which Garner headed wide, but they couldn't find a way through.

Elsewhere in the promotion race, Stevenage climbed back up to third after a 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon, while Stockport County are now fourth after drawing 1-1 at Gillingham.

Sixth-placed Bradford City are also closing in on the top contenders after a 3-0 win at Rochdale took them level on points with Stockport and Carlisle with a game in hand.

United host Stockport in another massive game on Tuesday night.

United: Holy, Barclay, Huntington, Mellish, Armer, Gibson, Guy, Moxon (Edmondson 87), McCalmont (Garner 73), Patrick (Gordon 61), Dennis (Devitt 73). Not used: Kelly, Whelan, Robinson.

Booked: Mellish.

Northampton: Burge, Guthrie, Norman, Sowerby (McWilliams 79), Leonard, Hondermarck, Bowie, Haynes, Hoskins, Pinnock, Appere (Yengi 85). Not used: King, Hylton, Wright-Phillips, Tomlinson, Osew.

Booked: Appere, Pinnock, Hondermarck.

Ref: Rebecca Welch.

Crowd: 8,292 (589 Northampton fans).