What we learned from Carlisle United's draw at Lincoln City

1 HARD TO BEAT

If the starting point of an improving team is a good foundation, then Carlisle’s recent results are offering clear encouragement.

Saturday’s draw was a third game unbeaten, and there are few sides around them in League One who can offer that sort of mini-record.

Indeed, they are the only team in the bottom half of the table who've gone three matches without defeat - and you have to go as high up as ninth-placed Lincoln for the next lowest side to string together three unbeaten outings.

Jokull Andresson stretches for the ball (Image: Barbara Abbott)

And yes, this may be a small stat, but small steps were needed to get Carlisle going after their tough early weeks in the division after promotion.

That two of these three results have been on the road at difficult places (Stevenage and Lincoln City) earns Paul Simpson’s side genuine credit.

On the stats front, meanwhile, it is United’s first three-game unbeaten sequence at this level since March-April 2014, when Graham Kavanagh’s League One strugglers took five points from Shrewsbury Town, Tranmere Rovers and Swindon Town in their futile survival bid.

It’s also back-to-back unbeaten League One games away from home since August to October 2013, when United drew with Colchester United and Brentford, beat Stevenage and drew at Shrewsbury Town in the Greg Abbott-Kavanagh crossover.

2 STATS AREN’T EVERYTHING

This weekly feature often leans on the statistics of well-regarded website WhoScored.com, whose data often paints a telling picture of the game.

Numbers aren’t always to be religiously read, however.

After all, an average match rating of just 6.22 for Sean Maguire, the second lowest in United’s starting XI, seems…well, just wrong.

Sean Maguire gave Lincoln plenty of problems (Image: Barbara Abbott)

To this untrained eye the frontman was the most effective player on the pitch in the opening stages and indeed for the majority of the first half.

Maguire gave Lincoln’s defenders real trouble with his intelligent running, back-to-goal play and anticipation throughout.

He and Carlisle may have been less threatening after the break but Maguire was a big reason United found such a firm foothold against a strong home side.

Alongside him, Luke Plange certainly earned his rewards, meanwhile.

His work-rate and determination were clear to see, covering ground, winning more aerial challenges than any other Carlisle player, and ghosting onto Owen Moxon’s free-kick to break his United duck.

WhoScored made Plange United’s star man, and there’s certainly a case for that. It was, all in all, his most substantial Blues outing to date and, in JJ Kayode’s absence, hopefully a platform for the Crystal Palace loanee.

3 THE BALL MAGNET

This was one of those games when the wisdom and know-how of Paul Huntington really comes to the fore.

The central defender and his colleagues certainly had plenty of work to do in order to limit Lincoln’s danger.

It was not as if it was just a case of standing still and nodding crosses away.

Paul Huntington heads away one of umpteen crosses at Sincil Bank (Image: Barbara Abbott)

All the same – when wide deliveries were landing in Carlisle’s box, and other, lower balls were being nudged into their red zone, Huntington’s mastery of the situation was still clear.

He made eight clearances, comfortably the most in the United side, and the uncomplicated nature of his defending shouldn’t be confused with it being easy.

There is a reason Huntington, who turned 36 yesterday, has had the defensive career he has, and it was going to take more than what Lincoln offered to unsettle the big Cumbrian.

The hosts did not, it’s fair to say, go about things without maximum thought when aiming wide balls into territory where, with one or two key frontmen missing, they did not have a No9 of the aerial calibre to unsettle Carlisle.

They were more threatening when they attempted shorter, neater offerings between the lines, but United’s defending there was also dogged and a large reason they claimed their respectable result.

4 BACK ON THE ATTACK

Paul Simpson spoke after the game about the need for Carlisle’s wing-backs, Fin Back and Jack Armer, to play more of an attacking role than they have recently.

“I talked to the two wing-backs about being more positive, getting higher up the pitch,” he said. “In our average pitch positions over the first part of this season, the wing-backs are deeper than last season – I wanted them to be more positive.”

It was an insight into the detail Simpson applies to his consideration of United’s performances and patterns, and at the LNER Stadium the difference was particularly noticeable in Back’s case.

While Carlisle’s attacks tended to be weighted to the left, Back’s average position was the second highest on the pitch of all their players, with just Sean Maguire further forward.

This average position map shows how far up the pitch Fin Back (No2) often was at Lincoln (Image: WhoScored)

It was Back back to last season’s enterprising style and, with one second-half run, he could easily have claimed an assist had Owen Moxon’s finishing been on point.

On earlier first-half occasions Back showed anticipation to break forward into good positions without showing the precise final judgment to make the most of them.

Hopefully that will come as he and the Blues continue to grow into this League One season.

Either way – it was another small sign of United’s confidence growing on tactical and individual fronts in their third-tier work.

5 ACCOMMODATING IMPS

It isn’t always the case at clubs you visit but the impression upon arriving at Lincoln was a good one and that’s generally the way it stayed.

The Imps, like United of late, are known for positive “fan engagement” and there was indeed a supporter-friendly feel around the LNER Stadium.

A lively fan zone, with a range of stalls, had a good vibe, and the staff on the way into the ground were unfailingly helpful too.

Tempting pic.twitter.com/XXDs5kbcnI

— Jon Colman (@joncolman) September 16, 2023

The sense of a club in touch with what’s important was also reflected in a well-observed minute’s silence before the game in memory of Doreen Ashton, a much-loved club stalwart whose catering at the ground, including legendary home-made cheese and onion rolls, was renowned.

Lincoln have been a club on a mission in recent times, via eyecatching cup runs and their rise to League One under the Cowleys, and subsequent consolidation.

Clearly such progress does not have to come at a cost regarding the personal, friendly touch.

Carlisle, who have made their own strides with initiatives like their fan zone, want to be regarded this way too, and continuing to keep pace with the Imps in the tone of their matchdays will be a healthy aim as they too move forward.