Carlisle United 2 Chesterfield 0: As well as taking the normal measure of satisfaction from a Carlisle United win, this one got the faithful thinking about something else: the last time a visiting side to Brunton Park were as bereft as Chesterfield.

Tough one. The National League is certainly making eyes at Jack Lester's team, who will sink without trace if this is their performance level. The Blues, of course, are hardly in a position to turn down any sort of win, even against one of League Two's true stragglers.

"It wasn't the entertaining, free-flowing spectacle that we'd desired, but sometimes you need to tough it out," was Keith Curle's take. You can say that again. These "ugly" afternoons are being totted up at Carlisle's ground these days but at least they are getting on the right side of some of them, especially at HQ.

They are, in fact, now unbeaten in five games at home, and while some of those have been against the lesser lights, there is no such thing as a bad 2-0 victory. Kelvin Etuhu, in the first half, and John O'Sullivan, in the second, got the goals, and if Chesterfield felt aggrieved at one they had disallowed, they can also be livid at their own general lack of poise and panache.

Even accounting for a long injury list, some of the football was appallingly bad. Aimless balls sent forward, pieces of miscontrol by the touchline, poorly-directed deliveries out of play: this was from the darker corners of the EFL.

The strains of a survival battle looked particularly heavy once O'Sullivan had clipped in United's second after 82 minutes. From that point, the body language of Lester's players suggested they were empty of hope. Carlisle were not exactly Manchester City in comparison but this was one of those afternoons when you are reminded that, whatever the Blues' toils in mid-table, there are those much worse.

United were also better because of a strong defensive line that included, for the first time from the start in the league since September, Mark Ellis. He kept Kristian Dennis and Chris O'Grady quiet to the extent that he left with the man-of-the-match prize.

Dennis, with 16 goals this season, was particularly obscure. Whatever your view on Ellis' lack of first-team chances this season the centre-half deserves credit for remaining this sharp, this ready for combat.

Up the other end, United delivered some frustrations but crucially got in front and stayed there. Etuhu's finish was excellent - and timely because, three minutes later, he was hobbling off, the latest injury in a brittle campaign.

Another rejig may be needed, then, at Barnet tomorrow. Carlisle are eight points from the play-offs and it remains the longest of shots. That is three better than they started Saturday, though: a sunny, breezy day they began on the front foot, before negotiating a few trickier times.

Early on, Hallam Hope's drilled cross just eluded the sliding Ashley Nadesan on the latter's full debut. At the other end, Clint Hill's attempted interception of a Bradley Barry cross looped over Jack Bonham and bounced off the Carlisle crossbar.

There were few such scares again in the first half. Chesterfield's fans had a creative repertoire of songs, veering between Carlisle's proximity to Scotland and their own seemingly unpopular regime, but United had the better array of chances. Cole Stockton somehow failed to put his head on a fine Hope cross, but then Etuhu cracked Nadesan's lay-off firmly into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, and the Blues were away.

The rest of the half was not scintillating, sometimes the polar opposite in fact, but if anyone looked like making something of it, it was mostly Carlisle. Josh Kay shot wide for the visitors but, after Mike Jones replaced Etuhu, Stockton headed a Jamie Devitt corner over, Hope engaged Aaron Ramsdale and Devitt whipped another attempt at the keeper.

In Carlisle's defence, Ellis and Hill were attacking the ball with the right intent, and Chesterfield's lack of teeth was audibly annoying the travelling support. What those in the away seats made of Jack Rowley's attempted short corner, which turned into a pass straight out for a goal-kick, would probably require asterisks before publication.

Only once did Dennis find any sort of space, and when he did, his cross sailed beyond O'Grady. A few free-kicks came and went and it scarcely got better for them into the second half, when Stockton chased down one chance, firing into the Warwick Road End, and then sidefooted a golden opportunity wide after the hungry Nadesan had ambushed Alex Whitmore.

This was United in their lenient mood and it nearly cost them, even against opponents so ordinary. A couple of substitutions freshened Chesterfield up and a spate of pressure midway through the half produced the key moments from their point of view.

First, Kay shot wide after one of the replacements, Jerome Binnom-Williams, had cut in from the left. Next, Jones' attempt to ricochet the ball into touch via Kay backfired, and when the Chesterfield player went down under the resulting challenge, United were relieved that ref Sebastian Stockbridge took a forgiving view.

Two minutes later came the matter of Louis Reed's excellent volley, which buried itself into Bonham's bottom corner but, with Whitmore having been stood inches from the keeper and in theory impeding him in an offside position, the flag went up, as did the temperature of Lester's furious players.

United had lost at Notts County to an offside goal, so this was a welcome difference ("correct decision," Curle insisted, unsurprisingly). It also sent them finally towards the clinching moment. Hope, regularly testing Chesterfield from the left, couldn't quite dig out a shot after Nadesan and Devitt pressure, and Reggie Lambe then had a deflected effort saved, but then O'Sullivan popped up with a most welcome personal moment, steering home the loose ball after a Devitt corner eventually came his way.

The winger had only been on the pitch a minute after replacing Stockton, and now has a goal to add to those dramatic play-off contributions against Exeter last May. This one was less spectacular but hopefully it gives O'Sullivan a leg-up to better form after his long comeback from injury.

Once it had been celebrated, the game was up, other than a few angry skirmishes along the way. Hill stepped in to separate the arguing O'Sullivan and Robbie Weir after a foul on Lambe, while Chesterfield sub Jacob Brown's late tackle on Jones drew Carlisle's disapproval. A similarly poor challenge earlier in the piece by Gary Liddle, who was booed by the travelling fans in light of his spell with the Spireites, got the same treatment by Lester in his post-match interviews.

There were worse things on the pitch overall, though, and Lester probably knew what they were. Can Barnet, a point further adrift, be as bad tomorrow? United can but hope.

United: Bonham, Liddle, Parkes, Ellis, Hill, Etuhu (Jones 21), Lambe, Devitt, Hope, Nadesan (Twardek 74), Stockton (O'Sullivan 79). Not used: Gray, Campbell-Ryce, Bennett, James Brown.

Chesterfield: Ramsdale, Barry, Weir, Nelson, Whitmore, Kay, Reed, McCourt (Binnom-Williams 66), Rowley (Kellett 62), O'Grady (Jacob Brown 79), Dennis. Not used: Parkin, Maguire, Ofoegbu.