Carlisle picked up their first win since September 19 as they beat Vale of Lune 13-12 on Saturday afternoon.

Gary Hewer’s men are still in the relegation zone as they sit third-bottom in the North One West table, but they are now level on points with Blackburn in the fight to avoid the drop.

As flood recovery efforts continue at Warwick Road, Carlisle took this home fixture to the coast as Silloth hosted their Cumbrian neighbours who welcomed fifth-placed Vale of Lune to the county.

They started brightly and took the lead in the first few minutes after a Vale penalty set Carlisle up 10 metres from the line.

A catch and drive from the resulting line-out was steered towards the line and Matt Davis crashed over to give his side a 5-0 lead.

Another Vale infringement gave Carlisle the opportunity to test their scrum five metres from the line and James Addyman dived over from the base of the scrum.

Carlisle were 10-0 ahead after as many minutes. Vale were quick to strike back and brought themselves to within five points as they darted through for a 10-5 scoreline.

The visitors then went ahead just before the break as they scored a converted try for two-point lead at half-time.

Both teams were evenly matched in the second-half with neither side managing to find a way through.

However, just before the hour mark, a Carlisle penalty was converted by Robbie James to give he home side a one-point lead.

The visitors tried to find a way through Carlisle’s defence but were halted on numerous occasions.

Carlisle finished strongly and Josh Holmes was denied a try after another rolling maul tested Vale’s defence.

Vale tried to break out but a turnover ball at the ruck was kicked into touch by Davis to give Carlisle their first win in 16 games.