Carlisle and Crewe shared the points in a drab 0-0 draw at Brunton Park which did little to enthuse the 5,000 crowd.
It was disappointing for Carlisle manager Paul Simpson who was looking to build on a good mid-week win at Grimsby.
The draw did allow Carlisle to maintain their unbeaten home record but Simpson was looking for more than that against an out-of-sorts Crewe.
In many ways both teams cancelled out one another after Crewe had started brightly but didn’t offer a lot afterwards.
Carlisle keeper Tomas Holy turned away Bassala Sambou’s effort after a clever flick from Lachlan Brook’s had put him in on goal.
Carlisle’s best chance fell to the right man, top scorer Kristian Dennis, but he was unable to grab his ninth goal of the season as he headed wide from a good position.
At the other Crewe’s Arthur Okonkwo showed his worth by making a good stop to deny a long-range effort from Jordan Gibson.
There could have been a dramatic finish but Crewe’s Dan Agyei fired wide after losing his balance while at the other end the visitors’ defender Rio Adebisi made a last-ditch block in time added on.
