Carlisle United slipped a little further into relegation trouble with a 1-0 home defeat against 10 men of Bristol Rovers.
Carlisle dropped to 22nd with this defeat which was the result of an own goal from Sam Lavelle on 38 minutes.
The visitors had to play the last 17 minutes with ten men after Tristan Crama pulled back Terry Ablade to deny him a clear goalscoring opportunity.
They held on for the three points which extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to five games and lifted them to tenth in the League One table.
Carlisle had done a lot of their best work in the first half when Jordan Gibson dragged his shot wide when well-placed and Jack Armer was inches away from connecting with a good low cross from Luke Plange.
Rovers were rather fortunate to take the lead seven minutes before the break when a cross from Jack Hunt took a horrible deflection of Lavelle and looped up into the net.
Carlisle responded well in the second-half and Rovers had goalkeeper Matthew Cox to thank for a number of good saves. He denied Dylan McGeouch and produced his best save midway through the half when he managed to turn a Plange header round the post.
There was another close call when substitute Sean Maguire’s flick-on from an Owen Moxon corner just went over the bar.
Cox was to the fore in the closing stages, stopping a good free-kick from Moxon and holding onto a shot from Plange, as the visitors held on for a hard earned victory.
