Carlisle United suffered their worst defeat of the season last night when they lost 5-1 at Reading.
More damaging it lifted their opponents off the foot of the table and closer to the Cumbrians with a game in hand in the bottom four.
It was a dismal night for Paul Simpson and his side with the Carlisle manager suffering his worst game since returning to the club.
Six of the Piatek family – watching from the directors box – will have presumably realised as the new owners that they urgently need new blood once the January transfer window opens.
It was a night when a lot went wrong for United before the final whistle, starting with an injury to Joe Garner after only nine minutes.
An own goal set Reading on their way and by half-time Carlisle were chasing the game at 3-1 down.
Skipper Sam Lavelle turned a cross into his own net after 26 minutes and although the Blues were soon level they then conceded two goals in seven minutes.
Garner’s replacement Luke Plange had quickly levelled to give United heart with a nicely taken close-range volley but then Harvey Knibbs struck two goals in quick succession to send Reading into the break on a high.
Carlisle looked livelier in the third quarter of the game, but to no avail as Reading added further goals from Lewis Wing (78) and Femi Azeez (83) to complete the rout.
Carlisle will be mightily relieved that they don’t have a follow-up fixture this Saturday, giving them some breathing space to work on injuries and fading confidence.
