Carlisle United failed miserably in a crucial relegation battle, losing 1-0 at home to bottom side Cheltenham Town.
Paul Simpson’s side only avoid the bottom spot themselves through having a better goal difference than their conquerors.
In a word Carlisle were abysmal, hardly laying a glove on their opponents who did enough to take the spoils in a low key affair.
The only goal came on 27 minutes when Liam Sercombe was alert following a mistake by home keeper Tomas Holyn who lost the ball in trying to prevent a corner.
The midfielder reacted best when George Lloyd cashed in on Holy’s error and from his pass he was able to slide home what proved to be the winner.
Cheltenham have now scored in ten successive games, a big change from the opening 11 games of the season when they failed to find the back of the opposition net.
They hadn’t made the best of starts as they had in-form striker Will Goodwin taken off with an injury inside three minutes, but with the strong wind behind them, they were the side who looked most likely to score.
Substitute Lloyd, who replaced Goodwin, had a goal disallowed for offside in eight minutes and although Jon Mellish had one ruled-out for Carlisle midway through the half it was a rare piece of encouragement for United.
Rob Street was close to second for Cheltenham in the 44th minute but in an uneventful second half opportunities for both sides were rare.
United still have three more matches to play before they can bring in recruits during the January transfer window – and on the evidence of this performance will need at least half a team.
