United were back at Brunton Park for a top of the table clash with automatic promotion chasing Northampton Town.

There was one enforced change to the starting eleven, with Jordan Gibson in for the injured Jack Ellis, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury. That also brought John-Kymani Gordon back onto the bench.

United looked lively from the off, with Gibson on the right and Mellish and Armer on the left close to breaking through. And it was neat football from out wide which created space for Patrick to shoot. He kept it low, from distance, but Burge gathered at the second attempt.

Marc Leonard spotted Holy off his line with seven minutes on the clock and he tried his luck with a lob from the halfway line. The stopper had to scamper back to gather from just inside the six-yard area.

The resulting corner was met by Guthrie at the back post, and his downward header caused confusion as Norman twice tried to make contact. He poked his effort into the fans in the Warwick Road End.

Hoskins was lively midway through the half when he trapped a pass inside the box. He dropped a shoulder and drilled it low and Appere lunged to get a touch. Barclay was there to make a vital challenge and a much-needed clearance.

United were close at the other end when Patrick and McCalmont worked the ball across the line of the 18-yard box. Dennis helped it on its way to Gibson, and a dinked delivery brought a surge from Patrick. He was millimetres away from applying the touch it needed to finish it off.

A one-two between Dennis and Mellish created room to work and a whisked cross had to be dealt with. Appere was back to help out, and his sliding tackle sent it for a corner. Moxon put his laces through that, and Barclay almost found the bottom corner but for a touch from Guthrie.

Leonard miscued at the other end after Hondermarck had bullied his way past a tackle, and Appere was stopped in his tracks by Barclay in what was a good spell for the visitors. 

Pinnock was wild from 20-yards when it unexpectedly opened up for him, and there was a monent there for the Blues as Mellish and Armer broke. Patrick took over, but his overlap came to nothing as Sowerby got to the cut back.

A dipper from Haynes was watched all the way by Holy as it went over his bar, after Hondermarck had doen the leg work, and Mellish tested Burge with an instinctive volley from 22-yards as the action continued to ebb and flow, but without too much in the way of clear-cut chances being created.

The Cobblers had a corner with 40 seconds on the second half clock after Bowie went off on a sprint, and strong defending was needed from Guy and Huntington as it was kept alive inside the area. The blue wall did its job, and Armer was suddenly free and clear to run into the opposition half. Moxon stayed deep as he asked for it, and he was disappointed to see his attempt sail over the target.

A snapshot from Patrick skipped up off the surface just in front of Burge, but the keeper did well to catch it before he pulled it into his chest. The stopper ws also confident as Guy popped a teaser of a delivery towards Mellish.

Holy had to be at his best when Hoskins and Appere looked after the ball with some quick exchanges. The cruncher was going in until a full length dive brought a parry.

There were appeals for offside as Pinnock overlapped moments later, but the flag stayed down. Hondermarck had just Holy to beat, but he stayed big to save with his leg. The rebound hit Mellish and bobbled away for a corner.

Carlisle thought they'd done the trick on the hour when Gibson sent it long from the right. Dennis brought a one-handed save from Burge with his header, and found the keeper to be stubborn as he stabbed at it, and then stabbed again. It just wouldn't go over the line.

Huntington was superb as he slid in to prevent Appere from bursting through, with both sides looking for the win, and Hoskins nodded wide from eight yards when he got on the end of the set piece.

There was plenty of action, but Bowie was wasteful as he went past Mellish after a brief tussle. He opted to shoot and it was always going high.

A huge kick from Holy was controlled on the chest by Gordon, and McCalmont accepted the invitation to volley. It wasn't too far away, but it whistled just over the bar.

Norman headed over from close range from a Pinnock free kick late in the day, and Barclay could only send it into the supporters at the other end when Devitt popped a free kick deep. A second delivery, this time from the right wing, was guided straight at Burge by Huntington.

The Blues won a corner deep into time added on, but it whisked past the post as Huntington once again looked to make it his.

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Match Sponsor - Burnetts
Associate Sponsor - Aaron Rail
Associate Sponsor - Border Brite
Associate Sponsor - Speedy Freight
Match Ball Sponsor - Yellowjacket Bar
Match Ball Sponsor - Malcolm & Yvonne Millar

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Bookings

Carlisle United - Mellish (85)

Northampton Town - Appere (56), Pinnock (85), Hondermarck (90)

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Teams

Carlisle United - Holy, Barclay, Huntington (c), Mellish, Gibson, Moxon (Edmondson 87), Guy, McCalmont (Garner 73), Armer, Patrick (Gordon 61), Dennis (Devitt 74). Subs - Kelly, Whelan, Robinson.

Northampton Town - Burge, Sowerby (McWilliams 79), Guthrie (c), Hoskins, Appere, Pinnock, Leonard, Norman, Hondermarck, Bowie, Haynes (Yengi 86). Subs - King (gk), Hylton, Wright-Phillips, Tomlinson, Osew.

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Match officials

Referee - Rebecca Welch
Assistant Referee 1 - Alex Gray
Assistant Referee 2 - Paul Newhouse
Fourth Official - Peter Gooch
Observer - Gary Kellett

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Attendance - 8,292 (589)