United hosted Peterborough United under the lights at Brunton Park on Tuesday night.

And there were three changes to the starters from Saturday's Wycombe away day with Tomas Holy in for the suspended Jokull Andresson. The inclusions of Alfie McCalmont and Joe Garner brought a change in formation as Paul Huntington and Luke Plange stepped down to the bench.

Posh started brightly with a move along the floor but Callum Guy was there to stop the cross. The corner was punched by Holy, but Collins was there to take a punt from distance. It never troubled the nets.

Peterborough came again with a sprint from Jones down the left flank. He rolled it into the area, Mason-Clark stepped over it, and that left Clarke-Harris with a clear sight. He leaned back and sent it high into the Waterworks from 12-yards out.

The same man had an effort charged down after Burrows made tracks down the right wing, but Carlisle broke at pace with Moxon at the helm. Gibson sent Armer on an overlap but the delivery was just too high for Garner.

The game settled down, as both teams probed, but neither could quite manage to find a way through.

An offside flag stopped the visitors in their tracks on 16 minutes when a floated ball into the box was chested down by Mason-Clark. Ajiboye was ready to pounce until the assistant referee intervened. 

Carlisle had neat passages of play, with Maguire always a willing outlet, and Mason-Clark ploughed a similar furough at the other end.

A push on McCalmont provided Moxon with an opportunity to cross from very deep, but it was headed clear by Clarke-Harris. Gibson went for a first-time volley as it popped up but it was always angling wide.

Fleet of foot in the centre circle took Ajiboye through a tackle, and he had Clarke-Harris in close support. The forward dropped a shoulder and curled it with accuracy, but Holy went full length to palm it away. The keeper blocked with his legs moments later when Mason-Clark drilled it low, and Back helped it on its way.

Hesitancy in the blue wall invited Collins to step onto a bobbling pass from Jones on the edge of the box but he couldn't find a way through as strong blocks were made.

Armer clipped a nice ball forward to Maguire from inside his own half and a delicate header from him lined one up for Garner. He spotted that Bilokapic had strayed off his line but his cruncher sailed into the Warwick terraces.

An excellent ball over the top from Guy put Maguire behind the defence but he was forced wide, and the shot was charged down. He recovered, and set it for Moxon to hit, but it came off his laces and swirled past the upright.

Jones went for the bottom corner from the angle of 18-yard box on the stroke of half time, but Holy got enough on it to keep it out. He showed good hands again to pull the last shot of the period from Clarke-Harris into his body.

A touch from Garner to Armer at the start of the second 45 minutes was followed by what looked to be an inch perfect through ball from the left back. Knight managed to get his toe to it before Maguire could open his legs and take it clear.

Mason-Clark trapped a pass with his back to goal as Peterborough got men forward, and his whisked shot had to be guided over by Holy as it curled late.

Tenacity by the corner flag from McCalmont and Back brought a call from Gibson as he found space in the opposition area. He feinted and released, but his rasper hit a defender. Moxon's corner wasn't an easy one for Bilokapic to deal with, but a fist got it off his line. Moxon was accurate once again but a ricochet off Mellish and Armer took the sting out of it, and the stopper gratefully smothered it.

There were huge appeals for a penalty after a bouncing ball caused all kinds of problems. Maguire got to it first, Edwards hung a leg out, but the referee ignored the tumble.

The hosts kept things tight whenever the away side entered their half, and the tactic appeared to have worked when Holy launched long. Garner nodded it down, and Kioso used a raised hand to stop Gibson from doing the rest. Most of the crowd thought a penalty had been awarded until play was allowed to carry on.

There was more controversy when a pull on Guy as he surged forward was ignored, and it felt almost inevitable that there would be a further slap to come. And so it was to be when Guy was penalised for going shoulder to shoulder out wide, and the resulting free kick from Randall was glanced in from close range by Edwards.

Substitute Terry Ablade was immediately involved when he contested another looped ball. He went down, but the officials turned their backs.

A spell of pressure brought crosses from right and left for the Blues, and Plange got on the end of an Armer clip with a header on the leap. It dropped onto the roof of the net.

The clock ticked into time added on for the game, and Holy rocketed a late, late free kick forward for the blue pack to contest. Armer was fouled, and that gave Guy one last free kick to deliver. It was stopped, but Gibson - who had just been announced as the man of the match - kept his cool as he picked his shot. The keeper could do nothing as it took a deflection on its way into the bottom corner.

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Match sponsor - TrustFord UK
Associate sponsor - Greenholme Farm
Match ball sponsor - Warwick Road Bed Centre

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Goals

Carlisle United - Gibson (90+5)

Peterborough United - Edwards (74)

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Bookings

Carlisle United - Back (78), Moxon (90+3)

Peterborough United - Burrows (73)

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Teams

Carlisle United - Holy, Back, Lavelle (c), Mellish, Armer, Gibson, Moxon, Guy, McCalmont (Edmondson  86), Garner (Plange 74), Maguire (Ablade 74). Subs - Breeze (gk), Huntington, Harris, Robinson.

Peterborough United - Bilokapic, Burrows (Sturge 72), Edwards, Knight, De Havilland (Katongo 72), Clarke-Harris (Wakeling 80), Mason-Clark, Ajiboye (Poku 55), Jones, Collins, Kioso (c). Subs - Talley (gk), Crichlow, Randall.

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Match officials

Referee - Scott Simpson
Assistant Referee 1 - Graeme Fyvie
Assistant Referee 2 - Darren Williams
Fourth Official - Ivan Stankovic
Observer - Andrew Himsworth

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Attendance - 6,014 (296)