United are at Rodney Parade on Tuesday night as the fixtures continue to come thick and fast.
The Exiles were given permission to play two of their home games in Cardiff in March as they battled against a hectic rugby and football fixture schedule on an increasingly battered surface.
The condition of the pitch was so bad, in fact, that manager Michael Flynn described it as 'the worst he has ever seen it' when bad weather combined with an almost continual run of games from both disciplines to turn it into something that resembled a ploughed field at the turn of the year.
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Newport County wins | |
| League | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| Total | 4 | 2 | 7 |
Newport literally roared through the opening two months of the season, suffering just one defeat in their away game at Cambridge in September.
The confident approach adopted by County saw them knock Championship clubs Swansea City and Watford out of the Carabao Cup back in September.
Their reward was a home game against Newcastle United, and that one went all the way to penalties with the Magpies holding their nerve to take the win.
It was a record breaking start to the campaign, but things started to get a little bit stickier after their defeat up here at the beginning of the November.
They remained in touch with the top spots into 2021, but March was as mixed a bag of results as you could get, with a run of three wins bracketed by three defeats.
Into April and Good Friday saw them lose in dramatic fashion at Barrow before hosting in-form Bolton Wanderers on Easter Monday. Nicky Maynard scored the only goal of the game to give the exiles a just-about deserved win.
They remain hopeful of a play-off spot and Joss Labadie thought he'd more than helped that cause when he scored with just 15 minutes left to go at Mansfield on Friday night. Tyrese Sinclair had other ideas though, and he grabbed an equaliser as the clock tocked down, leaving the visitors with just the point to show for their efforts.
The almost ever-present Padraig Amond has eight goals from his 41 games played and he remains the proverbial pain in the backside with the way he plays his game.
He's admitted himself recently that he feels he should have more goals to his name, but he leads the line well and gives the defensive line plenty to think about whether he's on the scoresheet or not.
Having missed out in the more recent fixtures, he'll be chomping at the bit if he gets his recall tomorrow night.
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These teams met in November 2020 with United breezing into a three-goal lead with goals from Lewis Alessandra and Jon Mellish (2). But it was to be a nervy ending as Jamie Devitt and Josh Sheehan bagged late strikes to keep things interesting.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The March 2020 trip to Brunton Park for Newport was the last fixture to be played bfore the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed later that week.
United were ahead with just five minutes on the clock when Omari Patrick nodded the ball into the net. JJ Kayode doubled the lead from the spot, and the night got worse for the visitors when Ryan Innis was sent off on the stroke of half time.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
We were down in Newport in October 2019 when a last-minute goal from George Nurse condemned the Blues to an away defeat.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Prior to that we came together at Rodney Parade in March 2019 and it turned out to be a day for the home side as Ade Azeez and Padraig Amond netted either side of the break to send the Blues home with nothing to show for their efforts.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Our meeting with the Exiles in November 2018 looked comfortable as Jamie Devitt netted twice to give the Blues a two-goal cushion. Padraig Amond had something to say about that as he pulled the visitors right back into it just before the break. Dan Butler thought he'd earned his side a point with just three minutes left to play, but Danny Grainger bagged himself a goal of the month award and a victory for his team with almost the last kick of the game.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Both of the 2017/18 season games were draws, with the December trip to Rodney Parade seeing the sides having to settle for a share of the spoils off the back of a 3-3 stalemate. Luke Joyce sparked a much better second half for United when he scored from very close range immediately after the break, but it was nip and tuck and strikes from Tom Miller and Kelvin Etuhu were needed to make sure Carlisle had something to show for their efforts.
Watch the highlights from that game here ...
The 17/18 league season ended when these two came together in May right here on our own patch. Mark Ellis put us ahead with less than a quarter of an hour gone, but Padraig Amond restored parity just before the break, and that was just about that as the teams played their way to full time and a well earned summer break.
Watch the highlights from that game here ...
Referee - Lee Swabey
Assistant Referee 1 - Mark Derrien
Assistant Referee 2 - James Vallance
Fourth Official - Ravel Cheosiaua
Observer - Rodger Gifford
Our referee for this game is Mr Lee Swabey. Lee has taken charge of 26 games so far this season showing 59 yellow cards and no reds.
He was the man in the middle for our 1-0 away win at Crewe in November 2018. A feisty game saw Jerry Yates, Anthony Gerrard, Richie Bennett and Jamie Devitt receive yellows for the Blues, but Devitt was later in the book for the right reasons when he notched the injury time winner.
Prior to that we last saw him for our away trip to Newport in December 2017. A thrilling encounter saw the sides eventually settle for a share of the spoils off the back of a 3-3 stalemate.
Luke Joyce sparked a much better second half for United, after the Exiles had taken the lead just before the break, when he scored from very close range.
But it was nip and tuck the rest of the way and strikes from Tom Miller and Kelvin Etuhu were needed to make sure Carlisle had something to show for their efforts. No Carlisle names were taken on the day.
This is a behind closed doors fixture.
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