Defender Joel Senior put the cherry on top of his comeback from a 10-month lay-off with an ACL rupture with a stunning goal against Crawley on Saturday – his first for the club and at this level.
And it was a finish, in front of the sizeable travelling Blue Army, which quite literally set the ball rolling on an emphatic and ruthless away win.
Talking about his goal this week, he told us: “When I wasn’t playing it’s something we [with the manager] spoke about, getting in at the back post and getting into more advanced positions.
“As Mels was shaping up to cross it there was a bit of space and I think I was the only one in the box, so I just knew I needed to throw myself at it. A bit of desire gets you there and I got on the end of it, and luckily it went in.
“You don’t realise until you play as a wing-back how high you can go up the pitch. The gaffer wants us to get in the box because he knows how effective it can be, and it can cause defences problems. It’s a really enjoyable role to play.”
“I think the goal comes from me predicting the right time to make the movement when the cross was coming in,” he added. “That meant I could leave the defender behind me a little bit so I could hold him off. I was just so happy with it because I’ve wanted to get my first goal for so long.
“It was weird though because I didn’t actually know it had gone in. You can see in the picture that I’m on the floor after I’ve headed it, and I don’t actually know where the ball had gone.
“I couldn’t really hear the fans to start with but then I got up and saw Alfie with his arms in the air so I knew I must have scored. Then I just ran round the net, which was an amazing feeling.”
It almost goes without saying that it was good for him to get the weight of that first for the club off his shoulders.
“It was amazing,” he confirmed. “It’s the best feeling I’ve had since I’ve been at the club and for a long time in football.
“After the year I’ve had it was just an amazing feeling and it’s good to get the goal done, with hopefully more to come. I want to be more effective in the final third.
“It’s funny - my dad actually texted me the night before. He said when you head the ball, keep your eyes open. My dad’s like one of them typical dads with football. On Saturday, when I scored, I didn’t keep my eyes open because I didn’t know where it went!
“But it is one of the best feelings I’ve had in my career so far. It felt like a relief of everything that I’ve gone through in the past year, that was all the passion and desire let out of me after that goal during the celebration.
“To be honest, the feeling’s even better than you imagined it - in front of the Carlisle fans at an away game when they’ve all travelled that far - to put a smile on their faces, and be so happy to do it for myself and the team. I’m just so happy that I did it.
“That’s why when I scored the goal I went behind the net to celebrate with them, and show how much it meant. To see them celebrate, it was the best feeling I could have asked for. If it was down the other end it wouldn’t have been the same.”
And, as already mentioned, it’s an element of his game he’s looking to add to as he goes on from here.
“I’ve not scored enough goals with my ability throughout my career,” he insisted. “I’ve not played many games for Carlisle because of my injury, but I want to add more.
“Since I’ve been back playing I’ve not offered anywhere near the amount of impact I can have on the game in the final third. I feel that’s my best attribute, getting forward, getting assists, maybe not goals, but assists, and affecting the play in the final third.
“Since I’ve come back I’ve not really done that until maybe Saturday. It’s definitely something I want to add, getting goals would be a massive help for this team, which is what we all want.
“But overall it was a massive day to put on such a good performance. It’s such a long journey for the fans so it was good for us to be able to put a decent performance on for them.
“I’m sure they were proud of us and had a good day out because of it, and it was a great shift from the lads. To be 4-0 up at half-time obviously shows you’ve played well and caused them problems, so it was a really good day.”
