Carlisle United were held to a point by a resilient Eastleigh in a 1-1 draw in front of a packed Brunton Park.
Junior Luamba had given the Blues the lead early in the second half, but Keiron Evans struck late on to rescue a point for the Spitfires.
Mark Hughes named an unchanged line-up from the one that defeated Southend United 2-1 last weekend.
Chris Conn-Clarke attempted an early, audacious effort from 35 yards out, but his effort sailed wide of the target.
A lovely, United move combining Regan Linney and Alex Gilliead saw the United midfielder find Luamba, whose shot was deflected wide before Georgie Kelly saw his header saved by Nick Townsend from the following corner.
The Blues continued to pile the pressure on with Luamba’s cross, skilfully taken down by Kelly on his chest, but his effort was pushed over the bar by Townsend.
Morgan Feeney was next to come close for United, connecting with Conn-Clarke’s cross, but the header was off target.
Conn-Clarke released Linney, who charged down the left, but the Spitfires’ stopper pushed away his low effort.
A mazy run from the Northern Irishman saw him find Kelly in the visitors’ penalty area, but his shot was directed wide.
Kelly came inches away from giving the Blues the lead when he nodded Luamba’s cross off the angle of the crossbar and left upright.
HALF-TIME: Carlisle United 0-0 Eastleigh
Lloyd Humphries came close to scoring twice in quick succession, initially having a shot blocked into the side netting before his free header from the resulting corner went just wide.
The Blues took the lead in the 50th minute through Luamba, who combined with Conn-Clarke down the right flank before composing himself in the box and firing past Townsend.
Luamba flew through on goal in the 63rd minute, but his shot was sliced wide.
Linney began to find more joy as the second half went on, and he cut in from the left with pace, but his effort was saved.
Evans levelled the game from Scott Bartlett’s side in the 89th minute, finding space on the left of the box and slotting past Gabe Breeze
Luke Armstrong nearly won the game at the death when he got onto a through ball, but his effort struck the far post.
FULL-TIME: Carlisle United 1-1 Eastleigh
Teams:
Carlisle United: Breeze, Williams, Hayden, Feeney, Harper, Macadam (Ellis 82), Gilliead, Conn-Clarke (Wearne 85), Linney, Luamba, Kelly (Armstrong 82)
Unused subs: Lewis, Davies, Whelan, Grant
Eastleigh: Townsend, Brindley, Vokins, Humphries, Eweka, Evans, McCallum (McGuckin 77), Saunders, Pierre, Lundstram, Pearson (Fernandez 90)
Unused subs: McNamara, Waruih, Davis, Whitehead, Stone
Goals:
Carlisle United: (Luamba 50)
Eastleigh: (Evans 89)
Yellow Cards:
Carlisle United: (Luamba 69)
Eastleigh: (Eweka 43) (Brindley 44)
Red Cards:
Carlisle United: N/A
Eastleigh: N/A
Officials:
Referee - Martin Coy
Assistant Referee 1 - Jack Nield
Assistant Referee 2 - Conor Ledgeway
Fourth Official - Luis Griffiths
Attendance:
10,860 (85 away)
