Carlisle United gave themselves an early Christmas present and moved out of the relegation places by beating Northampton on Saturday. The hosts took the lead through Troy Archibald-Henville's strong header from a corner, his first goal for the club. The Cobblers equalised in the fourth minute of first-half injury time as Marc Richards converted from the spot after David Amoo clumsily tripped former United player Evan Horwood. But Amoo’s disappointment was forgotten when his run and cross led to Carlisle’s second. Brad Potts scored his seventh goal of the season from 6 yards to secure the much-needed home win after 61 minutes.
Manager Keith Curle spoke about the weekend debut for 18-year-old youth midfielder Connor Hammell following his 80th minute introduction in the Northampton game.
“It was nice to introduce him to it all because he showed me he was ready to step up the ladder and get involved during our recent 11v11 games,” he said. “I was comfortable and confident about putting him on because of what he did for me in those games.
Saturday’s attendance of 4421 brought average attendances at Brunton Park under Curle to 4096, someway short of the 4400 previously stated by the club to be this season’s break-even figure.
Carlisle’s next home game is on Sunday 28th December at 15:00 against fellow relegation strugglers York City.