Carlisle United 3 Port Vale 2
It was a crowning moment for Carlisle who had somehow fallen two goals behind at half-time. With on-loan winger Kevin Harper a constant thorn in their side, Vale were battered for 25 minutes before shocking the Cumbrians by scoring with their first shot of the game.
Paul Harsley turned well on the edge of the box and hit a looping shot that confused Carlisle keeper Keiren Westwood who could only palm it into the net for Harsley's first of the season. With that, Vale picked up their game with Danny Whitaker firing narrowly over and Whitaker even had the ball in the net but Akpo Sodje had already fouled Westwood.
With five minutes left in the first half, winger Jeff Smith curled a long free-kick into the box from 45 yards out on the touchline. Carlisle's defenders failed to deal with it, leaving Westwood to look the fool as the ball bounced into the top corner leaving the home crowd stunned.
Little changed after the break with the home side dominating possession but failing to create any clear chances. But that changed on the hour with the introduction of Derek Holmes for Carlisle. The big Scotsman was an ideal target and, just six minutes after coming on, he picked up Murphy's pass and slotted past Goodlad from 12 yards.
The home crowd could sense another goal coming and it duly arrived with Karl Hawley's eighth of the season. Simon Hackney jinked past Whitaker on the left wing and curled a perfect cross on to Hawley's boot at the near post, leaving the striker to flick the ball into the net before Goodlad could even react.
With the crowd bouncing, another substitute, in Neale McDermott, supplied the cross for Murphy to head the winner, leaving Port Vale without a win for five games and Carlisle looking at a possible third straight promotion.