Even though he wasn't in charge of the club when the sides last met, RMI boss Steve Bleasdale knew his side went in to the game with a huge pyschological disadvantage with the memory of October's 6-1 home defeat to a Carlisle side that at that point seemed destined for a return to the Football League.

Times have changed a little since then. The October defeat to the Cumbrians in front of RMI's biggest crowd of the season was one of the last of Phil Starbuck's reign as he made way for Geoff Lutley prior to Bleasdale taking his hot seat. United haven't quite been the same team since then either, stuttering around in mid-table recently despite their blazing start to the season that saw them sweep virtually all before them, with their victory at Hilton Park being their sixth in succession at that point.

Even though they're languishing in tenth place on the brink of the play-offs, it's a position RMI can only dream of and tonight's result merely emphasised that the fact that most clubs in the Conference are simply a class above The Railwaymen.

To their credit though, RMI withstood heavy pressure for long periods of the first half and they held out until just before the break when Karl Hawley finally found his way past Jon Worsnop in the RMI goal after the Leigh goalkeeper parried Chris Lumsdon's shot. Worsnop had previously frustrated the hosts with save after save, much to the disappointment of most of the 3,047 supporters in attendance, who had expected a bit of a goal-fest in the wake of RMI's 3-0 home defeat to Barnet on Saturday.

Carlisle completely dominated from start to finish, with a mammoth share of possession which saw them hammering the RMI goal with twenty-one shots in comparison to RMI's meagre four attempts, telling a story in itself of RMI's failure to establish themselves in the match.

Despite their sheer dominance, it took a set piece for Carlisle to double their lead when former Sunderland midfielder Chris Lumsdon fired the ball low in to the goal from a free kick.

The rout was completed with fifteen minutes left, again via a dead-ball situation, when Peter Murphy was fouled by Neil Gibson, with Murphy picking himself up to score from the resultant free-kick to secure a comfortable victory that again leaves RMI making a long journey home with very little to build on.

After a bit of a flourish in Steve Bleasdale's first few games, RMI supporters are again left to pray for the end of a torrid season, with little more than pride to play for in the remaining games.

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