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The Blues visit South Yorkshire on Saturday, hoping to improve on an average previous return from this fixture. Of the 27 games played, the Cumbrians have recorded seven wins, while Doncaster have come away with 13 victories.
The previous match played between the two sides was within the last three years, in May 2004, as Rovers carved out a narrow 1-0 victory in a Division Three match at their then ground, Belle Vue. The game was of course significant for both clubs for highly different reasons, as United were already doomed to relegation to the Nationwide Conference while Doncaster were ready to step up a tier as champions in that 2003-04 season. For the record Gregg Blundell scored the only goal of the game in the 69th minute in front of 9,720 spectators, four minutes after he had seen Matty Glennon save his penalty.
Carlisle have twice won by a three goal margin in Doncaster, the first victory being a 4-1 one way back in their Division Three North season of 1929-30, two goals unsurprisingly coming from Jimmy McConnell, with David Hutchinson and John Holland also scoring as 3,966 fans looked on. The second win came over sixty seasons later in 1991-92, a dreadful campaign for both clubs which saw United finish bottom of Division Four as Rovers themselves leapfrogged them on the last day of the season. It had all started so well for the Blues too as the 3-0 victory come on the opening matchday through goals from Richard Sendall, Tony Fyfe and Paul Proudlock in front of a paltry Belle Vue attendance of only 2,639.
Doncaster's biggest home win over the Blues is one of Carlisle's worst results in their history, as Rovers thumped United 9-2 in the first post-World War Two season of 1946-47. Doncaster did finish as Division Three North champions in that campaign though, amassing a mammoth 123 goals from just 42 games along the way. Nine of those came in that match against the Cumbrians in January 1947 when the Blues found themselves 5-0 down at half-time as a bumper crowd of 14,051 spectators looked on, James Moir and Ivor Broadis managing to grab what could loosely be called consolation goals for United after the break.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2006/2007 | Sat 05 Aug | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Doncaster | LGE1 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 08 May | Doncaster | 1 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 29 Nov | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Doncaster | LGE2 |
| 1996/1997 | Sat 29 Mar | Carlisle | 0 - 0 | Doncaster | LGE2 |
| 1996/1997 | Sat 17 Aug | Doncaster | 0 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 1994/1995 | Sat 04 Feb | Doncaster | 0 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 1994/1995 | Sat 26 Nov | Carlisle | 1 - 1 | Doncaster | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
Doncaster are unbeaten in their last six league home games, winning four and drawing the other two. A total of ten goals have been scored by Rovers in those games, with just four conceded.
In complete contrast to Doncaster, Carlisle are having a torrid time on their travels lately, accumulating just one victory and one draw from their last six matches played. While the Cumbrians have hit five goals, a worrying 12 have hit the back of the wrong net.
Doncaster lie just one point outside the play-off positions in the League One table, in eighth, picking up 46 points from their 28 games played so far.
Carlisle's 43 points from 30 games sees them lie inside the top half of the table, in tenth position, four points away from the play-off zone and a healthy 14 points above the relegation spots.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current league form guide | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Doncaster | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 13 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
FootyMad see this game edging towards a narrow win for the Rovers, as the Cumbrians have been none too clever on the road in recent matches. Home win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Doncaster | Unbeaten run of five matches. Not lost in last three home games. |
| Carlisle | Not won in previous two away matches. |