Carlisle United 2 Wrexham 1

Carlisle, who let fans dressed as Santa for free, were left fuming at Mr Moss' pantomime decision.

Five minutes into the second half Wrexham's Jon Walters ran clean through but Lumsdon's last ditch tackle looked to have saved the day only for the Moss to point the spot despite the appeals from the away side.

Matt Crowell converted with only Wrexham's second shot on target. With the Brunton Park crowd baying for the referees blood Carlisle pushed forward only to find Wrexham's defence lost height.

The controversial decision should have been irrelevant however, with the Cumbrian's completely dominating the first half and with only keeper Michael Ingham preventing a landslide.

To begin with Michael Bridges almost pressurised Dave Bayliss into a own goal and then Zigor Aranalde flashed a spectacular volley just wide.
Then on the half hour a clever Bridges flick set up Karl Hawley, who with what seemed like an acre of space fired his shot at the onrushing Ingham.

The keeper saved well from Hawley's snuff shot and within a minute responded to a Danny Livesey header with a reflex save. 

The referees intervention only saved the home crowd and it was team captain Kevin Gray who forced the equaliser with only 18 minutes left. The veteran defender header Lumsdon corner against the bar before bundling in the rebound.

The home crowd could sense victory and it was with perhaps a shame of irony that the biggest cheer came from Carlise's own debateable penalty. Ingham came out to smother the free ball but only could tangle with Hawley who appeared to slip and Mr Moss once again incensed the offending team by giving them a penalty.

It was the Cumbrians first spot kick of the season and it was fitting that Lumsdon stepped up to finish easily giving Carlisle a welcome three points in their push for promotion.