McGill: Early goal raised the roof

Carlisle United's 76-year stay in the Football League is over - at least for one year. They were held to a 1-1 draw by Cheltenham Town at a sweltering Brunton Park in front of the biggest gate of the season, 9,524 to slip four points adrift of safety with one game to play and will spend next season in the Nationwide Conference.

For the biggest match in at least five years for United, Paul Simpson stuck with the same team as last week with the exception of suspended Kevin Gray being replaced by Peter Murphy at the back. Simpson himself came back after missing the last three games through injury.

From the off, it was the home side who pushed forward looking for the crucial early goal. Craig Farrell had the best early opening when he controlled a bouncing ball but shot narrowly over the cross-bar. On eight minutes though, they made the vital breakthrough. Richie Foran put in a low cross from the left. It didn't look too threatening until Andy Preece turned it on to the far post where an unmarked Brendan McGill couldn't miss from barely two yards out.

The Cumbrians really needed another goal to calm their nerves but their attacks began to lose a bit of menace as the half wore on. Foran had one effort blocked and another follow-up effort went wide as United tried to keep Cheltenham pinned back. The visitors rarely threatened, with a Duff drive over the bar from long distance one of their few moments to savour. By half-time the game had settled into a pattern with Carlisle looking the livelier but creating little of note.

Six minutes into the second half Simpson brought a good save out of Shane Higgs when he had been put clear by Preece. Paul Brayson and David Bird both tried their luck from distance but only Brayson tested Glennon. Carlisle needed that second goal now and Cowan's header from the right edge of the box just didn't have enough purchase to find the target after he had made a good run into the area. Shelley made a good block of a Damien Spencer shot as the visitors increasingly got on top in the heat. Then Cowan made a superb covering tackle to deny Kayode Odejayi after he had been put clear down the left channel. Simpson lined up a long range free kick but although he found the power, his effort was always a yard or so too high.

United brought on Kelvin Langmead and Will McDonagh, eventually switching to 4-4-2 with Paul Arnison coming on for the tiring Foran. With six minutes left and the news of Scunthorpe's struggles at Cambridge giving renewed hope, came the double incident that cost United so dear. First Lee Andrews got back brilliantly to clear Spencer's header off the line when the striker had beaten Glennon to an awkward bounce. From the corner though the tall Odejayi was in the right place to glance a firm header off the underside of the bar and just out of Glennon's pawing gloves. It was 1-1 and Brunton Park visibly deflated.

The sting had been taken out of the Cumbrians who had little fight left in them. They did manage to force a late corner as Simpson tried to launch long ball after long ball down the left wing but keeper Higgs commanded his box with aplomb and after three minutes of stoppage time, the referee's final whistle marked the end of an era at Brunton Park.

Al's verdict: So after five years of Great Escapes, this proved to be an escape too far for brave United. I can only take my hat (or cap) off to their superb second half to the season, which offered hope of the finest recovery in domestic football history. However in the end too much damage had been done in the early part of the season and the best efforts of Paul Simpson, Dennis Booth and the Board led by John Courtenay couldn't quite turn it around. Today's game I thought saw us play rather nervously. I'm sure we missed the towering presence of Kevin Gray at the back as it often took us two or three attempts to clear our lines in a tense second half. Having scored early, it appeared our tactics were to hang on, which is a dangerous game at the best of times. It backfired today and as we wilted, Cheltenham to give them credit, did their job and eventually broke through. It was an agonising way to drop, with the knowledge that Scunthorpe had lost at Cambridge. Resultingly, next week will be a wake, with Donny already up and us already down. Let's hope they can pass on some tips about how to handle the Conference. I feel confident with the manager, coaching staff and squad in place, we can come back at the first attempt but it's going to be tough and it will involve nasty trips to Tamworth, Forest Green, Canvey Island and places like that. A chance for our fans to expand their footballing knowledge but an experience none of us wants to go through.