CITY 0 CARLISLE 1

WHEN it comes to the greatest of great escapes, Carlisle will always possess the trump card.

The Jimmy Glass moment, when the keeper came up for a corner to score the injury-time goal that kept them in the Football League, is the mother of them all.

That is survival going down to the wire.

So, a team dipping to second-from-bottom on goal difference after 15 games – with one in hand as well – hardly compares for drama.

But try telling that to City fans now.

They woke up this morning to see their side occupying 23rd out of 24 clubs in League Two – 91st out of 92 in the whole football pyramid.

Bobby Moore had not even lifted the World Cup the last time City finished so low. They were one off the bottom in 1966, two months before some people were on the pitch at Wembley thinking it was all over.

It’s certainly far from over for Stuart McCall’s men – there is the small matter of 31 fixtures still to be played – but they can have few complaints with their current humiliating outlook.

A fifth straight defeat, three in a week at Valley Parade, and a growing concern about where the next point is coming from.

City under Peter Taylor briefly plunged to second-from-bottom in 2010 but then responded by winning four of their next five, including one 5-0.

What we’d give for a similar reaction. But as it stands, this team look woefully short of nous and belief at both ends of the pitch.

Goals have become a rare commodity – just as rare as clean sheets.

Another rare thing, up to Saturday, had been an away win in these fixtures.

Carlisle had not won at Valley Parade since 1975 – or 1951, if you’re just talking in the league.

The last visiting success for anyone came in August 1985 when City triumphed 2-1 at Brunton Park.

It still ranks as one of McCall’s most memorable games because it was the club’s first competitive outing after the fire.

A hugely emotional occasion when the spirit of the travelling fans inspired the players to victory.

Right now, there are no supporters in the ground to do anything.

Chris Beech, who is carrying out a remarkable job in transforming Carlisle’s fortunes, had stirred the pot pre-match by suggesting the empty stands were probably doing City a favour in their current predicament.

There was nobody “hurling their season tickets”, to borrow his phrase, as the team continue to plumb the depths.

But equally, you wonder whether City would be able to drift so listlessly through the closing stages – as they did once more after falling behind – if there was an angry audience demanding some value for their money.

Would even a socially-distanced 2,000 supporters back at their spiritual home accept such a half-hearted 45 minutes that saw them muster a single, sliced shot from Dylan Mottley-Henry that flew high into the Kop?

Would a proverbial rocket from disgruntled punters produce any less of a response than the lukewarm way City attempted to stave off yet another setback?

McCall has been backed by the club’s hierarchy with that one-year contract extension. It is a show of faith to give him time to rebuild and offer the stability that has been lacking since his last exit in February 2018.

But equally, in the results-driven business of football, there is no defence against a continued downward spiral.

We may be only a third of the way through the campaign but the worst-case scenario should not be ignored.

The nightmare prospect of becoming the first former Premier League club to slip into the National League - and the financial fall-out that would bring – is unimaginable.

However far off that might seem now, it is the ultimate horrific end game if City do not pull it round.

Lee Novak cannot come back quickly enough fit and firing; so too Billy Clarke and Gareth Evans, who has barely registered in a claret and amber shirt so far.

McCall needs all of those leading from the front – coupled with a constructive January window to fill the yawning gaps in the quality of his squad.

“We keep fighting” came the defiant message on the club’s social media channel on Friday night. How about when can they start?

This performance had all the hallmarks of a team floundering in relegation waters.

Carlisle were no great shakes themselves but still cruised to the points once they had broken the deadlock.

That’s another big problem for the Bantams. Heads go and shoulders slump once they concede.

For all the effort and hard work put in against Cheltenham four days earlier, once the Robins got in front there was almost an air of acceptance about the outcome.

This was the same. After a stop-start first half, it was a game for the taking.

Then Carlisle capitalised on a woeful blunder from Anthony O’Connor and City showed absolutely nothing in response.

Straws were clutched with the odd corner won. But Elliot Watt’s decent deliveries were not acted upon or even fought for.

Once again, the margin of defeat would have been greater but for Richard O’Donnell.

The skipper had been the busiest City player in the first half with three saves from Omari Patrick, one of the four ex-Bantams on display in blue.

Patrick, who appears to have bulked up since his Valley Parade days, mustered the only shots on target in a bitty 45 minutes spoiled by too many free-kicks and poor passes from both sides.

Referee Geoff Eltringham, who missed a naughty stamp on Callum Cooke because he was facing the other way, did not help the flow.

City produced one instance of inspiration as Connor Wood’s low corner picked out Watt with a rehearsed move. His sweeping finish from the edge of the box took a thin deflection to flick just wide.

They did have a big shout for an early penalty, claiming Clayton Donaldson was denied by a hand, but the clearest opportunity fell to Austin Samuels.

Paudie O’Connor nodded into his path six yards out but the young striker fluffed his volley and heads across West Yorkshire banged against TV screens, mobiles and laptops.

Carlisle came out for the second half with more purpose and we were soon back on familiar rocky ground.

Isaac Hayden should have done much better with a free header but, 10 minutes later, the Cumbrians had their lead.

City braced themselves for a long throw into the box but instead Carlisle went short to Furman.

He cut inside and whipped in a low cross which Anthony O’Connor appeared to almost jump over as he got in a tangle trying to clear with the wrong foot.

The ball scooted through the home ranks to an unsuspecting Rhys Bennett to convert at the far post.

While McCall continues to bat away calls to sign free agents, he was undone by a previously-unattached centre half who had only joined Carlisle last month after leaving Peterborough in the summer.

After that there was, well, nothing really. Nothing going towards the Kop anyway.

O’Donnell, meanwhile, saved from Josh Kayode twice, Danny Devine enjoying his Valley Parade return, and Gime Toure. Carlisle top scorer Jon Mellish also blazed over when well placed.

The table, sadly, does not lie.