Carlisle 1 : 0 Cheltenham Town - Wyke wins it for Cumbrians

Posted Wednesday, March 04, 2015 by PA

A first-half goal from Charlie Wyke enabled Carlisle to win a tense relegation tussle 1-0 and send Cheltenham back into the bottom two in League Two.

With both sides desperate for the points there was a definite edginess about the game and the result came as a relief for Carlisle after a run of four straight defeats.

Robins' goalkeeper Trevor Carson had to stretch to tip an early Steven Rigg header over the crossbar while at the other end Troy Brown steered a shot straight into the arms of Dan Hanford from inside the area after latching on to a Matt Richards free-kick.

The breakthrough came on the half-hour when Antony Sweeney headed Patrick Brough's free-kick back across the face of goal and Wyke was in the right place to bundle the ball home from six yards. It was the former Middlesbrough striker's fifth goal in six games.

A tremendous block by Brown kept out Sweeney's shot before Cheltenham came within an inch of grabbing an equaliser midway through the second half as the home defence failed to clear the ball and Sean O'Hanlon got back on the line to scramble Matt Taylor's low shot clear.

Carlisle had some late defending to do as Cheltenham battled to the end and skipper Taylor sent their best chance wide when given a free header in the box deep into added time.