Carlisle boss Paul Simpson was proud of his side’s second-half performance as they held Wigan to a 1-1 draw at Brunton Park.The Cumbrians fell behind to former striker Charlie Wyke’s first-half finish for Latics, but Simpson was delighted with the response from his team.Carlisle equalised through Owen Moxon’s close-range finish.“I thought we were positive and energetic to...Full Story »

Paul Simpson said his Carlisle players let themselves down during Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup first-round defeat at Harrogate.Sam Folarin scored the only goal of the game from long range in the 23rd minute to leave the Sky Bet League One Cumbrians winless in eighth attempts against Simon Weaver’s Sulphurites.And Simpson, who made no fewer than four substitutions at half-time, was far...Full Story »

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson believes his side could have come away with more after they started life back in Sky Bet League One with a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood.Owen Moxon opened the scoring for the Cumbrians with a 30-yard free-kick, but it was cancelled out by Brendan Wiredu’s strike just before half-time.Both teams had chances to score the winner and Simpson was left to rue missed op...Full Story »

Overjoyed Carlisle boss Paul Simpson was happy for his players to head out and enjoy a beer following their dramatic 5-4 penalty shootout win over Stockport in the Sky Bet League Two play-off final.After the Wembley showdown ended 1-1 after 120 minutes, the Cumbrians held their nerve to score five faultless spot-kicks to seal promotion and return to League One after nine years away.“I&rsqu...Full Story »

Paul Simpson is “gutted” for Ben Barclay after the on-loan Stockport defender scored the goal that secured Carlisle’s 3-2 aggregate Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final win over Bradford.Barclay cannot play against his parent club who earlier in the day defeated Salford on penalties to reach Wembley themselves.Barclay headed home after Bradford threatened to send the tie to p...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson is relishing a play-off showdown with Bradford after his side’s 1-1 draw at Sutton secured them fifth place in League Two.The Cumbrians have limped into the top seven with just two wins from their final 11 games.Kylian Kouassi’s first-half effort was cancelled out by Joe Kizzi’s late own goal at Gander Green Lane.But Simpson’s side are now fully...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson was doubly delighted after earning bragging rights over Cumbrian neighbours Barrow with a 1-0 victory.As much as Simpson was pleased to complete the double over his side’s rivals for the first time since 1961, he was understandably more concerned with keeping in touch with third-placed Stevenage in the promotion race.Carlisle are one point behind Steve Evans&rsqu...Full Story »

Paul Simpson is not ready to concede defeat in Carlisle’s chase for a top-three finish despite a 2-2 draw with League Two promotion rivals Stockport County at Brunton Park.Jon Mellish and Owen Moxon each scored their sixth goals of the season in the second half to put the Cumbrians in front with seven minutes remaining.But the Hatters, who gained a 31st-minute lead through Myles Hippolyte,...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson is desperate for his players to bring about a change of fortune by “taking off the shackles” following a goalless draw at home to Northampton.The promotion rivals walked out for this fourth-tier match of the day to One Step Beyond by Madness.But Brunton Park certainly wasn’t the House of Fun for Simpson as his team drew its latest blank.Six times in t...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson refused to be downhearted despite seeing his side slip out of the League Two automatic promotion after being held to a 0-0 draw at 10-man Walsall.The Cumbrians failed to score for a fourth away game running despite playing the final half hour with a man advantage following Hayden White’s dismissal for a studs-up challenge on Jack Armer.They slipped to fourth as a...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson hailed the club’s superb support and urged the fans to keep coming after their 2-0 win over Tranmere.The biggest Cumbrian crowd since hosting Leeds back in 2007 – 13,410 – were treated to a Kristian Dennis brace as the hosts returned to the automatic promotion places in League Two with their first win in five.Dennis bagged his 19th and 20th goals of t...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson claimed his side produced their worst display of the season in the 1-0 loss at Gillingham.The Cumbrians failed to record a shot on target until the 80th minute but kept out a battling Gills side until the fourth minute of stoppage time.Shaun Williams’ last-gasp winner earned Gillingham a seventh victory in their last eight home games while Carlisle dropped to fou...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson enjoyed the show his side put on despite them playing out a second goalless draw in a few days.The Cumbrians moved back into the League Two automatic promotion places after picking up a point at Bradford, following on from their weekend stalemate against Stevenage.It maintained their five-point advantage over Mark Hughes’ side while moving them above Northampton ...Full Story »

Paul Simpson saw Carlisle fall out of the League Two automatic promotion places but insisted it was a point won rather than two dropped in their goalless draw with second-placed Stevenage.Yet Simpson believes several key decisions went against his side that might have tipped the outcome the Cumbrians’ way.First-half appeals for a penalty and a second-half call for a red card were rejected ...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson admitted he had settled for a draw at Swindon before Ryan Edmondson’s stoppage-time winner kept the second-placed Cumbrians flying high.Edmondson’s last-gasp header extended Carlisle’s winning run to four matches and maintained their grip on the automatic promotion places.Honest Simpson said: “You’ve just got to keep going right through to...Full Story »

Paul Simpson urged Carlisle fans to turn up the volume for the Cumbrians’ final push for automatic promotion.First-half goals from Leeds loanee Alfie McCalmont and Jordan Gibson took Simpson’s side up to second in League Two.And after a shaky opening half-hour they proved too strong for the Mariners, much changed from beating Southampton to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the fir...Full Story »

Paul Simpson heaped praise on his side for a “ruthless” display after Carlisle climbed to second in Sky Bet League Two with their biggest away win of the season.Carlisle marked Simpson’s first year back in charge in style with an eighth win in the last 12 games, 5-2 at Crawley.The Cumbrians raced into a 4-0 lead after only 38 minutes with goals from Joel Senior, Omari Patrick, ...Full Story »

Paul Simpson was pleased to see his promotion-chasing Carlisle side return to winning ways with a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Colchester in Sky Bet League Two.The Cumbrians’ winner at Brunton Park came in the fourth minute when Alfie McCalmont pounced to clinically fire a shot past Kieran O’Hara from just inside the Colchester area, after Connor Wood’s attempted header back f...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson was delighted to take a point from their trip to AFC Wimbledon despite all of their rivals at the top of League Two dropping points.An even first half at Plough Lane was punctuated by set-pieces as both goalkeepers did well from a barrage of corners.A more action-packed second half saw both teams force saves, and each traded near misses, most notably Josh Davison going...Full Story »

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson says his promotion-chasing side simply were not good enough as Paul Huntington’s late own goal saw them fall to a 1-0 loss at home to League Two strugglers Harrogate.The match looked destined to end in a goalless draw until the 82nd minute, when Huntington misjudged a pass back to goalkeeper Tomas Holy and sent the ball agonisingly across the line.Th...Full Story »