Disenchantment with Michael Knighton’s reign over the Cumbrians came to a head with last Saturday’s sacking of popular manager Roddy Collins and the apparent stalling of Knighton’s takeover negotiations with John Courtenay.

For a lot of supporters this was the final straw and they voted with their feet. An attendance of 3,080 had been bolstered by 1500 travelling Plymouth fans, anticipating the clinching of the Third Division title, to leave the club with the lowest turnout of Carlisle fans this season.

The protracted takeover negotiations took an acrimonious turn this week when Knighton claimed that Courtenay had failed to produce the necessary evidence that he has the funding available to complete the deal. Knighton also cited the issue as the main reason that the deal has taken so long to get to this stage.

Courtenay immediately refuted the allegations stating that at an early stage in the transaction Knighton had requested him to furnish a letter verifying his financial standing and this letter was provided immediately. Courtenay’s request for a retraction from Knighton was refused resulting in the issue of a writ alleging defamation of character to which Knighton responded with a writ alleging a breach of a confidentiality agreement.

The wrangling leaves the long suffering Cumbrian fans, who look for no more than a future for their club, in an extreme state of anxiety. Many feel that if the current takeover fails the future of the club will be in jeopardy.

On the pitch Carlisle’s young team predictably went down to the champions elect, Plymouth sealing their comfortable win with a goal in each half.

Marino Keith opened the scoring on 20 minutes when he latched onto a Michael Evans flick on to hammer a stunning volley past Peter Keen.

The second came eight minutes into the second half when Paul Wotton’s thirty yard free kick took a deflection off Richie Foran to give Keen no chance.

Although the Cumbrians were second best throughout Foran should have pulled a goal back late on after he beat three defenders only to pull his shot wide. Steve Halliday then squandered a great chance after rounding keeper Romain Larrieu.

Plymouth now go to Feethams on Monday night knowing that a win against Darlington will guarantee the Third Division Championship.

Acting manager Billy Barr was convinced that the protest action had unsettled his younger players and said after the game: “The adverse publicity surrounding the build up to the game didn’t help the younger players and some of the crowd who actually came into the ground got on their backs and it showed in their performance. These kids are in their first year as professionals and have all done well this season. If circumstances had been better some of them would ideally have not played as may games as we have been forced into. I would like the supporters to come back on Tuesday night and show their appreciation for what these players have achieved this season in very difficult circumstances.”

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