Darren Kelly’s unlucky dismissal for an alleged deliberate hand ball appeared to have handed the initiative to Lincoln, but Roddy Collin’s side these days are nothing if not totally committed.

The Cumbrians’, stripped of the services of the influential central midfield partnership of Leon Osman and Mark Summerbell, turned to Mark Birch and Will McDonagh to fill the gap and they let nobody down.

The spirit in the side is now evident with their new found resilience producing their fourth consecutive win and only one defeat in their last eight games.

“This result was against the odds before kick-off, with number of personnel that we had missing”, said manager Roddy Collins after the game. “Great credit to Mark Birch who came in and hasn’t played for a while. He still has a broken toe and took painkillers but these kids are just unbelievable and they are becoming confident. Confidence is a great thing in football and they have confidence in their ability and confidence in each other. When Lincoln got back to 2-1 my biggest worry was we would panic but they coped very well and were very composed.”

Carlisle struggled to get into a rhythm early on and the better chances fell to Lincoln, Ben Sedgemore heading wide from Peter Gain’s cross and then firing wide after cutting in from the left.

With fifteen minutes gone Carlisle’s attacking threat finally materialised when Craig Farrell latched onto a weak Paul Morgan clearance, only to see his volley brilliantly tipped over the bar by Alan Marriott.

Seven minutes later Carlisle were down to ten men and facing a penalty. Brian Shelley failed to cut out Dean Cropper’s cross and Gain’s volley struck Kelly on the line with the assistant referee signalling a penalty for handball. The incident was certainly a case of the ball hitting the hand but referee Graham Salisbury then had little choice but to red card the unfortunate defender.

But more drama was to follow as Matty Glennon flung himself low to his left to beat out Sedgemore’s spot kick to make his second penalty save of the week.

The sending off increased Carlisle’s resolve as they dominated the rest of the half. Ryan Baldacchino saw a twenty yard shot tipped round the post by Marriott and Morgan came to Lincoln’s rescue twice blocking goalbound efforts from Birch and Baldacchino for corners.

The irrepressible Baldacchino was seeing plenty of the ball and he provided the eventual breakthrough on 56 minutes. He picked up the ball on the edge of the box, setting up Richie Foran to draw Marriott before slotting home.

Three minutes later Matty Glennon maintained Carlisle’s lead with a stunning series of saves. When Sedgemore’s header came back off the bar Glennon made a staggering save from Simon Yeo and then somehow turned to block Cropper’s shot before an offside flag came to the Cumbrians’ rescue.

Carlisle capitalised on their close escape, increasing their lead with 67 minutes gone. Brendan McGill ran from his own area before a precision pass put Farrell away and the on-loan Leeds striker took his chance to score his sixth goal in nine starts.

Marriott then tipped a McDonagh curler round the post before Lincoln pulled a goal back with three minutes remaining, Futcher heading home a Bimson corner.