Passes going astray at an alarming rate contributed to a forgettable feast of mediocrity until referee Mark Warren intervened to ensure a riveting final twenty minutes. He awarded Carlisle a dubious penalty and reduced the Swans to ten men just to add a little spice to a game that was heading for a bore draw.

Lee Jenkins was adjudged to have kept Richie Foran’s lob out with his hand, when in all reality it looked as if Paul Raven had bundled into the Swansea defender on the goal line.

When Warren’s whistle went Raven was quick to plead his innocence only to find to his surprise that the referee had blown for a penalty. And after further discussion with his assistant, Warren red carded the unfortunate Jenkins.

Craig Farrell strode up to stroke a confident penalty into the bottom corner only to have his nerve tested to the extreme when Foran encroached into the box and forced the kick to be retaken. But Farrell held his nerve to smash his second attempt into the opposite corner.

The atmosphere immediately turned ugly and play was held up for seven minutes while order was restored after Swansea fans attempted to tear down barriers to get onto the pitch.

Brendan McGill then extended the lead in the last minute before John Williams pulled a goal back for the home side deep into stoppage time.

Manager Roddy Collins was pleased to get all three points and said: “This was not a life and death situation, with ten games to go, as people were building it up to be. It would have been nice to come down here and not lose but to come and get the win was acceptable and I was happy with that. I felt the game was going nowhere and it looked like a banker for a nil all draw. But we got the penalty and I thought the referee was very brave and made the right decision. We then get two nil up and crumbled. If they had got their goal five minutes earlier it would have been the worst finish to a game I had ever been involved in. It was an intimidating atmosphere but it was a great result and we’ve taken three points.”

In the second minute Brad Maylett dispossessed Adam Rundle on the halfway line but ended his run with a shot over the bar. Stuart Green then had a chance presented to him by Rundle’s layoff only to shoot over.

Jon McCarthy rescued the Cumbrians on 21 minutes with a goal line block from an O’Leary header before getting forward himself to head over a Murphy cross.

The hard working McCarthy managed to wriggle his way clear on the right to cross to Farrell whose shot on the turn was palmed away for a corner by Neil Cutler.

A minute before the break a Martinez snap shot from the edge of the box had Matty Glennon scrambling to save at the second attempt.

The first half had little to enthuse over but the second half deteriorated further until Farrell and McGill appeared to have put the game out of reach of Swansea.

But Williams’ goal six minutes into stoppage time had Carlisle nerves jangling. Glennon tipped over a Thomas free kick followed by a hectic goalmouth scramble from another Thomas free kick after Raven pulled Thomas down on the edge of the box.