Goals from Callum Cooke and Jordan Bowery made it three wins on the spin for Crewe Alex at play-off chasing Carlisle United on Saturday.

The loan duo got a goal in either half as the Railwaymen kept three consecutive clean sheets for the first time since March 2012.

It was also the side’s third away win in a row, as former Crewe man Shaun Miller saw red for a dangerous tackle early in the second half.

The success has lifted Crewe to 17th in League Two, and 15 points from the relegation zone, as the 357 away fans celebrated another good afternoon for the club.

This period is going so badly for Carlisle United that events are now turning against them in other games, too. Example: Exeter score three goals in four minutes against Yeovil to send the Blues out of the play-off places.

That was the final punishment on another bruising day. The truth, though, is that the Grecians' turbo-charged comeback in Devon was irrelevant to United's plummeting season, whatever the table said.

Even had they clung onto seventh, the Blues would still have no right to be considered as contenders whilst this freefall continues. Seven games without a goal, and just the one point, is quite desperate form and what was most telling on Saturday was what you could hear through much of the second half.

Resignation, it felt like. There were a few boos, a handful of encouraging cheers, but also a pointed lack of rage against this latest scoreless defeat.

That is damning. It says United's slide has become the norm. Once they went behind to Crewe in the 34th minute another reasonable start became another dismal finish. Shaun Miller's dismissal, early in the second half, just topped it off.