CARLISLE 0 CITY 0

GARY Bowyer’s name was being sung into the chilly Cumbrian air as the final whistle sounded on this Boxing Day deadlock.

But it was not in a good way that the 1,523-strong travelling City army were serenading their manager.

The frustration at a third away draw on the bounce against teams hovering round the wrong end of League Two boiled over with loud criticism of the team’s approach.

It might have been different had Paudie O’Connor not skied the glorious opportunity that fell at his feet with only a few minutes to go.

Instead, the Irishman was left staring at the heavens in disbelief and the West Yorkshire chorus were letting rip as another couple of points drifted away.

As cures for Christmas hangovers go, sitting through another re-run of Sound of Music would have been preferable to this.

For all the talk of bucking up the away record, it felt like a case of the “same old” following on from Plymouth, Macclesfield and Leyton Orient.

Patience off the field is clearly growing thin.

The sickness bug that has been hanging over the Valley Parade squad for more than a week had claimed another victim as Jake Reeves missed out.

It was a blow for the midfielder, who has made such an impressive return from his long injury exile.

His absence meant a first start since the end of September for Matty Palmer after his knee injury.

James Vaughan and Adam Henley were fit to return to the bench after being laid low for the Salford draw. Zeli Ismail was ruled out for the same reason – his sub’s spot was taken by Jordan Gibson, another player to have missed a chunk of the campaign already as a casualty.

But Bowyer was forced into another late reshuffle when Harry Pritchard, who was due to be captain, dropped out just before the game. Chris Taylor was hastily summoned to the starting line-up in his place.

Bowyer had thrown down the pre-match gauntlet for City to improve away form that had last seen them win on their travels in mid-October at Morecambe.

With no win since November 2, Carlisle appeared to be the obvious opponents to put that right.

Recent history, though, was not on City’s side – they hadn’t won in their previous five visits or even scored in the last three. Neither of those sorry statistics were to change.

Dylan Connolly, starting up front again, tried to put the record straight early on but his solo effort lacked the power to trouble keeper Adam Collin.

Aramide Oteh then seized on a slip by highly-rated teenager Jarrad Branthwaite but Collin was down to save again.

But the best chance to get City on the scoreboard early fell to Paudie O’Connor after 18 minutes. Taylor won a free-kick wide out and Palmer swung it into the mix where the centre half flashed a free header past the far post.

Following on from Salford, it was another juicy opportunity spurned by a City defender.

Carlisle, having rolled over at Colchester five days earlier, were showing much more about them and the home crowd appreciated their pressing.

Like Leyton Orient in City’s previous away game, they were encouraged by the way the visitors seemed happy to sit back at times.

Carlisle’s growing belief almost brought a reward on half an hour as left back Gethin Jones broke forward before Nathan Thomas whistled one just wide from 20 yards.

Paudie O’Connor then let a ball over the top go and just recovered in time when he realised Hallam Hope was lurking.

A brief chorus of “4-4-2” from the away end was disrupted as Taylor picked off a wayward pass from Canice Carroll and broke forward unchallenged. With Carlisle backing off, he pinged a shot off the post with Collin beaten.

Thomas carried the main threat for the hosts and squeezed off another shot wide from just outside the box despite heavy City attention.

As half-time approached, Connor Wood tried to catch out Collin from way out.

His ambitious thump kicked up awkwardly as the keeper made a sprawling save and Collin had to be up quickly to thwart Oteh from the rebound.

City had looked the most likely to end the stalemate, although only from outside the box. It had been another flat half on the road as the teams went in deadlocked at the break.

The second half opened in scrappy fashion but there was a glimmer of excitement when Palmer’s angled pass picked out Wood on the overlap. Connolly, though, saw his shot on the turn blocked off.

The increasingly-frustrated away end used the break for Carlisle to make their first sub to launch a loud chorus criticising Bowyer’s style of play.

It seemed to lift the atmosphere and the game as Callum Cooke forced Collin into a good save before Branthwaite beat Oteh to the loose ball.

Carlisle responded with virtually their first dangerous foray into the box. Former Blade Stefan Scougall wriggled into a shooting position but Richard O’Donnell, City’s captain for the day, stood strong to block.

As the contest began to open up, Paudie O’Connor’s flick from a Palmer corner went unrewarded, with no team-mate close enough to pick up the scraps inside the six-yard box.

Then Carlisle sub Harry McKirdy got in behind Anthony O’Connor but O’Donnell again came to City’s rescue with an outstretched left leg.

Back came City as Wood’s driven cross was flicked by Oteh against the top of the bar. Still they could not find that elusive opener.

Bowyer replaced Connolly with Shay McCartan with 20 minutes left, a swap that brought a few away boos, before City were knocking on the door again as Collin batted away Kelvin Mellor’s blast.

Vaughan’s late entry into the action earned a raucous cheer from the City stand – and his presence should have created the goal Bowyer’s side were desperate for.

He challenged Branthwaite for a Palmer cross and the ball suddenly dropped at Paudie O’Connor’s feet seven yards from a gaping goal.

But the Irishman blazed over – and stood holding his head in utter disbelief. It was a huge miss in the catalogue of chances that have gone begging in recent games.