Hartlepool United earned a hard-fought point against local rivals Carlisle United. In a game that saw few clear-cut chances, both sides played good football at times, but neither could find a breakthrough.
Carlisle started the game strongly, dominating possession before Graeme Lee's side started to get a foothold. David Ferguson's early cross into the box almost found Carver, but the Carlisle 'keeper sniffed it out. Ferguson then had a shot of his own blocked in a half of few chances. Towards the end of the half, Carver was set through on goal, but the angle was against him and the forward fired wide.
After the interval, Carlisle came out of the blocks fastest, putting pressure on the Pools backline. A Neill Byrne header went wide of the post before Pools' best chance of the game. The ball was pulled back to Ferguson, but his low strike hit the goalkeeper and cannoned off the crossbar before going safe.
Joe Grey replaced Luke Molyneux for the closing stages, but his endeavour couldn't fashion a good chance and, despite a goalmouth scramble, the game ended goalless.
#Pools XI: Killip, Ogle, Byrne, Liddle, Odusina, Ferguson, Featherstone, Crawford (Shelton) , Holohan, Molyneux (Grey), Carver (Cullen)
SUBS: Boyes, Hendrie, Hull, Shelton, Smith, Grey, Cullen