The Firsts were more competitive at Warwick Road only to gift at least three tries to the relegation threatened opposition.

Back at Brinkburn the Stags had donated five of their regulars to that effort. They were hit even harder by late cry-offs from the experienced and powerful duo of Ben Lloyd and Tom Shaw and going down to their promotion rivals 69-12.

Back row Aaron Muir and winger Curtis Ross made their first team debuts in Cumbria against a side fighting to stay in Regional 2 North and which battled throughout.

West had a very unfamiliar pack including a back row of Jay Corbett, Peter Youll and Chris Atkins,  but started brightly with  play contained in the home 22 for the first quarter of an hour.

With home centre Freddie Rawlings in the sin bin for a no-arms tackle  which stopped Andrew Rollins as he was headed for the corner,  it looked only a matter of time before the visitors got  the scoreboard ticking.

Instead,  a dropped ball in front of the home posts saw inside centre Euan Forlow hack the ball upfield. He was then quick enough to outpace the West defence to go in under the posts.

Shell-shocked West then failed to stop prop Josh Holmes, a thorn in their side all afternoon,  as he took the restart to burst through the tackles up the left wing. When he was eventually brought down  the support was there with hooker Matt Tomkins going over from close range.

Scrum half Vince Lung missed the conversion but, with his side still down to 14 , their hopes of avoiding relegation had been given the boost which had seemed unlikely in the opening stag

West did come back from Jay Corbett (above),  who was playing in the unaccustomed role of blindside. Carlisle were being penalised frequently and this time the kick to the corner paid off with Corbett unstoppable from five metres  - Matt Siddle taking the score to 12-7.

And things got better on the half-hour when a patient build up  opened a gap in the home defence for Will Hilditch to glide over - Siddle's conversion giving the visitors a two point lead. It wasn’t to last with  a successful penaltyfor the home side after Charlie Kay was penalised for holding on. That was followed by another charging run from Holmes who broke three tackles as he picked  up from a tap penalty to go in from outside the  22.

That try gave Carlisle a 22-14 half time lead ,but it was still by no means clear who would eventually take the points.

However,  the game did take a massive turn in unusual circumstances  a few minutes  into the second half. Another penalty kick to the corner saw West move the ball out to the right with most of the forwards involved in trying to force their way over. Back in the corner Holmes and West  prop Jack Angus were involved in a discussion  - presumably over what had gone on after the line-out.  While several players from both sides tried  to calm them down  Andrew Rollins was getting on with scoring West’s third try beside the posts (right) Unfortunately , that didn’t stop the two props from continuing their verbal dispute, and when referee Adam Morrison turned from awarding the try he saw Angus throwing a punch. It didn’t connect but the red card was inevitable. So West were back in the game at 22-21 down,  but reduced to 14 men and the  home side took their chance.

A catch and drive saw flanker Jame Brocket get his side a try bonus point. The game was the effectively over just before the  hour with No 8 Lloyd Clark finishing off a move in the left corner.

West continued to fight and a 40 metre break from Matt Siddle saw him kick ahead with a knock-on giving his side a five metre scrum.  Carlisle managed to clear the danger,  which led to another touchline scuffle and Charlie Kay and Carlisle’s Robbie Purdon off to the bin.

Rollins did get over again.  However, he was judged to have been held up and when the drop-out went straight out the visitors were given another chance with the five-metre scrum. However, it summed up West’s day when they were penalised at the scrum, followed by another penalty at the resulting line-out and then another for holding on.

That got Carlisle back in to the West half as the clock ticked down. The proof it was their day came with the last move as a clearing kick down the middle was snapped up, followed by a smart finish from winger Rhys Callaghan to end the scoring.

There’s a two week break now to regroup before the final league games which promises to be another dramatic one. Middlesbrough will arrive in top spot , but only by virtue of a points difference of just 9 over Northern who travel to Consett.

Carlisle: Lewis Tingey, Rhys Callaghan, Freddie Rawling, Euan Forlow, Jonathan Park, Jake Whittaker, Vince Kung, Josh Holmes, Matt Tomkins, Finn Kennedy, Rory Parish, Alfie Batty, James Brocket, Robert Prudham, Lloyd Clark.

Reps (all used): George Tunicliife, Tyler Callaghan, Bobby Rawling.

Tries: Forlow, Tomkins, Holmes, Brocket, Clark, Callaghan

Cons: Lung (2)

Pen: Lung.

Yellow: Rawlings, Purdon.

West: Ben Reed, Curtis Ross, Will Hilditch, Ollie Connolly, Jacob Wood, Matt Siddle, Matt Baggs, Jack Angus, Andrew Rollins, Asam Hutchinson, Jonny Wray, Charlie Kay, Jay Corbett, Peter Youll, Chris Atkins.

Rep (used): Aaron Muir

Tries: Corbett, Hilditch, Rollins.

Cons: Siddle (3)

Red: Angus. Yellow: Kay.

Referee: Adam Morrison (Northumberland).