Darrell Clarke admitted his Cheltenham side are “falling at the last hurdle” in their survival bid after they went down 1-0 at home to already-relegated Carlisle.

Sam Lavelle’s first-half goal was enough to seal the points for the Cumbrians, whose fate was sealed by a 2-0 defeat at Northampton last Saturday.

Cheltenham knew a win would lift them out of the bottom four for the first time since mid-August, but they came up short and Clarke admitted he is scratching his head over the performance.

“I am very disappointed with our performance and with the whole night,” Clarke said.

“Yet again, after a poor first half, I am searching for answers and I am not coming up with the right solutions at the minute.

“The group is lacking a bit of confidence, but it’s no excuse and I’ll take responsibility as manager.

“We are falling at the last hurdle as things stand, and that’s not acceptable after working so hard to give ourselves a platform to stay in this division.

“I have to get better, the group has to get better as well and we have to give our supporters a lift come 3pm on Saturday (at home to Bristol Rovers).”

Carlisle were the better side during a cagey first half.

Joe Nuttall missed a good opportunity to give Cheltenham the lead in the sixth minute, side-footing wide after Liam Sercombe’s pass.

Georgie Kelly saw a shot saved by Luke Southwood at the other end and Luke Armstrong fired wide of the near post.

Jack Armer blasted over the bar for the Cumbrians, but the deadlock was broken three minutes before half-time.

Jack Robinson’s corner was headed back across goal by Ben Barclay and Lavelle touched it in from close range.

Cheltenham sent on four substitutes at half-time and changed formation, resulting in some early pressure on the visitors’ goal.

But goalkeeper Harry Lewis was rarely troubled and Southwood had to fly at full stretch to keep out a looping effort from Jon Mellish in the 77th minute.

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson was pleased with his side’s attitude.

“It was one of those games where we had to roll our sleeves up, put our tin hats on and defend for our lives and that’s what we did,” he said.

“I was really pleased with so many things in what has been a tough time for us.

“It was a good goal and then we had to hang on because Cheltenham are fighting for their lives.

“It’s a good result and makes the journey home more enjoyable. I’m still adamant I want the players to do something now at home for our fans as they’ve been starved of a good 90 minutes. We now have two home games to do that.

“It’s been really painful what we’ve been through this year, but the truth is we just haven’t been good enough.

“I think the players who are still here next year will be better for the experience.”

Sam Lavelle’s first-half goal earned already-relegated Carlisle a 1-0 victory at Cheltenham, denting the home side’s survival bid.

Cheltenham knew a win would lift them out of the bottom four in League One for the first time since mid-August, but Carlisle were the better side during a cagey first half.

Joe Nuttall missed a good opportunity to give Cheltenham the lead in the sixth minute, side-footing wide after Liam Sercombe’s pass.

Georgie Kelly saw a shot saved by Luke Southwood at the other end and Luke Armstrong fired wide of the near post.

Jack Armer blasted one over the bar for the Cumbrians, but the deadlock was broken three minutes before half-time.

Jack Robinson’s corner was headed back across goal by Ben Barclay and Lavelle touched it in from close range.

Cheltenham sent on four substitutes at half-time and changed formation, resulting in some early pressure on the visitors’ goal.

But goalkeeper Harry Lewis was rarely troubled and Southwood had to fly at full stretch to keep out a looping effort from Jon Mellish in the 77th minute.

Chris Wilder watched Sheffield United draw 2-2 at Bournemouth, then praised them for bouncing back from the heavy loss to Arsenal.

The Blades looked to be heading for only their second away win of the season as goals from Gustavo Hamer and captain Jack Robinson gave them a 2-0 lead in Dorset.

However, Bournemouth netted twice in the last 16 minutes through Dango Ouattara and Enes Unal to rescue a Premier League point.

Wilder, whose team were beaten 6-0 at home by the Gunners, said: “We rolled over on Monday so any sort of result today off the back of what happened would have been a good a good result and we’ve got that.

“We are off the bottom and it was like a war zone at the end, with bodies everywhere. Everybody had cramp.

“I said this morning that the players needed to show more and that it was about attitude over ability.

“The narrative from everybody is that we are done and I don’t think that was the case today. We just have to fight and battle away for it and who knows what happens between now and the end of the season?

He continued: “We have to just keep going and look at that next performance. We have got nine or 10 games left, that’s a quarter of the season.

“Hopefully this will give us a little bit more belief going into the next home game.”

In a pulsating game where the two teams racked up 45 shots between them, Bournemouth were awarded a penalty with just 14 minutes played after Tom Davies clumsily brought down Dominic Solanke from behind.

Solanke stepped up in search of his 15th Premier League goal of the season but lost his footing just as he was about to address the ball,  ballooning it over the crossbar off his standing left foot.

The home side’s misery was compounded when United took the lead against the run of play in the 27th minute as Hamer fired into the roof off the net after Jaydon Bogle’s initial effort had been parried out by Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto.

In the 64th minute Neto punched a corner against Solanke’s back, sending the ball kindly into the path of Robinson at the far post and the centre-back fired home off the inside off the post.

The luckless Solanke had a close-range goal ruled out for his handball following a VAR review, but they did pull a goal back 16 minutes from time when Ouattara was left totally unmarked to head in Ryan Christie’s corner from four yards.

Unal then rifled home at the far post in the first minute of added time to claim his first goal in English football and break the Blades’ hearts after they had failed to properly clear a corner.

Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola said: “I don’t think it was a good result for us. We wanted the three points.

“We finished the game a lot stronger than they did and created some chances but could not get the third goal.”

Enes Unal came off the bench to score his first Premier League goal in stoppage time as Bournemouth fought back from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to relegation-haunted Sheffield United.

Strikes from Gustavo Hamer and captain Jack Robinson looked to have earned the struggling Blades only their second away win of the season.

However, goals from substitutes Dango Ouattara and Unal in the final 16 minutes earned the hosts a point from a pulsating game in Dorset.

The Cherries were awarded a spot-kick with just 14 minutes played after Tom Davies clumsily swept Dominic Solanke off his feet.

Solanke stepped up in search of his 15th Premier League goal of the season but lost his footing just as was about to address the ball and ballooned it over the crossbar off his standing left foot.

The Cherries were then thwarted by an excellent 25th minute save from Ivo Grbic, who turned away Antoine Semenyo’s low shot from the edge of the 18-yard box.

The visitors took the lead against the run of play two minutes later courtesy of Hamer’s fourth goal of the campaign.

Hamer set Jaydon Bogle free down the right and when his initial shot was beaten away by Neto the former Coventry playmaker was on hand to fire the rebound into the roof of the Bournemouth net.

Croatian Grbic made another superb save to push Semenyo’s powerful close-range header from a Ryan Christie cross behind for a corner,

In first half stoppage time Neto saved awkwardly from Tom Davies’ header, before McBurnie nodded straight at the home goalkeeper from a corner.

Bournemouth started the second half on the front foot in search of an equaliser and Christie should have done better five minutes after the restart than firing over after good footwork from Marcus Tavernier had create the opportunity.

Neto had to be on alert to push wide Oliver Arblaster’s cross-cum shot but it was the goalkeeper’s mistake from the resulting corner that helped United double their lead in the 64th minute.

Neto punched the corner against Solanke’s back, sending the ball kindly into the path of Robinson at the far post and the Blades captain fired home off the inside off the post, with the goal decision system showing it had crossed the line before the Bournemouth goalkeeper clawed it away.

Bournemouth thought they were back in the game moments later but the luckless Solanke’s close-range effort was ruled out for a handball by the England international following a lengthy VAR review.

They did pull a goal back 16 minutes from time when Ouattara was left totally unmarked to head in Christie’s corner from four yards.

And after Ouattara missed a free header, Turkey international Unal rifled home at the far post in the first minute of added time to break the Blades’ hearts and deny them two points.