Carlisle United 1 Bristol Rovers 1

Bristol Rovers might not have made any tangible progress up the Coca-Cola League One table last week, but there are other ways of looking at a decent enough return from their tough trips to Oldham and Carlisle.

The Pirates clocked up almost 1,000 miles in five days travelling to and from away games at Boundary Park and Brunton Park – that's around 250 miles per point

"At the start of the week we'd probably have taken four points from the two games," acknowledged Pirates' midfielder Chris Lines.

"And if anyone deserved to win this one, it was us."

That was certainly true, for after being forced to weather an early bombardment from Carlisle – who went ahead thanks to a spectacular long-range strike from experienced player-coach Graham Kavanagh – the visitors had by far the better chances once Jeff Hughes had put them back on level terms nine minutes later.

In fact, after their early breakthough, the Cumbrians failed to muster another attempt on goal until the latter stages of the game as Rovers took control.

The way the Brunton Park regulars were howling their disapproval was an acknowledgement of the visitors' superiority for much of the match.

It had looked like being a different story over the opening stages as Carlisle answered their manager Greg Abbott's call for a lightning start by forcing four corners in the first three minutes.

Rovers were hard-pressed to keep them at bay, and their resistance was broken when Kavanagh blasted a wind-assisted 30-yarder into the top corner.

To their credit, Rovers hit back promptly when Ryan Green found Jeff Hughes inside the penalty area. The winger stumbled as he tried to bring the ball under control, but then regained his composure.

And with Carlisle's defence wrongfooted, the Northern Irishman found space to drill home his eighth goal of the campaign from six yards.

Rovers had chances to add to their tally before the interval, but Rickie Lambert sent a low header wide from a quickly-taken Stuart Campbell free-kick and Hughes failed to convert a one-on-one chance three minutes before the interval after being sent clear by Darryl Duffy, keeper Ben Williams making a low save.

The visitors had a tight grip on the game and that threatened to turn into a stranglehold over the opening stages of the second period as a host of good chances came and went.

Lines shot over the top on the turn from six yards after latching on to a Green throw-in, then Duffy's volley from 20 yards looked to be looping into the net, only for Williams to brilliantly fingertip it over the bar.

Top scorer Lambert's overall contribution was useful, but his scoring touch uncharacteristically absent. Twice he nodded off target with headers from corners, and twice he saw attempts cleared virtually off the line – once by Peter Murphy, the second time by Tony Kane.

It wasn't until the final quarter that Carlisle started to seriously threaten again with Michael Bridges and Scott Dobie missing decent chances before Cleveland Taylor blasted wastefully over the top from 12 yards.

But a winner for the Cumbrians would have been more than they deserved on the balance of play and it was the Pirates who could justifiably claim to have been the better of the two sides on the day.

"They were all over us in the first 10 minutes and we were just trying to get through it. But unfortunately the ball fell to Kavanagh and he put it in the top corner – that's what he's been doing all his career, which is why he's played at the top level," said Lines.

"But then Jeff scored a great goal for us and was unlucky not to get a second one.

"We've had some great results away from home recently and we look at the defeat by Leicester in our last home match as a blip. I think most people would agree we should have got a point from it anyway.

"Everybody's buzzing at the moment and this is a good time to put a run together when we are playing so many matches.

"If we can keep getting four points a week, we'll soon be right up there."

Now the challenge for the Pirates will be to translate their form on the road into a good return from home games against Brighton and Leeds.

"Brighton lost 4-0 at home at the weekend which means they will want to put in a performance against us – although it also suggests they are vulnerable at the back. Because of our goalscoring record, we will go into it with great confidence," Lines added.

"Our away record recently has been really good so if we can follow it up with a couple of good results at home, anything can happen."