Stevenage play Carlisle United for the 21st time this Saturday...
The first meeting between the two sides came back in 2005, a 2-1 win for Boro at Brunton Park in which Darryn Stamp scored twice. In a strange twist of fate, the Referee that day is also the same Referee for Saturday's game.
Although Stevenage did the double over the Cumbrians that season, after another 2-1 at Broadhall Way, it was Carlisle United who had the last laugh, coming out on top with a 1-0 in the Conference Play-Off Final at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium.
Six seasons later, once Boro won promotion to League One, the two sides met again, resulting in another 1-0 defeat for Stevenage, this time at Brunton Park. Boro got their revenge with a reverse 1-0 win in the April Hertfordshire sunshine, as Graham Westley's side continued another Play-Off run.
For the next two seasons, the Club's battled in League One before both were relegated to the fourth tier in 2014, where they have remained since.
As fourth tier teams, it was the Cumbrians that enjoyed the better of things with four wins from the first five meetings between 2014 and 2016, but since 2017 it is Stevenage that have began to string together some positive results.
Boro have won 3, drawn 2 and lost just once - the most recent match between the sides - in their last six games against Carlisle, including back-to-back victories at Brunton Park. In September 2017, goals from Tom Pett and Ben Kennedy helped Boro to a 2-0 win, before Kennedy again was on the scoresheet almost a year to the day later, to secure a 1-0 victory.
Alex Revell and his players will be hoping to make it a third successful trip North in a row this Saturday when the two sides face again. The overall head-to-head record currently stands at seven wins for Stevenage, four draws and nine wins for Carlisle.
