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Three minutes later and Kane sent a long ball down the right which Richard Offiong latched onto and took down well only to lob right-footed weakly wide across goal from the edge of the box. In the 12th minute Manny Richardson had a half-chance when Gavin Rothery put a cross in from the right, the ball was slightly behind Richardson though and his 12-yard header lacked power as it went straight into the hands of Chris Maxwell.
Rothery shortly afterwards breaking across the box from left to right before cutting a shot back just wide of the near-post from 18 yards out. With 17 minutes on the clock Offiong looked to have been denied a clear penalty when his shirt was pulled back by Wrexham right-back Curtis Obeng. That being the last action of the match for Obeng as he was replaced moments later, due to a mouth injury, by Jon Hunt, Kai Edwards now moving into the visitors back line.
After Maxwell had spent the majority of the first 20 minutes chucking back at the dugout what he thought were underpumped footballs, play started to hit a busy spell. Jamie McCluskey first sticking a cross in from the left for the Red Dragons which Hunt volleyed left-footed over the top from just inside the Carlisle penalty area.
Shortly afterwards and Richardson made a good run into the Wrexham box before seeing his close range shot deflected away from the target. Offiong then in the 23rd minute being fouled by Edwards in the middle of the visitors 'D', Kane stepping up to smack a shot in from the set-piece only to see it ping away off the Wrexham wall.
Two minutes later and from a similar situation up the other end, following a penalised Steven Swinglehurst challenge on Matty Wolfenden, the Red Dragons striker dusted himself down and curled the free-kick away right-footed past the Carlisle far-post. United goalkeeper Mark Gillespie then having his first save to make in the 27th minute when McCluskey set up Neil Taylor for a take down and 18-yard volley that was caught low down by the Blues stopper.
Moments later and it was United attacking when Davison, from a position of no backlift, curled a right-footer wide of the back-stick from 22 yards out. Bang on the half-hour mark and Richardson laid off possession to Rothery for a shot from the edge of the box that was easily held by Maxwell. McCluskey for the Red Dragons then five minutes later being a little unlucky with a 25-yard effort that flew high across goal and inches wide of Gillespie's right-hand post.
Sixty seconds afterwards and Hunt committed a daft foul when he pulled back Offiong's shirt out on the left wing, the Wrexham man rightly being booked by Morpeth referee Paul Curry for the infringement. Richardson then in the 37th minute, as he looked about Carlisle's only real attacking option, shooting powerfully but straight at Maxwell from 20 yards out.
Four minutes before half-time and Swinglehurst brought down visitors striker Obi Anoruo right on the edge of the United 'D', Arron Brown then thumping the free-kick left-footed straight into the Carlisle wall and also being left disappointed as his penalty appeals for handball were waved away. The last chance of the half coming in the 43rd minute when McCluskey played in Taylor again, Taylor though hitting his half-volley over the top from long range.
Wrexham were putting some nice passing moves together at times but it was a little like watching paint dry as they spent big lumps of the game passing the ball around their back four. One of their spells did finally result in an attack in the 53rd minute though, with the eventual ending being Wolfenden shooting wide of the Carlisle near-post from 15 yards out.
Three minutes later and Anoruo played in Nathan Fairhurst for a right-footed half-volley from just inside the United box that went wide of the target. Carlisle then, in a rare second-half foray forward, having Rothery put a corner in which Maxwell, not for the first time flapped at, before Offiong saw a shot blocked on the loose ball.
The Red Dragons were mainly on top now though and moments later Wolfenden sent a 15-yard right-footed drive across goal but wide of the target. Swinglehurst had a good game at the back for the Blues but he did have a rush of blood in the 64th minute when he was booked for a rash challenge on Adrian Cieslewicz.
Midway through the period and Hunt stuck a cross in from the right but Taylor failed to take a reasonable chance when he headed it over the top from the middle of the Carlisle penalty area. Fairhurst then after 69 minutes making a good run through the middle of the park only to pull his 20-yard right-footed effort wide of Gillespie's right-hand post.
The Cumbrians then making two substitutions in the space of two minutes with two midfield changes as James Wood and Sean Law came on for Rothery and Jonny Blake respectively, Blake having been struggling a little with illness before the game. Law quickly involved in the match when he struck in a shot from the edge of the visitors box that was deflected away from danger.
With 79 minutes gone McCluskey knocked a corner about 30 yards backwards in a bizarre move that ended up in Fairhurst launching a poor right-footed shot into the Waterworks End from that long distance. Wrexham going closer from a McCluskey corner two minutes later though as his back-post delivery saw Edwards heading weakly low on goal from eight yards out, Gillespie then able to make an easy catch on his line.
McCluskey was again involved in the 83rd minute when he fed possession into Cieslewicz, the Polish midfielder though seeing his well hit right-footed drive from the edge of the Carlisle box expertly parried away by Gillespie. United missing the best chance to score late on two minutes later however when, from a lovely Davison floated cross, an unmarked Law headed back across goal but wide from the middle of the Wrexham penalty area.
The last action on either goalmouth happening two minutes from time when Cieslewicz shot over the top of Gillespie's crossbar from 22 yards out. So, defences on top was the order of the day, both Tom Aldred and Steven Swinglehurst having good games at centre-half for the Blues. The lack of quality going forward, bar flashes from Richardson, being a bit worrying at the other end of the pitch though.
United line-up :
Mark Gillespie, Tony Kane (c), Simon Lakeland, Steven Swinglehurst, Tom Aldred, Gavin Rothery (James Wood 75), Jonny Blake (Sean Law 77), Liam Davison, Manny Richardson, Richard Offiong, Conor Tinnion.
Unused substitutes :
Jon Ball (GK) and Jamie Cleary.
Wrexham line-up :
Chris Maxwell (c), Curtis Obeng (Jon Hunt 18), Arron Brown, Kai Edwards, Sam Williamson, Nathan Fairhurst, Neil Taylor, Adrian Cieslewicz, Obi Anoruo, Matty Wolfenden, Jamie McCluskey.
Unused substitutes :
Simon Brown, Jamie Morton, Ed Moss and Louis Moss.
Referee - Paul Curry (Morpeth).
Attendance - 40.
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