United Reserves 3-0 Bury Reserves

Carlisle went into this dead rubber with a mixture of youth and experience and two trialists left over from the draw with Burnley, those being Gavin Rothery and Lewis Smith, with Chris Fagan not having been invited back. Bury meanwhile, facing three second-string games in three days, sent up a youth team squad that had only four substitutes, all of those coming from their under-16s side. The Blues lining up at kick-off as follows :


Kevin Gall - Danny Carlton

Connor Tinnion - Paul Thirlwell - Gavin Rothery - Luke Joyce

Zigor Aranalde - Matt Duffy - Lewis Smith - Jonny Blake

Grant Carson


Unsurprisingly given the relative strengths of the two sides it was pretty much one-way traffic throughout. Carlisle opening the scoring as early as the second minute when Gall's lobbed ball in from the left found Carlton totally unmarked in the middle of the Bury penalty area. Carlton still having time to take a quick touch before thumping a right-footed shot past Shakers keeper Aaron Grundy and into the far top corner of the net.

Danny Carlton

Four minutes later Joyce headed Tinnion's left-wing cross over the top from eight yards out at the back-post, then the game went into stalemate for a while until Aranalde's awful crossfield ball on 21 minutes. Bury's Chris Mason being the grateful recipient as the pass came straight to him, luckily for United though Smith was on-hand to make an excellent last ditch tackle.

Moments later Carlton, at the near-post, headed a Joyce corner narrowly wide, then after 24 minutes Gall's right-footed drive from 20 yards out ran weakly into the arms of Grundy. Gall again in the action just after the half-hour mark, when, chasing a lovely Tinnion pass down the middle, he lobbed Grundy just outside the Bury penalty area only to see his goal attempt with the inside of his left boot drag away wide of the target.

Aranalde and Alex Mallion bodychecked each other to the turf on 37 minutes, with the resultant 30-yard Aranalde free-kick into the box seeing Grundy make an easy catch after Gall had chipped the loose ball back goalwards at the far-post. United did make it 2-0 though four minutes when Aranalde's pacey left-wing cross was met by Carlton's right instep on the six-yard line, the ball dribbling over the line after hitting the body of a diving Grundy first.

Blake played a good pass over the top from his right-back spot just as the clock ticked into first-half injury time, Gall taking the ball down on his chest 25 yards out only to then fire a weak right-footed half-volley wide of the near-post. Gall then missing another chance to score moments later when, running in six yards out at the far-post, he failed to find the target as he headed Thirlwell's chipped ball in over the Bury crossbar.

The Shakers finally having their first shooting opportunity of the opening period in the second minute of added on time. It certainly wasn't worth waiting for though as Krishnan Patel sliced a dreadful 30-yard right-footed effort miles wide of Carson's near-post. The highlight of the interval being watching Bury substitute goalkeeper Zach Rothwell, warming up on his own, hit a penalty way over an unguarded net and into a deserted Warwick Road End.



Five minutes after the break Tinnion fed an overlapping Aranalde into the Shakers box, Aranalde's low cross then being knocked home by Joyce from close range only for the offside flag to go up. It wouldn't be the last time we would see that flag either as it must have gone up about 15 times in the second-half, mainly at the expense of Gall and Carlton.

Aranalde and Tinnion combined the other way round in the 53rd minute with Tinnion's pass across seeing Gall knock the ball past Grundy 18 yards out only for Gall to then fall over and watch the ball dribble wide of the far-post. Moments later Joyce firing over right-footed from the Bury 'D' following Rothery's knock-back into his path.

Carlton was sniffing for his hat-trick twice around the hour-mark, firstly hitting the outside of the Bury far-post with his right boot from 22 yards out after he chased down Gall's ball over a static Shakers back-line. Then, only seconds later, the visitors defence was asleep again as Carson's long goal-kick flew straight over the back of it once more. This time though his attempted lob from the same distance was easily palmed up into the air then caught by Grundy.

The action was finally beginning to hot up a bit now and shortly afterwards Gall, from an Aranalde left-wing cross, hit a left-footed volley back across goal and wide of the near-post from ten yards out. The next moment of note coming seconds later when Stephen Hindmarch replaced Tinnion for Carlisle and Lee Pugh came on for Jermaine Steele for Bury.

Midway through the half Hindmarch made a good run down the middle and laid the ball on for Carlton, the United man then crossing low to the back-stick for his strike-partner. Gall though only drilling a right-footed shot into the ground and across goal which looped away off the face of the near-post. Hindmarch then making another good burst forward in the 68th minute as he fired a right-footed 15-yarder straight into the arms of Grundy.



The game started to quieten off again now with the next action coming on 75 minutes when the visitors made a double substitution, Nathan Tosum and Ryan Barrow coming on for Luke Charnley and Mallion respectively. Carlisle though managed to wake up the packed attendance of 36 spectators when they made it 3-0 ten minutes before time.

Paul Thirlwell

Blake doing very well down in the Paddock/Warwick corner as he beat two Shakers and played a nice cross in to the back-post for Hindmarch. The United man unselfishly from there knocking the ball across for Thirlwell to register an easy tap-in for his first goal of the season. Carlisle's skipper, with tongue firmly in cheek, wheeling away in front of the Warwick Road End with his arm raised in celebration.

I'm glad he wasn't involved much in the match but Carlos Edmondson-Rouse at left-back, clearly Bury's best player on the day, beat about three United players moments later as he cut in from his flank. He couldn't finish the run off though as he had to shoot on his weaker right-foot from 18 yards out and it only resulted in an easy save for Carson.

Hindmarch was the next player up for a shot in the 82nd minute as his 25-yard right-footed effort from the left-hand channel flew wide of the Shakers near-post. The final (long) word in the match going to Edmondson-Rouse who fired a left-footed drive over the top of Carson's goal from just outside the Carlisle 'D' a minute from time.

So, that brings to a close a somewhat truncated second-string season at last, United assured of finishing third in the table whatever their result today with Morecambe having already taken title honours a couple of weeks ago. Bury though keep going as they get their boots out once more to face league runners-up Manchester City in their last match tomorrow night, before playing the Citizens yet again on Wednesday evening in the Manchester Senior Cup.


United line-up :

Grant Carson, Jonny Blake, Zigor Aranalde, Lewis Smith, Matt Duffy, Gavin Rothery, Luke Joyce, Paul Thirlwell (c), Danny Carlton, Kevin Gall, Connor Tinnion (Stephen Hindmarch 61).

Unused substitutes :

Alex Mitchell (GK), Andy Cook, Matthew Wood and Simon Lakeland.


Bury line-up :

Aaron Grundy (c), Alex Mallion (Ryan Barrow 75), Carlos Edmondson-Rouse, Andy Parkinson, David Thompson, Luke Charnley (Nathan Tosum 75), Krishnan Patel, Kevin Fields, Chris Mason, Jermaine Steele (Lee Pugh 61), James Tannahill.

Unused substitute :

Zach Rothwell (GK).


Fixtures in the division this week :

Carlisle United 3-0 Bury (Mon, 2pm)

Bury v Manchester City (Tue, 7pm)

Rochdale v Blackpool (Wed, 2pm)


Reserve Team Results : Click here


Reserve Team Table : Click here