After five wins on the bounce for the lads hopes would normally have been high for another three points today, but Burnley always seem to be a bogey team for Carlisle, I can't remember the last time we beat them at home at youth level. United though trying to do an inside job as with Will James now back at Blackburn, Dale Minor therefore coming into the side at left-back, and with Jack Lynch already in central midfield that meant that the Cumbrians started the game with two players who had featured for the Clarets at schoolboy level.
In horriblly heavy drizzle that just got worse and worse as the game went on Carlisle kicked the game off down the slight slope at Creighton and had the first chance of the match after five minutes when Alex Salmon and Mark Beck worked a one-two just outside the edge of the Burnley box, with Salmon in the end shooting right-footed but wide of Josh Cook's left-hand post from there. The visitors then responding three minutes later when the dangerous Adam Evans came in from the left before a feeding a pass to Jason Gilchrist, the Burnley striker though seeing his eight-yard right-footed drive deflect off Brad Staunch on its way into the arms of Jordan Parker.
With 14 minutes on the clock, a bad pass out from the back by visitors stopper Cook, who in all honesty was truly terrible with his distribution on the floor all game, fell straight to Tom Berwick with him then laying possession off to Salmon, the Blues top scorer left with his hands on his head though as he slid a right-footed effort inches wide of the target with, albeit under slight pressure from Charlie Holt, just Cook to beat from the middle of the penalty area.
In a quiet period of the match United's next chance came in the 25th minute when Alex Coleman brought down Dave Symington 25 yards out in the middle of the pitch. Symington then stepping up himself to curl a powerful right-footed shot in from the resultant free-kick which Cook clutched above his head at the second attempt. Three minutes later and after Gilchrist's shot had pinged behind off Carlisle skipper Lance McGlen, Archie Love from the worked short corner sent a cross over to the United back-post only for an unmarked Coleman to head very wastefully over the top from just six yards out.
Bang on the half-hour mark and some more good play by Evans on the left-wing, although he did fade away badly as the game went on, saw his cut-back from the Blues by-line go straight to the right boot of Holt 12 yards out, that was his swinger though for the left-footer and his shot from there was weak and straight at Parker. Clarets goalkeeper Cook was looking to provide assists again in the 37th minute when his awful kick out went at pace low and straight at Salmon on the edge of the penalty area, Salmon though unable to kill the ball stone dead as it bounced back off him with Cook then able to dive at Salmon's feet to reclaim possession.
After 39 minutes it was Evans again the provider with a ball back to Love 15 yards out, Love though only able to lash a right-footed strike wide of Parker's near-post from there. Burnley did score what would prove to be the only goal of the game just sixty seconds later though when Love headed a Parker goal-kick back over the top of a sleeping United back-line, that then allowing Gilchrist, despite the attentions of Blues centre-half Dillon Morse, to slide a right-footed shot form the middle of the box under the body of the diving Parker and into the Cumbrians net.
A minute before the break and it was the visitors again in probably their best spell of the match when Beck brought down Alex Mullin 30 yards out on the right, Love then curling a dangerous ball across from the resultant free-kick which an unsighted Parker spilled on the floor at his back-post, McGlen though able to hoof clear for United. The final chance of the first-half then coming the way of Carlisle when moments into injury time Berwick, Lynch and Beck all featured in a nice move forward, with Salmon eventually seeing his right-footed 15-yard strike deflect behind off the giant figure of Tom Anderson, the Lynch flag-kick then producing nothing for United though.
Blues boss Eric Kinder then made his first substitution of the game during the interval when he brought on Dan Jones for Berwick. Carlisle then going close again after 49 minutes when Salmon fed Symington for a 15-yard right-footed shot that deflected behind off the legs of Aryn Williams. Lynch's ball in from the resultant corner then breaking to McGlen at the Burnley back-post, but his right-footed strike from just inside the box proved to be a reasonably easy one for Cook to gather in low down.
Three bookings issued by referee John Mulligan were then the next three things of note, United's Minor being carded for a foul on Mullin on 50 minutes, while on the hour-mark Love was booked for the visitors following a heavy challenge on Lynch, the Blues midfielder then responding in kind on Love for his own yellow card in the 63rd minute. Steve Hewitt hammering the free-kick from 30 yards out onto the head of Jones in the Carlisle wall, with Love's corner in then producing nothing for the visitors.
Midway through the second-half and Jones conceded possession poorly for Carlisle with Mullin then playing in Gilchrist down the middle, Gilchrist though slicing an under pressure ten-yard shot with the outside of his left boot narrowly wide of Parker's left-hand post. With 18 minutes left to go in the game Brad Potts (pictured at top) then made his long awaited return from an ankle injury when he came onto the pitch in place of Lynch, Potts though, a right-sided defender by trade, having to feature in the engine room in the closing stages.
Two minutes later the Clarets, with only four players on the bench, then made their two personnel changes of the game at the same time, with boss Terry Pashley bringing on Jamie Frost for Gilchrist and Daniel Mukuna for Jordan Scott, the latter of that quartet applying some ice to his right leg as he watched the rest of the match from the sidelines. In the 81st minute it was United pressing once more when a corner in from Jones broke to Symington at the back-post, Symington though only able to pull his right-footed 15-yard drive away wide of the target.
It was then Symington shooting from the same distance three minutes later, but this time his goalbound effort deflected wide off Williams. His own corner in then seeing Beck at the far-stick head back into the middle only for no United player to be on hand and the chance was gone. Carlisle's big opportunity to grab a late leveller coming a minute from time when Symington's corner in was punched out poorly by Cook straight to the right foot of Jones 15 yards out.
From there Jones thumped his shot through a gang of bodies only to see it deflect off the head of the tallest Claret, in Anderson, onto the underneath of the crossbar, with the ball then bouncing about all over in the air before the visitors were finally able to somehow clear their lines without conceding. So, one of those days in some respects for United, but Burnley were well organised at the back and a tough nut to crack defensively, as the better side possession-wise however the Blues can take plenty out of defeat and into their next league fixture at Morecambe in a fortnight.
United line-up :
Jordan Parker, Lance McGlen (c), Dale Minor, Dillon Morse, Brad Staunch, Josh Todd, Tom Berwick (Dan Jones 46), Jack Lynch (Brad Potts 72), Mark Beck, Alex Salmon, David Symington.
Unused substitutes :
Patrick Brough, Jamie Clarey and Brandon Gwinnutt.
Burnley line-up :
Josh Cook, Aryn Williams, Charlie Holt, Alex Coleman, Tom Anderson (c), Charlie Love, Alex Mullin, Steve Hewitt, Jason Gilchrist (Jamie Frost 74), Jordan Scott (Daniel Mukuna 74), Adam Evans.
Unused substitutes :
Callum Jakovlevs (GK) and Waqas Azam.
Referee - John Mulligan.
Assistants - A Pattison and S Donald.
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