Off we go again then, and with skipper Tom Berwick, Kyle Dempsey and Brad Staunch back from first-team duty at Morecambe on Tuesday evening it meant that there was the only the injured Jack Lynch and the ill Declan Watson missing from the Carlisle ranks. The Blues therefore starting the game with a pretty strong eleven which featured striker Alex Salmon once more in an attacking midfield role.
It was a sluggish start from both United and Stanley though as the Blues kicked off down the slight slope in the first-half and it took until the ten minute mark for the first chance to come when Cumbrians man of the match Pat Brough (pictured) fed Greg Peel for a 20-yard drive which was well blocked away by Reds defender Luke Greaves. Five minutes later and it was the Blues attacking once more when over on the right angle of the penalty area a loose ball fell at the right foot of Connor Thomson.
The Cumbrians right-winger from there side-footing a shot that pinged down off the underside of the crossbar and was eventually put behind by Nathan Hudson for a corner. Dempsey and Berwick then working a short corner from which Berwick chipped a ball into the box with the outside of his left foot, initially it looked too high for the head of Peel and Dillon Morse but that was put to one side when it found its way into the corner of the net past rooted Stanley goalkeeper Kieran Wolland to give Carlisle a 1-0 lead.
Shortly afterwards and Peel sent Brough away down the left-hand channel, and despite Brough being clearly pulled back by Louis Martini he still managed to get a shot in from 18 yards out which was well pushed behind by Wolland, the resultant Dempsey corner in producing nothing for United though. Holland then on the 18 minute mark called into action again when a Berwick corner in was cleared out by Greaves straight to Dempsey on the edge of the box, with the Stanley goalkeeper making another smart stop on Dempsey's powerful drive.
Two minutes later and, from a Dempsey pass, Brough was away again down the left with his low ball across seeing Peel, six yards out, having his effort on goal, blocked by Wolland. The rebound falling straight to Peel though and after having an initial effort closed down by Greaves he was able to hammer the ball into the net from close range to put the Blues 2-0 up. After 28 minutes it should really have been 3-0 to Carlisle too when Salmon played Brough in down the left, with his cross to the far-post seeing Thomson somehow hit the inside of the woodwork from five yards out, the ball then cleared away by visiting defender Ben Proctor.
Another bitty period in the game then came before on 38 minutes Brandon Gwinnutt at right-back for United fairly felled Proctor in a challenge in which he was pretty lucky to avoid a yellow card. Two minutes later and Thomson and Dempsey played some nice stuff down the right, but from 15 yards out in the right-hand channel Dempsey only eventually screwed his shot across goal and well wide of the target. The last action of the half coming on 43 minutes when Brough's chipped ball in from the left was headed wide of the far-post by Peel ten yards out.
During the break Stanley got a bit of a roasting from their boss Phil Hackney who also made a change at centre-half as Joe Dawson came on for Hudson. Five minutes into the second-half and it was Carlisle attacking once more though as Thomson played a pass into the feet of Peel 22 yards out, Peel then producing a neat and quick turn before firing a fierce left-footed drive away over the top on the wind.
Sixty seconds later and it was Dempsey to Thomson to Salmon 15 yards out, but Salmon was left angry with himself as he could only side-foot well over the Stanley crossbar. United's next what you can loosely deem a chance coming shortly afterwards when Staunch was involved in a massive block tackle with Hudson 50 yards out, his challenge for possession actually seeing the ball disappear not far away over the top of Wolland's woodwork.
With 57 minutes gone the Reds made their second change in the game when Jason Jeffries replaced Martini at right-back. The visitors then going as close to scoring as they would do all day moments on when Proctor sent a low ball in from the left from which skipper Jack Willison got a side-foot in on goal from close range, Blues goalkeeper Jordan Parker being on hand though to make an outstanding stop with his rigt boot, with Staunch then eventually clearing the United lines.
It was back to Carlisle pressing just before the hour mark though when Thomson sent a cross in from the right but Peel was only able to head across goal and wide of the far-post. The Reds then getting a rare chance on 62 minutes however when Dempsey tried to do too much on the edge of the United box, that allowing James Jenkins to nip in for the visitors but Parker was easily able to claim his right-footed 20-yard drive.
Three minutes later and it was a Dempsey corner as Carlisle looked to make it 3-0, but Morse, in traffic at the back-post, headed wide of the target from six yards out. An early goal of the season contender for United at the midway point in the half then slipped away for the Blues as Salmon sent a pinpoint angled ball down the left-hand channel for Brough, with the Cumbrians rangy winger then taking a lovely touch before smashing an 18-yard half-volley across goal and inches wide of Wolland's far-post.
Before the goal-kick meanwhile it was a substitution apiece for either side as Stanley brought on Dalian Barker for Ryan Cattermole upfront and the Blues replaced Peel with Jamie Clarey upfront. Clarey's first real moment of action came after 72 minutes though when he brought down Proctor 28 yards out to the left of the Carlisle 'D', James Doig then from there firing the free-kick in on goal only for it ping out behind off the backside of Barker.
Four minutes later and the Cumbrians finally made the three points safe when Thomson sent a cross in to the back-post from the right which Brough did well to get on the end of and head back from the by-line, Clarey then able from close range to smuggle some kind of touch betwen the legs of Wolland into the net for 3-0 to the Blues. Accrington then trying to pull a late goal back ten minutes from time when Barker stuck a ball in from the right, Jeffries though, stretching 12 yards out, hitting in a slightly weak volley which Parker was able to hold diving away to his right.
Carlisle boss Eric Kinder then made his second and final change of the game with three minutes to go when Danny Dixon came on for Thomson, with the last action of the match coming sixty seconds later when a poor Gwinnutt challenge on Danny Hennigan earned the Blues defender a yellow card. A slightly sour note to end on then with Hennigan left nursing an ankle injury, but for United a 3-0 win at home will do them for a start to the season, it gets a lot tougher next week though when the Cumbrians face last year's champions Preston, at home again, in an 11am kick-off at Creighton Rugby Club.
United line-up:
Jordan Parker, Brandon Gwinnutt, Dale Minor, Dillon Morse, Brad Staunch, Kyle Dempsey, Tom Berwick (c), Connor Thomson (Danny Dixon 87), Alex Salmon, Greg Peel (Jamie Clarey 68), Pat Brough.
Unused substitutes:
Lewis Brass (GK), Jake Chisholm and Evan McEvoy.
Goals - Tom Berwick 15, Greg Peel 20, Jamie Clarey 76.
Accrington line-up:
Kieran Holland, Louis Martini (Jason Jeffries 57), Ben Proctor, Liam Goulding, Luke Greaves, Nathan Hudson (Joe Dawson 46), James Doig, Jack Willison (c), James Jenkins, Ryan Cattermole (Dalian Barker 68), Danny Hennigan.
Unused substitutes:
Connor Atkinson (GK) and Perry Jepson.
Youth Team Results : Click here
Youth Team Squad : Click here
Youth Team Table : Click here