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As it has been in the league lately with all the recent cup ties it was a little bit of a mix-and-match side chosen by boss Eric Kinder. Matthew Brown swapping flanks to left-back, Jonny Blake filling in at right-back, Matt Duffy moving in to centre-half alongside Tom Aldred, Ged Dalton partnering Gary Madine upfront and four central midfielders in Michael Dowson, Simon Lakeland, John Seaton and Matthew Wood featuring across the middle.
United started well though and in the second minute Madine showed lovely control to bring a long Mitchell goal-kick out of the clouds, he perhaps shot too early from distance though and his right-footed effort pulled away wide of the far-post. The game starting off at a particularly fast tempo with the ball moving around like a veritable hot potato as both sides battled for control in midfield.
That war of attrition in the centre of the park meant that the next action of note came as late as the 18th minute. Brown being fouled first, although the referee somehow waved play on, with the United man then felling his "foulee" back. The two tackles had taken their toll on the Carlisle skipper though and he limped from the field to be replaced by centre-half Dan Wordsworth, Duffy then moving across into his normal left-back spot.
Vale came close to taking the lead in the 22nd minute when a long punt over the top of the Blues back-line saw Cumbrians goalkeeper Alex Mitchell and a visitors striker in a foot race for the ball. The Vale man just got their first to head goalwards from the edge of the Carlisle box but Wordsworth was on hand to hook the ball away from danger.
Three minutes later and United were pressing when a Blake throw-in was nodded by Seaton to Dalton with his back to the goal at the near-post, Dalton's right-footed half-volley on the turn then being well blocked by a Valiants defender. The next chance in the game coming the way of the visitors in the 29th minute when their left-winger sliced a 15-yarder well wide of Mitchell's near-post.
Carlisle took the lead in the match just after the half-hour mark when a corner in from Lakeland caused some havoc and pinball in the Vale box, the ball eventually dropping to Dalton who was able to easily thump the ball home low into the corner on the half-volley from no more than six yards out.
Some hesistant defending by United almost saw the Valiants equalise only two minutes later though. Mitchell making a good low block at his near-post, after the ball had been allowed to run through into the Carlisle penalty area. One of the Vale strikers was on-hand to tap into an empty net from six yards out though, well you expected that to be the case but he somehow slid his side-footed effort wide of Mitchell's far-post for the miss of the youth season to date.
The next two minutes saw a visitors player and Duffy exchange long-distance shots that went wide of either goal before Dowson managed to find the target from 25 yards out, only for his powerful left-footed effort to go straight at the Vale keeper. The moment that signalled the end of the opening period being a Wordsworth 12-yard header over the top from a Lakeland corner in.
The visitors came out strongly after the break and straight away a shot from 22 yards out whistled just past Mitchell's far-post. Then in the 49th minute a lovely move forward by Vale saw a fierce drive come in from 15 yards out which Mitchell did well to parry up into the air. Another Valiant then running the ball out over the by-line as he looked to profit from the rebound.
Carlisle came right back though and doubled their lead in the 55th minute, a pinpoint pass on the floor from Seaton finding Madine charging through the middle towards the Vale goal. The Valiants keeper seemed to have glue on his boots as Madine ran towards him and his statuesque pose left the Blues striker to roll a cool right-footed finish beyond him and into the back of the net from 12 yards out.
The visitors made a double substitution before the resultant kick-off and an awful shot from one of the replacements ended up as a good cross as it fell straight to a striker eight yards out with 58 minutes gone. Mitchell making a great block as he raced off his line to narrow the angle down.
United were still playing some good stuff in patches though and a neat passing move saw Lakeland, Seaton, Madine and Dalton push the ball up the pitch with panache bang on the hour-mark. Wood was the man who ended up with the shooting opportunity in the left-hand channel, but his 15-yard half-volley from a tight angle was sliced well wide of the Vale near-post.
The visitors made their final player change of the match in the 63rd minute before they pulled a goal back three minutes later. Yet another long throw being hurled to the edge of the Carlisle penalty area saw a knockdown then a poorly hit strike from a Valiant. His luck was in though as his shot flicked off a team-mate and then the inside of the right-hand post before nestling into the back of Mitchell's net.
Vale were pressing strongly for an equaliser now with a 22-yard drive inches wide of the United near-post in the 71st minute before Carlisle broke forward themselves just sixty seconds later. A long Mitchell goal-kick down the middle being flicked on by Madine into the path of Dalton, the United man then seemingly being brought down only for the referee to surprisingly wave play on.
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United made their final change in the 76th minute when Connor Tinnion replaced Wood on the left flank. Vale, against tiring Carlisle legs, were still pushing for a late leveller and they went close seconds later when a 20-yard shot whistled inches wide of Mitchell's far-post. Their next chance coming a minute later from a free-kick into the Cumbrians box, following a foul by Seaton, with an eight-yard header from a Vale midfielder drifting over the top of the crossbar.
Madine and Cook combined well from a Mitchell goal-kick in the 79th minute, a quick one-two seeing Madine's 15-yard side-footed effort fly inches wide of the visitors far-post with the keeper rooted to his spot. United did make it 3-1, and finally put the game to bed two minutes later, Cook's flicked header from 15 yards out, after an excellent Duffy cross in, zooming across goal and straight into the far corner of the Vale net.
The Valiants had the last chance of the match in the final minute when Aldred, struggling badly with a groin injury for a good while late on in the game, conceded a free-kick 25 yards out. The set-piece in seeing a Vale header from eight yards out ping off the top of the Carlisle crossbar and out for a goal-kick.
So, back on track for the lads today despite heavy legs, and no doubt heavy hearts, after their only home defeat of the season against Aston Villa on Thursday. A great effort from them too to claim all three points against an extremely physical side, with a dreadfully inconsistent referee not exactly helping matters. Seven days off competitive football for the majority of the lads will go down a treat now ahead of the Northern Area League Cup quarter-final at home to Wigan next Saturday morning.
United line-up :
Alex Mitchell, Jonny Blake, Matthew Brown (c) (Dan Wordsworth 18), Matt Duffy, Tom Aldred, Michael Dowson, John Seaton, Simon Lakeland, Gary Madine, Ged Dalton (Andy Cook 74), Matthew Wood (Connor Tinnion 76).
Unused substitutes :
John Jamieson (GK) and Stephen Hindmarch.
Results in the division this morning :
Accrington Stanley P-P Wigan
Blackpool 3-1 Wrexham
Burnley 2-3 Chester
Carlisle United 3-1 Port Vale
Macclesfield 3-0 Bury
Morecambe 3-2 Shrewsbury
Oldham 4-3 Stockport
Preston North End 1-1 Tranmere (played Friday)
Rochdale P-P Walsall
Fixtures in the division next Saturday morning :
Accrington Stanley v Chester
Bury v Morecambe
Tranmere v Wrexham
Walsall v Macclesfield
Youth Alliance Cup Northern Quarter-Finals
Burnley v Rochdale
Carlisle United v Wigan Athletic (10.30am)
Hull City v Preston North End
Mansfield Town v Hartlepool United
Youth Alliance Cup Southern Quarter-Finals
Brighton & Hove Albion v Wycombe Wanderers
Oxford United v Colchester United
Rushden & Diamonds v Brentford
Peterborough United 1-5 Queens Park Rangers (played Monday 18th)
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