The Blues pretty much dominated the entire first-half and Luke Joyce forced Andrew Wills into a 7th minute save after City had failed to clear a free-kick in. Five minutes later United took the lead in simple fashion, right-back Ashley Combe putting in a low cross for James Earl to slide in and tap the ball home from close range. The lead doubled after fifteen minutes with a similar goal, this time Earl and Pete Ferris combining to set Andy Hardman up for a easy finish.
On 20 minutes the Blues had a goal disallowed as Stephen Hindmarch pushed Wills into his own net following a huge Adam Bradley goal-kick upfield, then sixty seconds later Bradley could only watch as City hammered in a 20-yard free-kick which flew inches past his far-post. With 28 minutes gone it was 3-0 to the Blues, an Earl corner only half-cleared straight to the trialist Gray, who showed some good moments in the first-half, only to disappear out of the action a little after the break. The 20-year old's shot was going wide, but centre-half Terry Stewart was on hand to poke the ball home from five yards out, although there is no doubt Wills will have been very disappointed with his efforts to make a save.
Just after the half-hour the City left-winger found himself unmarked at the United back-stick only to fire his half-volley well over Bradley's crossbar, then at the other end seven minutes later a long ball up by Combe saw Wills make a good one-on-one save to deny United striker Pete Ferris. Moments later the City left-winger was again free at the far-post, following another cross in from the Blues left, and this time he forced Bradley into a good catching save low down at his near-post.
After 42 minutes Gray showed some good footwork on the edge of the City box, following a Ferris lay-off, but his shot was sliced just wide of Wills' goal. A minute before the interval Earl tried a long-ranger for United which went wide, then in injury time Blues centre-half Dan Wordsworth made an excellent block tackle as a City player broke in on goal to put the ball out for a corner. The flag-kick came to nothing though and the United youngsters had a 3-0 lead to smile about as they gathered around first-team coach Greg Abbott, who was previously under-18 team coach at Leeds United, and Head of Youth Development David Wilkes for the half-time team-talk.
The second period was bittier fare to be honest, with numerous substitutions from both sides on such a warm evening tending to break the play up a little, plus the United lads seemed to take their foot off the pedal and lose concentration a little, which almost proved to be their downfall. The Blues had the first chance again though on 51 minutes, an Earl corner in creating some pinball in the City defence, the ball eventually coming back to Earl via Ferris, the United set-piece specialist then seeing his hammered goalbound effort headed away for another flag-kick by a City defender.
Two minutes later Gray sent a good ball forward, which Ferris got on the end of as he ran into the left-hand angle of the visitors box, although Wills was able to easily save his low 12-yard drive. Kyle Armstrong showed some good skill on the right shortly afterwards, but as City's main striker he needed to be on the end of his low driven cross as well as it flew straight across the United goalmouth and out for a goal-kick.
Bang on the hour-mark Wordsworth gave a free-kick away on the edge of the Blues box, City couldn't profit from the opportunity though as the set-piece flew straight into the United defensive wall. Two minutes later United were forced into what seemed to be their only injury substitution of the night, as Bradley left the field to be replaced by recently signed first-year YTS keeper Grant Carson, Bradley having an ice-pack put onto his left shin by physio Neil Dalton as soon as he left the field of play.
After 66 minutes Hindmarch was allowed plenty of time to run with the ball at his feet by a backtracking City defensive line, but he couldn't find the finish from 20 yards out as his low left-foot shot was easy fare for Wills to collect. The United youngsters seemed to lose some focus from then on as they allowed the visitors back into the game, and City took advantage of it as they made score 3-1 with 18 minutes left in the match. A simple cross in seeing a bit of a mix-up between Earl and Wordsworth, which allowed the City striker to nip in and easily slip the ball past Carson from six yards out.
On 75 minutes Kyle Armstrong did well again as he made his way to the by-line down the United right-hand channel, then cutting inside Stewart he was a little bit greedy though as he hit a left-footed shot wide of Carson's near-post from a very tight angle. Jefferies pulled another goal back for City after 81 minutes to make it a nervy end to the game for the young Blues, but they managed to cling on for a good win in which they had showed excellent physical presence against a side containing plenty of older and bigger players.
United line-up :
Adam Bradley (Grant Carson 62), Ashley Combe (Matthew Brown 70), Matthew Blake, Terry Stewart, Dan Wordsworth, James Earl, Luke Joyce (Shaun Vipond 46), Nicky Gray (trialist), Stephen Hindmarch (Richie Hoban 70), Andy Hardman (Mike Stewardson 65), Pete Ferris.
Unused substitute :
Matthew Wood.
Carlisle City :
Andrew Wills, Craig Wilson, Broome, Tyran Taylor, I Armstrong, Matthew Lea, Scott Priest, Mather, Gary Milne, Kyle Armstrong, Guiseppe Amato.
Used substitutes :
Rigg, C Thompson, Scott Thompson, Hall, Jefferies, Wayne Cannon, Jonny Jamieson.
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