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With the trouser belt tightening faster than the global economy over the festive period the Saturday morning takeaway sausage sandwich was relegated to the substitutes bench with a home cooked turkey rasher sandwich being promoted into the starting eleven, only half a point a rasher apparently.
As for United's first eleven, John Seaton came in for Liam Davison who had been under the weather with illness all week, that being the only real change from the norm. The pitch looked surprisingly well considering the recent poor weather and the fact that it had been left looking like the Somme after the 8-1 win against Rochdale just before Christmas.
The visitors, after receiving a pre-match bollocking in the middle of their warm-up from one of their coaches that contained more swearing than you could have imagined possible, kicking the game off with the wind at their backs. That aggression and poor discipline running throughout their team, and a couple of their parents as well, in a overly physical display and some over the top abuse of a slightly weak referee.
Still, the Seasiders had a lot of the ball throughout the match but failed to do anything with it, Blues centre-half Jamie Cleary in particular enduring a nervy start to the game up against Blackpool's best player by far upfront. The opening two minutes seeing a 22-yard free-kick thumped into the United wall then a shot from a similar distance flying wide of Alex Mitchell's near-post.
Mitchell after seven minutes catching a shot from just inside the Carlisle box that had looped up off the boot of Sean Law. Sixty seconds later though and United created and took their first chance of the game, Matt Duffy's ball up from his left-back spot being headed down by Andy Cook for Ryan Bowman to turn neatly 15 yards out and whack a low right-footed drive into the far bottom corner of the Blackpool net.
A quieter spell in the game then saw a long range visitors shot go wide on 16 minutes before Conor Tinnion and Cook combined to set Bowman up again six minutes later, this time though Bowman's right-footed 15-yard effort went straight into the arms of the Seasiders goalkeeper.
Shortly afterwards and a deep ball up from right-back Simon Lakeland saw the visitors defend poorly again, this time Seaton able to nod down for Bowman whose left-footed effort from 12 yards out was well blocked behind by the legs of the Blackpool stopper.
That was as it got for him though as he got himself in no-mans land flapping at Tinnion's resultant corner. Cook the beneficiary for his 30th goal of the season as his header from eight yards out went high into the roof of the net off the head of the Seasiders right-back stationed on the line at the far-post.
Only three minutes had gone by and in the 26th minute it was 3-0 and another rout was looking on the cards. Cook beating two through the middle before being brought down in the middle of the Blackpool 'D', the offender of the foul somehow escaping a yellow card. Cook metered out his own punishment though as he absolutely hammered the free-kick low to the goalkeeper's left and almost through the net.
Just after the half-hour mark and Blackpool's dangerous centre-forward came in from the right nicely past Cleary and Law but he only succeeded in dragging his left-footed 15-yard shot wide of the near-post. Up at the other end of the pitch on 36 minutes a ruck of bodies met Tinnion's deep corner to the back-post, Bowman seemingly getting to the ball first as he headed it wide of the target from almost on the by-line.
Five minutes later and Mitchell needed two attempts to hold on to a well struck 25-yard strike that bounced in front of him as he dived low onto it. The next chance coming the way of Carlisle sixty seconds later when Cook had a left-footed shooting opportunity from distance that was an easy one for the Seasiders number one to take.
Moments later, as the match had become a little bit end-to-end, one of the Blackpool midfielders cut in from the right but his 22-yard shot was sliced horribly as it disappeared out for a throw-in over on the far side. The last action of the half coming on 44 minutes when Cook left a long ball up from Lakeland for Jonny Blake to run onto, sadly for Blake though the goalkeeper just got there first as he kicked clear outside his own penalty area.
Seconds after the interval and it was almost 4-0 to United when Law sent a lovely pass over the top down the left-hand channel, Cook lobbing the ball right-footed from 18 yards out over the advancing Seasiders stopper but inches wide of the near-post. Mitchell, in the 48th minute, then forced to parry and dive on a fiercely struck 25-yarder as Blackpool looked to pull a goal back.
Eight minutes later and Blake curled a right-footed free-kick in from just inside the visitors half, Cook's flicked eight-yard header though well caught by the visitors number one diving away to his left. Blackpool had been putting in some "strong" challenges throughout the game and one of them resulted in a yellow card moments later when their left-back was booked for a bad tackle on Seaton.
Shortly afterwards the visitors number ten was again looking the most likely when he turned in well again from the right, his 15-yard cross-shot being hacked away from danger by Lakeland running back towards his own line. Just after the hour mark and, after a Lakeland foul, the advantage went on with the Blackpool left-winger eventually pulling a right-footed shot wide of the Carlisle near-post from 18 yards out.
That break in play was the last action for the Seasiders number eleven as he was one of two players substituted for the visitors, the referee also booking Lakeland for his earlier misdemeanour at the same time. Lakeland was in the thick of things again in the 68th minute when his pass up to Cook saw the United man flick the ball over the Blackpool left-back before hitting it left-footed on the half-volley wide of the near-post from just outside the box.
Sixty seconds later and Blues boss Eric Kinder made his first change in personnel when Davison came on for Law, Davison becoming the attacking central midfielder while Blake dropped back into Law's role in front of the back four. Tinnion and Seaton then combined in the 72nd minute with Cook, from Seaton's low ball across the six-yard box, back-heeling an effort on goal wide of the target.
A 25-yard shot from the Blackpool number nine flew over the top of Mitchell's goal sixty seconds later, Steven Swinglehurst then coming on for Cleary during the stoppage in play. The change seeing Swinglehurst go to left-back and Duffy move in one to partner skipper Tom Aldred in the middle of the United defence.
With 78 minutes gone Tinnion was fouled 30 yards out, with Blake hitting the resultant free-kick right-footed straight into the arms of the Seasiders goalkeeper. Blake taking that set-piece as Cook was out of action hobbling about on the sideline getting treatment on his foot after an earlier challenge a few minutes before.
The treatment on the pitch finally coming after the visitors had refused to put the ball out, play eventually ending after the referee brought a halt to proceedings. Although in doing that he found one of the Blackpool defenders telling him straight to his face to "fuck off", that comment going unpunished, although surely if the referees want this respect campaign to work then youth team football is where things should start.
As Cook shuffled around the pitch back to the Carlisle bench, both sides made their final change, Mark Sloan coming on for Cook while Blackpool made a substitution in their midfield ranks. United, with the game now a bit subdued after that, made the scoreline 4-0 after 82 minutes, Blake's slide-rule pass allowing Bowman, down the left-hand channel, to shoot home right-footed under the goalkeeper from 12 yards out.
The visitors getting in the final shot of the game two minutes later when a 28-yarder went miles wide of Mitchell's far-post. So, another win for the lads takes them four points clear of Burnley although the unbeaten Clarets do have a bumper three games in hand. Next Saturday comes a league cup quarter-final tie at Tranmere and then in a fortnight it's the big league clash away to Burnley that will have a large say in the title race.
United line-up :
Alex Mitchell, Simon Lakeland, Matt Duffy, Tom Aldred (c), Jamie Cleary (Steven Swinglehurst 73), Jonny Blake, Sean Law (Liam Davison 69), John Seaton, Ryan Bowman, Andy Cook (Mark Sloan 79), Conor Tinnion.
Unused substitutes :
Mark Gillespie (GK).
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