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As for Carlisle, well skipper Liam Davison made a surprise return to action from his ankle injury and managed to last the full 90 minutes in the engine room. Fellow midfielder Paddy O'Brien is still sidelined with his own ankle problem though while Mark Sloan travelled with the team but did not feature on the bench as he gets back on the road to fitness from an illness.
The weather is atrocious in Cumbria at the moment and it was pretty grim on the way down to York at times, but at KitKat Crescent it was a mild evening of no rain and little wind, the pitch also having held up well given the recent rain. The first chance of the game came the way of Carlisle on five minutes when Ben McKenna and Manny Richardson combined to set up Sean Law for a left-footed 20-yarder over the top of the City goal.
The Minstermen nearly opened the scoring sixty seconds later when a corner in from dangerous left-winger Jamie Hopcutt caused mayhem in a melee of bodies in the middle of the box, Blues goalkeeper Mark Gillespie making a tremendous save with his legs as the ball pinged around before United finally managed to clear their lines at the back.
Shortly afterwards and a Steven Swinglehurst pass down the left saw City stopper Ben White, a late call up from the under-16s, a little slow off his line, with Ryan Bowman then able to nick the ball past him and towards goal. York centre-half Dean Lisles doing extremely well to cover though as he got across and managed to knock the ball off the toes of Bowman and away from danger.
Four minutes later in an end-to-end opening Hopcutt had a 20-yard effort quickly blocked by James Wood, Davison's poor clearance then seeing midfielder Tom Richardson strike a right-footed drive over the top from just outside the 'D'. Carlisle going close themselves though in the 13th minute when Davison fed Bowman down the right-hand channel, Bowman cutting in past left-back Adam Scorfield before seeing his 12-yard right-footed shot well saved by the legs of White.
A quiet spell in the tie then followed as both sides started to concede possession a little too easily before in the 24th minute Dominic Brown set up strike partner Kingsley Wetherald, the City man though hitting a weak left-footed shot from the edge of the box straight at Gillespie when a pass on to the unmarked Hopcutt beside him would have been the far better option.
It was the Cumbrians who got the opening goal after 26 minutes however when McKenna cut in well from the right before sliding a pass between Scorfield and Lisles for Richardson to race onto. The Blues striker finishing well from 18 yards out with a first time right-footed toe poked effort low into the near corner of the net beyond the reach of White.
Ten minutes later, with Carlisle enjoying a good spell of possession in the match as they started to use the ball better in midfield, and Bowman was laying possession off to Matt Osmond on the right, Osmond's cross in though took a hefty nick off City centre-half Ryan Quilter though and White was able to take the ball on his by-line.
Shortly afterwards, as Bowman looked to hold the ball up as the Blues broke forward, Scorfield went right through the back of him and was rightly booked for the challenge. That wasn't the only hefty tackle of the night from a City man either as the home side did win the ball the majority of the time but quite a few of the challenges were very much on the edge of acceptability from a physical perspective.
In the 42nd minute York were pressing at a set-piece again following a Richardson foul on Hopcutt on the left-angle of the box, Hopcutt stepping up to hit the free-kick right-footed under Gillespie's crossbar, Jamie Cleary and Gillespie himself both attempting to avert the danger, United finally clearing their lines after Gillespie's drop on an attempted catch had caused a bit of a melee.
A minute before the break and Carlisle managed to double their lead when Osmond sent Bowman racing away down the left-hand channel, Bowman eventually sticking a low ball across the six-yard line which found an unmarked McKenna at the back-post, McKenna able to side-foot home with his right boot off the body of a diving White. York then trying to pull a goal back in injury time only for Michael Duckworth's 22-yarder to fly away off the shoulder of team-mate Richardson.
United came out strongly after the interval and in the 47th minute McKenna's cross in from the right found Bowman volleying goalwards first time with his right boot from 20 yards out, his effort though looped up and was easy for White to catch at his near-post. Richardson and McKenna then combining six minutes later for a McKenna cross in which was cleared straight out to Richardson, his right-footed 20-yarder though being well blocked by Qualter.
Just after the half-hour mark and a Ben Richards-Everton foul on Richardson 22 yards out on the right-angle of the box saw Scorfield step up to curl the set-piece in at pace with his left foot. The flag though going up for offside at the same time as Gillespie punched clear, one second later the United goalkeeper being hammered into the net by the offside Qualter.
Sixty seconds on and Carlisle conceded another free-kick just outside the box, this time Osmond fouling right-back Jonny Andrews 45 yards out on that side of the pitch. Andrews completely mishitting his ball up only for it need a Gillespie tip over as it was about to go an inch under his crossbar. City then making their first change of the game on 68 minutes when Jed Vale came on in place of Richardson.
Shortly afterwards and McKenna and Richardson were again working on the ball together and they laid possession through to Bowman, United's top scorer having an off night though as his weak 18-yard left-footer was easily cleared. United man of the match McKenna then putting in an excellent cross from the right which was well taken down by Osmond on the edge of the box, the Blues left-winger though seeing his half-volley deflected over the top by Andrews.
City missed a good opportunity to pull a goal back on 72 minutes when Brown sent Duckworth clear through the middle, Duckworth though, from 18 yards out, hitting a right-footed effort low but straight into the gloves of a well-placed Gillespie. York then making their second personnel change of the tie two minutes later when Khalid Alali replaced a limping Lisles in a straight swap at the back.
And what an impact Alali made too as within sixty seconds of him entering the fray he was able to, unmarked from close range, head a Hopcutt corner down and into the back of the Carlisle net. City then going for it in the final 15 minutes as they poured on a lot of pressure to try to force extra-time, the Minstermen also bringing on Dan Owers for Wetherald upfront.
Owers was quickly involved in the action in the 80th minute when he sent a right-footed drive from distance well wide of Gillespie's far-post. Sixty seconds later and Davison fed Bowman down the right-hand channel, Bowman then trying a 25-yard half-volley across goal with his right boot which went well wide of the far-post. United boss Eric Kinder then making his first substitution of the night when Phil Towler replaced Osmond.
Shortly afterwards and Wood brought down the pacey and tricky Hopcutt, who was the clear York man of the match, in the middle of the 'D' for a dangerous free-kick. Fortunately for Carlisle though from a touch off Scorfield's hammered left-footed drive flicked off the defensive wall and dribbled through into the arms of a grateful Gillespie.
Three minutes of added on time went up on the board and it was in the first of those that Davison found Bowman racing clear, the United striker's right-footed half-volley from the right-angle of the City box being well tipped over by White though. James Bonner then replacing the hard-working Law two minutes later as the Blues looked to run down the clock.
Like the first-half we ran over the signalled injury time by quite a distance but the final whistle did come at last on an excellent victory for a Carlisle side playing through a few injuries, mainly those to Wood and Davison. So yet again it is into the FA Youth Cup third round for the young Blues and this time they will face Premier League opposition in Stoke City at home, the match, in two or three weeks time, hopefully seeing a healthy attendance at Brunton Park.
City line-up :
Ben White, Jonny Andrews, Adam Scorfield, Nick Thompson, Ryan Qualter, Dean Lisles (Khalid Alili 74), Michael Duckworth, Tom Richardson (Jed Vale 68), Kingsley Wetherald (Dan Owers 78), Dominic Brown, Jamie Hopcutt.
Unused substitutes :
James Field (GK) and Jassim Alali.
United line-up :
Mark Gillespie, James Wood, Steven Swinglehurst, Sean Law (James Bonner 90), Ben Richards-Everton, Jamie Cleary, Ben McKenna, Liam Davison, Ryan Bowman, Manny Richardson, Matt Osmond (Phil Towler 81).
Unused substitutes :
Jon Ball (GK), James Reid and Kieran Cahill.
Referee - Paul Cook.
Attendance - 264.
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