|
United started brightly with Ian Harte heading over from a corner before Kevan Hurst had a shot easily held by Glenn Morris on nine minutes following good approach play by Joe Anyinsah, Scott Dobie and David Raven. Anyinsah then slicing over the top moments later before he headed wastefully wide from a Hurst cross. Hurst himself having a shot held by Morris in the 23rd minute as the visitors applied all the pressure.
McGleish attempted to do something for the home side with a poor overhead kick inside the box before Paul Thirlwell had a shot blocked and Harte screwed an effort wide for the Cumbrians. Orient's Jimmy Smith then missing a good chance for the O's when he could only shoot well over the top after a punch out by Carlisle goalkeeper Lenny Pidgeley had dropped straight to his feet.
Scott Dobie then nodded a Matty Robson cross straight at Morris before Pidgeley tipped a McGleish header, from a JJ Melligan ball in, over the top. United had the last word in the half though when they took the lead on 42 minutes, the visitors breaking away from a cleared Jason Demetriou corner, as Raven, Hurst and the impressive Tom Taiwo all combined at pace to set up left-winger Robson for a 15-yard finish across the body of Morris.
The O's soon grabbed a leveller three minutes after the interval thanks to a very soft penalty awarded by referee Graham Horwood, the official pointing to the spot for a dubious foot up by Peter Murphy on Ryan Jarvis. McGleish having to take the penalty twice, both going in, after encroachment, although Pidgeley did get a strong hand to the second effort.
Danny Livesey then saw his flicked header from a Harte free-kick expertly saved by man-of-the-match Morris before Dobie could only toe-poke a close-range volley straight at the Orient stopper when another Harte set-piece dropped to his feet. Morris again denying Carlisle midway through the half when he made a full length diving save from Dobie's powerful shot on the turn from Hurst's cross.
The O's came back though with substitute Adrian Patulea performing well, McGleish drilling narrowly wide before Melligan curled a long-range effort just past Pidgeley's post. The home side did take a surprise lead in the 85th minute however when an excellent run forward by Patulea saw possession fed into McGleish, the striker showing good composure to clip the ball over Pidgeley and into the net from just inside the penalty area.
Pidgeley stopped McGleish making it 3-1 with a one-on-one save as the game swung end-to-end, Madine then seeing Morris make his best stop of the match as the Orient man somehow kept a far-post header out of his net. There was nothing Morris could do two minutes into injury time though when Thirlwell had the last word, the Blues midfielder curling an 18-yard left-footed effort tight into the corner beyond the reach of the O's goalkeeper.