Carlisle United, the County Cup holders, were taken to extra time last night before squeezing through a tough quarter final at Cleator Moor Celtic.
Mason Hardy’s 80th minute opener had been pegged back in time added on with a deserved Celtic equaliser from Tom Mahone.
It was in extra time that Carlisle’s fitness began to tell and Nic Bollado scored the winner in the first period.
Overall, it had been a hard-fought and enthralling Cup-tie watched by a decent crowd who were right behind the North West Counties League side.
That was particularly so after 20 minutes when Celtic had defender Brad Tatton harshly shown a red card for a tackle on Mason Hardy on the edge of the area as he homed in on goal.
The handicap didn’t affect the hosts, however, as they looked the most likely side to score during the goal-less first half.
On several occasions when they got the ball into the box Callum Birdsall and Jay Wetherill threatened to take advantage. There were a couple of frantic scrambles and some excellent work by keeper Gabriel Breeze kept United on terms.
At the opposite end Craig Rule was not seriously tested and dealt comfortable with efforts from Charlie Watt and Hardy.
The youthful United side were always neat and tidy with midfielder Ryan Carr probably the most effective player on the park, matched at times by the probing of Kieran Maguire for Celtic.
It was really towards the end of the 90 minutes that United looked as though they had the extra man and chances presented themselves.
Rule had to make a couple of good stops to deny Watt and Bollado while Celtic defenders distinguished themselves with body-on-the-line blocks in the six yard box.
The breakthrough didn’t come until the 80th minute when Rule blocked a shot from Bollado but Hardy was there to bang home the rebound.
Celtic, who had a late penalty shout turned aside, piled on the pressure and deservedly took the game to extra time when Mahone fired home a well-placed shot into the bottom corner through a crowded goalmouth.
Into extra time when the handicap really did affect the hosts and United became the side likeliest to win it before the need for penalties.
So it proved when Bollado proved the match-winner with a shot from the edge of the area in the first period of extra time.
Carlisle youth boss Mark Birch said afterwards that he was proud of his young side.
He said: “We’ve come here and you know what you’re going to be up against. We had key players missing and we had a lot of first years involved, and even some under-16s on the bench.
“They dealt with everything that was thrown at them, and they were always going to come under pressure, we knew that. They stood up to it and got through the game.”
