Carlisle United moved smoothly through to the second round of the County Cup last night with a 5-0 win at Cleator Moor Celtic.
But United included six members of their first team and Celtic boss Brian Dawson felt that had tipped the scales in their favour.
He said afterwards: “We were obviously expecting a very tough game when we saw the team sheet. The plan was to sit and frustrate them, which to a certain extent it did.
“They scored early on but we stuck to the game plan and were still in the game at 1-0 without threatening a reply. Then a wonder strike from a Taylor Charters free-kick just after the hour mark knocked the wind out of our sails a little before the fitness levels of first teamers kicked in.
“We hoped we would still be in it when the first teamers were withdrawn which would then have given us an opportunity to have a go.
“This proved to be the case as late on we had several attempts to find a consolation goal. Unfortunately for us the game was over as a contest at that stage. We will dust ourselves down and be ready to go on Saturday with a home League game against Squire’s Gate.”
Nick Bollado had given Carlisle the lead on nine minutes but it was really a frantic spell in the second-half which proved decisive.
That Charters free-kick on 67 minutes – taken after he had been fouled – was a beauty and sparked a flood.
Substitute Dan Hill scored two in quick succession to double the Carlisle lead.
Celtic had their brief moments before Bollado scored a fifth Carlisle goal late on.
Mark Birch, in charge of the United team said: “The goals we scored in the second half were an example of exactly what we’d wanted them to do from the first minute.
“It’s always going to be difficult when you come to places like this, especially when you have a mix of first-team players and youth team players who haven’t really had much pitch or training time together.
“That never makes it easy, but what you have to do is trust in the quality you have and lift the tempo. You have to play the game at the pace you want to play it at, and not allow the opposition to get any kind of foothold.
“It was when we really got to grips with it that we scored the bulk of our goals.”
On the youth team players who were involved, he said: “I’m pleased with what they did but you always demand more. There were little things that happened that suggested they were getting complacent, and we can’t allow that. They weren’t as positive as they could have been in certain situations, and they didn’t do the things we wanted them to do.
“We’ll pat them on the back for the good bits, but as a coach your job is also to make them think about what they could and should have done better.
“Hopefully they’ll take that into the next round and they’ll recreate that five-minute spell that got us all the goals.
“That was a real positive, the quality of the goals. Dan Hill got one that was superb, and to be fair he’s more than capable of doing that type of thing.
“We’ve waited a long time for him to show that kind of quality. He’s got it, and he now needs to show it on a consistent basis.”
“We’ve had a good run in the league and I think you see at any level that winning breeds confidence. We did see a lot of the ball and we played some good stuff.
“We passed it around well but it’s that word consistency again. You need it within a game as well as through a season.
“If you play at your best in every game you’ll see that you dominate for longer periods, and managing games becomes that much easier.
“I have to say that the lads from the first team showed an excellent attitude, and that did rub off. They did it right, and it’s not always easy when all they want is to be playing in the big games.
“However, this is where they’re at and it has to be done in the right way. Some are coming back from injury, some are trying to remind the manager that they’re ready, so it matters.
“For everybody it’s minutes in the legs, so overall it’s pleasing all round.”
Members of the first team squad on show were Ben Barclay, Gabe Breeze, Taylor Charters, Jack Ellis, Duncan Idehen and Mick Kelly.
