Holders Carlisle City moved smoothly through to the third round of the Fred Conway Cup at Gillford Park last night.
They beat the County League side Maryport Athletic 10-1 after conceding the opening goal of the tie.
Athletic had gone ahead on eight minutes from the penalty spot when Cieran Booty made no mistake to give the West Cumbrians a flying start.
City then had to wait until the 30th minute to get back on terms. Kingsley Grandison hit a post and Athletic keeper Craig Rule made a number of top saves.
The breakthrough finally came on the half hour when Callum Birdsall headed the equaliser, and it was the start of a memorable night for the former Cleator Moor Celtic striker. He finished the night with seven of the ten City goals.
It was Jordan Holt who put City ahead after 33 minutes and then Birdsall went on to complete a first-half hat-trick with goals in the 37th and 42nd minutes to lead 4-1 at the break.
It continued to be one-way traffic in the second-half with Athletic constantly being pushed back, defending gamely but needing keeper Rule to produce a number of fine stops.
Two minutes after the re-start Birdsall scored his fourth with his fifth coming on 55 minutes after good work by Holt.
When City made it 7-1 on 62 minutes Birdsall was scoring his sixth goal but he wasn’t involved in the eighth in 67th minute. It was Holt and Grandison who set-up Ryan Swailes for a very good goal.
After a couple of excellent Rule saves and a couple of City misses Birdsall scored his seventh goal eight minutes from time.
The hosts reached double figures three minutes from the end when Kieran Olsen rounded off the night by scoring his first goal for the club.
