Carlisle City got off the mark in the Northern League First Division at home last night when they beat Sunderland RCA 3-1.
It was a confident performance from City who had drawn their opening game 1-1 at Tow Law.
Manager Jim Nichols said: “We had been a bit disappointed that we hadn’t won at Tow Law but there was not much doubt about this performance.
“We played some brilliant football, particularly in the first-half, and during the game we hit the woodwork four times. It was only 1-0 at half-time but we controlled the game after the break and the only disappointment was they scored five minutes from the end.
“This season we have looked at changing the way we play, simply because we feel we have some good footballers in the squad and we want to play to their strengths, so we are not going as direct as we may have done in the past.
“The third goal in particular was very watchable because we played out from defence and the move was finished by a terrific strike by Jordan Holt. Overall, though, I think we kept the ball as well as we ever have.”
It was Holt who had headed City into a 21st minute lead and despite being in complete control the second didn’t come until the 56th minute when Rob McCartney doubled the lead.
Holt hammered in the third after 64 minutes and Sunderland managed a consolation in the 85th minute through Jackson Ward.
City are back in action on Friday night when they travel to Whickham in the FA Cup.
