United began their festive fixture schedule with the visit of Cheltenham Town.

And manager Paul Simpson named an unchanged side from the one which drew with Northampton Town - while welcoming Owen Moxon and Taylor Charters back into the match day squad as the midfield duo took a place among the substitutes. 

The first half was played with a strong wind at Cheltenham’s back, but it was the Blues who started brightly with Jordan Gibson and Alfie McCalmont combining to send the latter in the box before the visiting backline crowding him out.

Though as the game settled into a rhythm, the Robins began to assert themselves.

And they had the ball in the net on seven minutes through George Lloyd, who slotted home after capitalising on some ricochets in the penalty area - only to see the offside flag halt his celebrations.

At the other end, United would also see a goal chalked-off. Jon Mellish smashed home at the back post after Sam Lavelle won the first ball from a corner, but the defender was adjudged to have been beyond the final man when he made contact.

Luke Plange then fired straight at the Cheltenham stopper from 20 yards before an opener eventually came on 27 minutes.

It went the way of the visitors, with Lloyd pinching possession and squaring for Liam Sercombe, who applied the simplest of finishes.

That buoyed the Robins and they could have doubled their lead moments before half-time through Rob Street, who fired inches wide after finding the space to turn in the area.

United’s best chance before the break fell to Gibson, whose snapshot from the edge of the box was held by Luke Southwood.

And the Cumbrians started the second half on top, albeit without seriously testing the visiting ‘keeper.

Simpson then turned to his bench with Moxon, Sean Maguire and Ryan Edmondson introduced just after the hour mark.

Dan Butterworth and Taylor Charters then followed suit with the former having an early effort - firing over from 25 yards after a corner was cleared into his path. 

Maguire then saw penalty shouts waved away as he went down under pressure in the box before the forward just couldn’t scramble home after Southwood spilled Mellish’s cross in added time.

But despite plenty of United endeavour during those six additional minutes, there was to be no late leveller as Cheltenham saw out victory.  

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Match Sponsor – World Group

Associate Sponsor – Lloyd Motor Group

Match Ball Sponsor – MKM

Match Ball Sponsor – Border Floor

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Goals

Cheltenham Town - Sercombe (27)

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Bookings

Carlisle United - Lavelle (38)

Cheltenham Town - Bonds (40), Long (90)

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Teams

Carlisle United – Holy, Armer, Lavelle, Gibson, McCalmont (Butterworth 71), Garner (Edmondson 61), Robinson (Charters 71), McGeouch (Moxon 61), Mellish, Plange (Maguire 61), Emmanuel. Subs: Breeze, Barclay.

Cheltenham Town - Southwood, Long, Freestone, Sercombe, Goodwin (Lloyd 5), Street (Keena 81), Ferry, Smih, Bonds, Davies (Bradbury 56), Pett. Subs - Pardington, Hammond, Thompson, Butler-Oyedeji. 

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Match officials

Referee - Declan Bourne
Assistant Referee 1 - Scott Williams
Assistant Referee 2 - Mark Cunliffe
Fourth Official - Paul Newhouse

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Attendance – 7,814 (172 away)