Report from the Saturday afternoon fixture
United kept their unbeaten start to the season going but they were made to work hard having missed a host of chances which would have made it a much more comfortable afternoon, had they been put away.
United saw plenty of the ball through the opening minutes but Stanley defended in numbers and kept everything on the edge of their box.
Constant pressure from the Cumbrians brought a crossing opportunity for Gillesphey and Beckles was relieved to see it drop onto the roof of his own net as he accidentally guided it back towards the target.
Deliveries rained into the area and Raynes was close when he toe poked a Tom Miller nod down from an Adams corner past Chapman. The keeper was stranded but it was always heading wide.
Carlisle broke from back to front in two passes, as they enjoyed almost total control, and Ibehre used strength to send Lambe on an overlap as he spun his man away. He twisted and turned and his pass to Adams brought a block as the wide man tried to volley it back across the face of goal.
The corner was a training ground routine as Adams rolled an accurate pass into the danger area 20 yards out. Danny Grainger stepped onto it and there was a hint of a touch from Chapman as a fierce shot rattled back off the bar.
Accrington got forward well on 19 minutes when O'Sullivan used pace to go clear on the right. Grainger deflected it out for a corner and Conneely did well to make the delivery his own. He couldn't keep it down and the header dropped well wide with Gillespie completely uninterested.
Chapman had to tip a Devitt free kick behind as it threatened to drop into the net and Raynes was onto the set piece with a diving header which flew past the angle of post and bar as Carlisle kept the momentum going.
Beckles headed high from a Stanley corner as the pace of the game slowed down but Accrington were let off the hook when Ibehre was bundled to the floor as he latched onto a through ball from Lambe. It was a definite penalty but the offside flag was already up.
A high ball forward found Ibehre in a tussle with Vyner and he did well to chest it and leave his man in his wake. He went for an early volley and was disappointed to see it bobble slowly wide. Ibehre was the man on the spot again for a Devitt corner as he found himself unmarked and with space to work in. He went for a downward header which skipped off the surface and somehow bent wide.
The blue shirts continued to camp forward and a deep cross from Tom Miller found Devitt at the back stick. He clipped it back to Raynes and Chapman had to produce a fantastic and instinctive save to stop the ball from popping into the bottom corner.
Substitute Charlie Wyke had an immediate impact from the second half kick off as his turn put Adams into space. His cross beat the keeper but Joyce was thwarted as two defenders slid back to stop him from tapping it in.
A weak shot from distance from Kee on 52 minutes was Accrington's first real effort of the day on target, but it was Carlisle who created the better openings as they looked to get the ball into the box at every opportunity. Luke Joyce was disappointed to lift a 20-yarder over from a half cleared Tom Miller throw, and United were made to pay fr their misses on 58 minutes when Billy Kee was left alone as a cross from the right caught the defence napping. Gillespie had no chance with a bullet header from close range.
United were rocked but an individual moment of brilliance from Nicky Adams levelled the scores when he sprinted in from the left wing. The central defenders backed off and Chapman could only flap at thin air as a curler bent into the back of the net.
It became a battle for superiority in the middle third of the pitch but Aaron Chapman earned his spurs late in the day when Wyke sent Adams on a run. A low cross was touched to Lambe by Shaun Miller and the Stanley keeper went low to make his first save with one hand as the shot came through legs. The alert Reggie Lambe pounced again but the stopper had recovered quickly to set himself and make another point blank save which earned his side the share of the spoils.
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Goals
Carlisle United - Adams (65)
Accrington Stanley - Kee (58)
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Bookings
Carlisle United - Joyce (59), T Miller (79)
Accrington Stanley - Vyner (60), McConville (72)
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Teams
Carlisle United - Gillespie, T Miller, Raynes, Gillesphey, Grainger, Lambe, Joyce (Kennedy 77), M Jones, Adams, Devitt (Wyke 46), Ibehre (S Miller 66). Subs - Crocombe, Atkinson, Ellis, Penn.
Accrington Stanley - Chapman, Pearson, Beckles, Vyner, McConville, Boco (Clark 71), Hewitt, O'Sullivan, Conneely, Kee (Gornall 74), Donacien. Subs - Parish, Davies, C Jones, Hery, Lacey.
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Referee - Mr Carl Boyeson
Attendance - 5,128 (169 away fans)
