The Blues were back at the Globe Arena on Tuesday afternoon for the first of their Central League Cup reserve games.
Eric Kinder and Nathan Rooney took charge of a mix of first team and youth players and they went with a 4-3-3 formation with Scougall, Charters and Lightfoot in the middle, and Armstrong, Sorensen and Bell up front.
Things were tight through the opening 10 minutes with little to report from either side in terms of chances created. Mendes-Gomes had a 22-yarder blocked by Knight-Percival during the stagnant spell, and it was the United defender who sparked a move forward for the Blues when he sent an accurate 60-yard pass into the opposition box. Sorensen won a corner as he tried to pick out Armstrong with a low pass, and the home defence dealt with that delivery.
Carlisle had the lead just before the quarter hour when Armstrong curled an excellent inswinging free kick into the mix. Aaron Hayden lost his marker and finished it off at close range with a guided volley.
United should have doubled the lead when Bell took the ball off Bakare's toe in a dangerous area. Sorensen stepped in, and he dropped a shoulder to make room for the shot. He had the width of the target to aim at but he sent it high and it crept over the bar.
The visitors had defensive work to do when former-Blue Shaun Miller found space with the ball at his feet. He shot on the spin but Gray was able to watch as it rose into the sky.
United continued to look the more likely and an overlap from Birch brought a raking pass from Scougall which sent the young left back free. His cross skipped up off the surface and it had to be headed behind before Sorensen could pounce.
Morecambe struggled to cope as the visitors kept the pressure on and the lead was extended further when a corner delivery from Armstrong was met on the jump by Hayden. His initial header was cleared off the line by Cranston, but the hosts were at sixes and sevens as the ball ran free. Aaron Hayden doubled his account for the day with an emphatic finish.
The Shrimps should have given themselves a boost just before half time when Miller skipped clear on the left flank. His cross was inch perfect for Mendes-Gomes but his close-range volley on the slide somehow angled over the bar.
And Gray had a fingertip save to make in time added on when Mendes-Gomes tried his luck from distance. The keeper got enough on it to send it behind.
More excellent keeping from Gray kept Morecambe at bay at the start of the second half when a Cranston set piece was nodded back across the face of goal. Shaun Miller met it with a crunching header but the stopper somehow got down to make a one-handed intervention.
Carlisle responded with a slick move which sent Sorensen clean through. Roche was off his line quickly to execute a vital block.
The Shrimps looked livelier after their half time team talk and Miller robbed Hayden as they threw men forward. Leitch-Smith took over but his deflected grasscutter rattled back off the base of the upright.
The game was played at a good pace but the next opening didn't come until the 75th minute when Sorensen used a one-two with Charters to go on a break. Defender Tyler Brownsword got back to make an important block just as the shot came in.
Newcastle loanee Elias Sorensen got the goal he had threatened to bag when he stepped inside from the left wing. He put his laces through a shot from just outside the box and and he left Roche with no chance.
Morecambe should have got on the scoresheet on 80 minutes when a cross from Howard, following what had been a sustained spell of pressure, made its way through to Halwey at the back post. It took him by surprise and he could only watch in agony as it ricocheted off his knee and fell harmlessly behind.
Aaron Hayden was a whisker away from a hat-trick when he leaped high to meet a Birch corner, but it dropped a moment too late as it skimmed onto the top of the net.
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Goals
Carlisle United - Hayden (14, 32), Scougall (22), Sorensen (77)
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Teams
Morecambe - Roche, Buxton, Cranston, Lynch, Brownsword (C), Bakare, Mendes-Gomes, Jayne, Miller, Leitch-Smith (Hawley 67), Ellison (Howard 67). Subs - O'Brien (gk), Moore, Cannon Noren.
Carlisle United - Gray (c), Elliott, Hayden, Knight-Percival, Birch, Scougall (Walton 60), Charters, Lightfoot (Wilson 82), Armstrong (Barnes 74), Sorensen, Bell. Subs - Robinson (gk).
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Referee - Mr Abid Hussain
