Carlisle United made it ten games unbeaten with a 2-1 win over Boston United at the Jakemans Community Stadium.
Two stunning strikes from Harvey Macadam, either side of a Lenell John-Lewis goal, sent the Blues level on points with Rochdale at the top of the Enterprise National League.
Mark Hughes named a completely unchanged squad from the one that drew 1-1 with Eastleigh last weekend.
Morgan Feeney found Josh Williams with a carefully caressed through ball, and the Blues’ right back’s cross fell to Georgie Kelly, whose shot was deflected wide.
A swirling Chris Conn-Clarke free-kick from deep made its way to Kelly, who flicked a header wide.
Dylan Hill nearly made the most of United failing to clear in the 16th minute when the ball fell to him to the left of the penalty area, but his shot was straight at Gabe Breeze.
Marcel Lavinier was next to test Breeze with an effort from the edge of the box when the ball was worked out to him from a corner.
A flowing move from back to front nearly saw the Blues lead with Conn-Clarke bursting forwards and picking out Williams, who reversed a pass to Linney, whose shot was blocked.
Linney managed to work his way inside at pace in the 38th minute, but his effort was lacking power and rolled into the hands of Rhys Lovett.
Macadam and Williams combined down the right, and the ball worked back to the onrushing United midfielder to steer a fierce shot off target.
HALF-TIME: Boston United 0–0 Carlisle United
Conn-Clarke played Linney in with a curling pass down the left, and he cut inside, but his shot flew high over the bar.
Macadam hammered United into the lead in the 55th minute when neat footwork from Linney saw him race into the box; his cross was cleared to the edge of the box, where the Blues midfielder was there to smash the ball into the roof of the net.
Graham Coughlan’s side responded a minute later with John-Lewis tapping a rebound in from five yards out after Breeze had saved Frankie Maguire’s initial shot.
Kelly slammed an effort wide in the 63rd minute after Linney’s cross was deflected into his path.
Lovett was down quickly to deny Linney’s low effort after Conn-Clarke had found him on the left flank.
John-Lewis brought a flying save out of Breeze in the 71st minute with a powerful shot as Boston countered quickly.
The Blues retook the lead in the 90th minute with Macadam again the scorer, powering onto a Williams cutback and driving an effort into the bottom corner.
FULL-TIME: Boston United 1-2 Carlisle United
Teams:
Boston United: Lovett, Teale, Sloggett, Hill, Maguire, John-Lewis (Hiwula 85), Carson, Richards, Aboh (Liam Waldock 85), Gallagher, Laviner (Fogerty 95)
Not used: Barrett, Kelly, Grist
Carlisle United: Breeze, Harper, Hayden, Feeney, Williams, Gilliead, Macadam, Conn-Clarke (Wearne 75), Luamba (Davies 75), Linney (Armstrong 95), Kelly
Not used: Lewis, Grant, Ellis, Whelan
Goals:
Boston United – (John-Lewis 56)
Carlisle United – (Macadam 55, 90)
Yellow cards:
Boston United – (Maguire 67) (Carson 72) (Laviner 95)
Carlisle United – (Hayden 11) (Macadam 60)
Red cards:
Boston United – N/A
Carlisle United – N/A
Match officials:
Referee - Sam Mulhall
Assistant Referee 1 - Declan Ford
Assistant Referee 2 - Isabel Chaplin
Fourth Official - Lewis Dawson
Attendance:
2,090 (491 away)
