United recorded a third win in a row to maintain their place in the top three of the Enterprise National League, beating Aldershot Town 2-0 at Brunton Park.
Regan Linney’s eighth goal of the season and Bevis Mugabi’s first for the Blues secured the three points.
Mark Hughes made one change from the Blues' 3-0 win against Truro City, with Junior Luamba replacing David Ajiboye on the right wing.
United started brightly with Luamba having a shot blocked at point-blank range in the visitors' penalty area.
Archie Davies found Luke Armstrong in the 15th minute with a whipped cross, but the Blues’ striker failed to get a solid connection on his strike as it drifted wide.
Carlisle continued to pile on the pressure with Stephen Wearne testing Marcus Dewhurst after picking up a loose pass and driving at the Shots’ backline before getting his shot off.
Linney nearly pulled off a spectacular effort, acrobatically directing Luamba’s driven cross narrowly past the post.
Neat interplay from Wearne and Linney saw the United number ten burst into the box only to be denied by Dewhurst.
Dewhurst twice denied Linney in quick succession in the 32nd minute. Initially, the Blues got in down the left with the Aldershot stopper stretching out a leg to deny Linney before doing so again from the resulting corner.
Ryan Hill struck the crossbar in the 35th minute for Tommy Widdrington’s side, with Kwame Thomas’ follow-up blocked.
Wearne was next to come close for United, heading Davies' cross narrowly wide before Ellis fed Harper on the stroke of half-time, but he fired his shot high over the crossbar.
HALF-TIME: Carlisle United 0-0 Aldershot Town
The Blues made a stunning start to the second half in the 46th minute when Wearne fed Linney, who drove into the area and slotted the ball past Dewhurst.
Cameron Harper raced in on goal in the 54th after being played through by Linney, but he shot high and wide of Dewhurst’s goal.
Luamba made the most of a fortunate ricochet to power in on goal, but he failed to beat the Shots’ keeper.
Gabe Breeze had to be alert to block Tristan Abrahams’ effort from close range in the 60th minute before spreading himself to deny Hill at the back post minutes later.
Armstrong thought he had doubled the Blues' lead in the 65th minute when his shot on the turn was hooked off the line by an Aldershot defender.
United doubled their lead in the 69th minute when Mugabi found space following a corner to shoot low into Dewhurst’s bottom corner.
Dewhurst continued to pull off impressive saves, getting down low to deny Armstrong in the 76th minute before Wearne had his goal-bound shot blocked as the Blues closed out the win.
FULL-TIME: Carlisle United 2-0 Aldershot Town
Teams
Carlisle United: Breeze, Davies (Kelly 68), Mugabi, T Thomas, Harper, Ellis, Gilliead (Grant 85), Wearne (Whelan), Luamba (Macadam 68), Linney (Ajiboye 90), Armstrong
Unused subs: Lewis, Feeney
Aldershot Town: Dewhurst, Widdrington, K Thomas, Barrett (Rai), Meerholz, Penman (Jones 73), Hill, Taylor, Abrahams (Ghandour 60), Clarridge, Tektek (Henry 73)
Unused subs: Nash, Hargreaves, Mullins
Goals:
Carlisle United: (Linney 46) (Mugabi 69)
Aldershot Town: N/A
Yellow Cards:
Carlisle United: (Linney 23)
Aldershot Town: (Clarridge 23)
Red Cards:
Carlisle United: N/A
Aldershot Town: N/A
Officials:
Referee - Paul Cooper
Assistant Referee 1 - Simon Robinson
Assistant Referee 2 - Jamie Waters
Fourth Official - Robert Claussen
Attendance:
7,039 (158 away)
