Carlisle United picked up a vital three points on the road against ten-man Scunthorpe United at the Attis Arena.
Aaron Hayden’s first-half strike on his return to the side gave the Blues the victory in a fractious affair in Lincolnshire.
Mark Hughes made two changes from his side's 3-1 home win over Hartlepool United in midweek, with Hayden and Morgan Feeney coming into the centre of defence, replacing Bevis Mugabi and Terell Thomas.
The Iron started brightly, with Alfie Beestin having a shot blocked before Callum Roberts floated a free-kick over Gabe Breeze’s crossbar.
Hayden had a fantastic opportunity to give the Blues the lead with his free header from Archie Davies' corner, but it fell the wrong side of the post.
The Carlisle number six made no mistake shortly after, giving his side the lead in the 21st minute, directing Davies’ corner past Rory Watson in the host’s goal.
Alex Gilliead came close to doubling the Blues' advantage when a free-kick was cleared out to him on the edge of the box with his fizzed strike deflected just wide before Georgie Kelly’s header tested Watson from inside the box.
Andrew Boyce was shown a straight red card by referee Greg Rollason in the 40th minute for Andy Butler’s side after a mistimed tackle on Kelly, having already been shown a yellow for a foul on the Irishman earlier in the game.
Morgan Feeney was next to come close for Carlisle with his header from Cameron Harper’s corner, striking the upright.
Watson was a match for Kelly twice in quick succession after the Blues striker had raced through on goal.
HALF-TIME: Scunthorpe United 0–1 Carlisle United
Josh Grant had a header from a Davies corner cleared off the line as the Blues looked to make a sharp start to the second half.
Cameron Harper tried his luck from distance in the 52nd minute, firing a right-footed strike which Watson palmed out for a corner before Grant headed narrowly over from the following set-piece.
Beestin found Oli Ewing with a clever ball in behind for the Iron, but the midfielder fired high and wide.
Wearne thought his low effort was heading into the bottom corner from Gilliead’s cutback, but the ball struck Kelly on its way through, deflecting past the post.
Dec Howe was inches away from levelling the score, seeing his header come off the post from Roberts’ cross.
Wearne should have wrapped up the victory in the dying minutes after being sent through on goal by Kelly, but blazed his effort over the bar.
FULL-TIME: Scunthorpe United 0–1 Carlisle United
Teams:
Scunthorpe United: Watson, Evans, Boyce, Beestin, Roberts, Sellars-Fleming (45 Whitehall), Ewing, Starbuck, Dawson (Belehouan 41), Westbrooke (Howe 75), Denton
Not used: Horton, Scales, Ubaezuonu, Chadwick
Carlisle United: Breeze, Davies, Feeney, Hayden, Harper, Ellis, Gilliead (Armstrong 77), Wearne (Whelan 90+4), Luamba (45+5 Grant), Linney (Williams 77), Kelly
Not used: Lewis, Ajiboye, Murray
Goals:
Scunthorpe United – N/A
Carlisle United – (Hayden 21)
Yellow cards:
Scunthorpe United – (Boyce 29) (Evans 45+5) (Westbrooke 53) (Beestin 84) (Denton 85)
Carlisle United – (Wearne 22) (Linney 25) (Gilliead 27) (Harper 37)
Red cards:
Scunthorpe United – (Boyce 40)
Carlisle United – N/A
Match officials:
Referee – Greg Rollason
Assistant Referee 1 – Oliver Bickle
Assistant Referee 2 – Declan Ford
Fourth Official – Lee Hible
Attendance:
5,472 (691 away)
