Carlisle Utd fight fire with fire to clinch hard-earned league win at Cambridge

The frustration of United 1 Swindon 2 has fizzled after a pair of quickfire victories by the same scoreline. Beating Fleetwood after extra-time to book Sunderland in the Carabao Cup got rid of last weekend's cobwebs.

Then came this archetypal League Two battle, which showed the Blues the better of two physical sides when the ball stayed in contact with the turf for long enough.

Keith Curle, to his credit, recognised what Cambridge would throw at Carlisle and decided to hurl it back their way. While the home team had a pair of formidable target-men in Uche Ikpeazu and Jabo Ibehre, United's manager asked Richie Bennett to rattle a few cages on his first start in the EFL.

That he did. United's big summer signing from Barrow found a number of weak spots in Shaun Derry's back line and ensured the Blues did not spend 90 minutes examining the bruises Ikpeazu and the familiar figure of Ibehre would inevitably leave.

After they got ahead for a second time, thanks to Tom Parkes' poached finish in the 39th minute, they then embarked on a particularly robust second half display. Defensively they were bold, while Jack Bonham - whose error had allowed Cambridge to equalise Reggie Lambe's early opener - excelled with a fingertip save.

That prevented Ibehre doing unto his former club what many ex-United favourites tend to do. Bonham flicked the striker's header onto the crossbar and that was as close Cambridge got to avoiding back-to-back defeats.

United, by contrast, are off and running and in more reassuring nick than the previous Saturday's false-start had suggested. Parkes looks a useful find at the back, where Mark Ellis has also re-emerged to solid effect. In attack, Bennett has stepped up encouragingly from the National League while there was also method in the madness of leaving Mike Jones out of a midfield he normally dominates.

Preferring Gary Liddle's height alongside Luke Joyce in the screening position, Curle - who also omitted Jamie Devitt and the in-form Shaun Miller - said Jones needed a "break", having recently returned from a long injury lay-off.

"My job is to make decisions that I think are right for the team, the club and for me," United's manager said. "Let me tell you, Jamie Devitt and Mike Jones are probably the two best players I've ever rested.

"It's a squad game, everybody's got a part to play and that showed. There was no ill-feeling, no resentment, but an understanding that the success of the team is more important than any one individual."

Saturday's outcome meant Curle could drive home satisfied with his choices, however aggrieved Miller in particular might have felt at being dropped after scoring and excelling against Fleetwood. The result is king, and this one suggested United's manager found more answers than questions at the Cambs Glass Stadium.

It was seldom pretty, but it was effective enough, especially in an opening spell that left the home side on their heels. In the fifth minute Bennett held off Leon Legge to go through, curling his left-footed finish past the post.

Moments later, the ball again broke for the striker, this time David Forde diving to save his shot. Then the pressure told, as Hallam Hope cut in well from the right, and Luke Joyce laid his pass to Lambe, who guided it through a gap and into the bottom corner.

It was a very constructive start and could have done with being protected for longer. Alas, United buckled early. After Ikpeazu had thumped a shot wide, Cambridge were gifted another chance, as Bonham came and failed to hold a cross from the left, and Medy Elito, the wrong side of Liddle, went down.

There could be few reasonable arguments about the decision and Elito, who scored a hat-trick at Brunton Park in March, sent Bonham the wrong way. Now the game could unfold as an even battle again, which it did with a great deal of back-to-front aerial play, as Ikpeazu and Ibehre backed into United's centre-halves and looked to pounce off the shoulder, while Bennett constantly engaged Legge and Greg Taylor.

Tiki-taka it wasn't. But that didn't make it dull. Carlisle had another lively spell which saw Bennett put two headers too close to Forde and Hope test the keeper with a skimmer. Derry's side responded when Ikpeazu battled past Ellis and served Ibehre for a near miss. The latter then lifted a header over Bonham, requiring Liddle to clear off the line.

While Gary Deegan was a firm presence in the home midfield, Luke Berry was not the menace he might have been. Nicky Adams, Carlisle's chief creator, was also in and out of things as things went down a different path. His delivery, though, maintains his presence in any game and after a deflected Parkes effort forced a corner from Forde's save, Adams' corner was attacked by Tom Miller and Parkes eventually drove the breaking ball into the net.

Another goalscoring centre-half, Dean Walling, will have approved of this work as he watched from his radio position. "Deano" was also a master of backs-to-wall defending and plenty of that was certainly needed in the second half.

Cambridge launched their main strengths at Carlisle from the 46th minute, but did not have enough subtlety when that angle didn't work. In fairness, Ikpeazu did look like he might barrel through on any number of occasions, but a lack of finesse let down the dangerous No9.

First, he turned Liddle and was foiled by the offside flag as he fed Elito. After Danny Grainger had stung Forde's hands with a free-kick, Cambridge built further pressure, as Berry shot over and Ikpeazu embarked on a barnstorming run down the left wing that took him past Lambe and Joyce before Liddle intervened.

Later, Ikpeazu turned and steamed through again, only for Parkes - not for the first time - to put his body between man and ball. Derry then introduced Piero Mingoia and Harrison Dunk on either side, but the result was more of the same - deliveries aimed for Ibehre and Ikpeazu which Ellis, Parkes and Bonham managed to claim.

One Lambe error gave Ibehre a half-chance, while Parkes sent the ex-United man into orbit with a late challenge. Carlisle also upset the home contingent when their players went down hurt and did not exactly leap to their feet.

Corinthian? Maybe not. Yet there was still plenty of time for Cambridge to make their mark. Once Bonham had tipped Ibehre's header onto the bar in the 83rd minute, though, they did not do enough to outwit Curle's side.

If anything, the game's fourth goal might have come at the other end, particularly when sub Sam Cosgrove made his way to the byline and teed up Hope. The latter's connection was not clean enough and the chance went away.

That ensured the remaining minutes were tense. But Carlisle won enough 50-50s and met enough defensive headers to get home intact. A better afternoon at headquarters, against Cheltenham, can now leave Swindon even further in the past.