United made the relatively short trip down the motorway to face Bury in their latest League Two fixture on Saturday afternoon.
Boss John Sheridan made just one change to last weekend's starting line up with Fleetwood loanee Jack Sowerby called up to make his first start for the club.
And he got the response he'd asked for as his team defended bravely, despite being down to ten men through the closing stages, to protect the one-goal lead handed to them early in the second half by a fine Richie Bennett strike.
A superb crossfield pass from Etuhu sparked an early attack when he found Hope in acres of space. He held the ball up until Gillesphey arrived in support, and the left back didn't disappoint with a deep back post delivery. Yates caught it on the volley but Thompson was there to make a vital block.
Carlisle had defending to do when Mayor tried to cause problems on the edge of the area when he combined with Dagnall. Liddle timed a tackle well to put the ball behind, and the corner came to nothing as Stokes stretched only to nod it behind.
Strong work from Hope with his back to goal allowed him to hold play up once more and another clipped pass from Devitt sent Yates on a run. A low cross was cut out as United sent men into the box.
The visitors played some good football as they showed lively rotation in movement and a patient build-up on the quarter hour mark saw Liddle, Yates and Devitt tease a path through as Etuhu came forward to help to pick the lock. Devitt eventually found Bennett, and his arrowed pass was touched on by Hope as it flew across the face of goal. McFadzean stayed calm to hook it away.
United had to defend an inswinging free kick from Adams as Bury came again, and they had extra work to do when a second set piece from Adams was headed high by Bennett. It temporarily opened up for Stokes, but the purple shirts closed ranks to shepherd him away.
The Cumbrians had half a sight of the target when Bennett recovered a looped free kick which was clipped high from Gillesphey. A half clearance sat up awkwardly in front of Devitt and all he could do was scoop his volley over the target.
It was the woodwork which prevented former-Blue Nicky Adams from opening the scoring just before the half hour when a toe-end from Sowerby, as he tried to deal with a low cross, made life hard for Gerrard who was running back to cover behind. He got there before Moore, but the wide man steamed in to put his boot through a venomous shot as the ball squirmed loose. Collin was beaten and relieved to see it bounce back to safety off the underside of his bar.
There was more defending for the Blues to do when O'Shea dropped a shoulder to get into the box and it was Parkes, on this occasion, who slid in to get in the way. Back at the other end and Hope took a step back to create space when he saw that a Devitt pass was heading deeper than anticipated. His downward header came right back at him, when Aimson got in the way, and his second bite was easy for Murphy to grasp.
It was end-to-end and Collin had to punch when Adams overlapped and fizzed a cross at the near post. The ball came back almost immediately as O'Shea arrived late but his cruncher rose high from the offset.
With barely time to take a breath Devitt and Hope pulled wide to make space for Etuhu to fill the gap. He shot early from distance but Murphy had it covered all the way.
Carlisle thought they'd done enough just before the break when Hope moved off his man to find space in a wide area. His low cross was excellent, but Bennett couldn't get there as he threw himself at it to try to get the decisive touch.
United opened the second half with a corner as Yates came in from wide, and head tennis followed from the delivery as Parkes and Bennett challenged. Gerrard was then thwarted when he controlled on his chest only to be closed down quickly.
Liddle showed great awareness to steal a floated pass and he set off another run which led to another visiting corner. And it proved to be an important moment as Gillesphey flicked on the ripped Devitt delivery. Richie Bennett was there to drill a fierce volley past Murphy to send the fans behind the goal wild.
The Shakers stirred and Adams went for accuracy rather than power when a cross landed on his left boot. Collin dived but it was more to make sure it was going behind than from panic.
Balls started to pepper the away penalty area and a punch from Collin left him exposed as the loose ball was clipped high and back into the six-yard box. Gerrard and Liddle did enough to see it away.
Dagnall headed over when he should probably have done better from an Adams cross as Bury kept getting forward, but he couldn't keep it down at close range and it went over the bar.
Gerrard, Gillesphey and Liddle completed excellent last-ditch interventions as Adams showed his quality from wide, but the pressure was relieved when Hope went on a mesmerising run from inside his own half. He cut it back for Etuhu to shoot but the connection was poor.
Bury threw men forward, with Beckford launched from the bench into the attack, and the closing stages were made even more uncomfortable for United when Jerry Yates was shown a straight red card for dissent.
Carlisle sat deep to defend their lead, with Beckford twice going close, and Omotayo was a whisker away deep into time added on when he flashed a header from an Adams corner an inch past the upright.
Hope wasted a good chance to wrap things up late in the day when he found the side netting from a tight angle, but it was job done for the hard-working Blues as they claimed their three points.
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Goals
Carlisle United - Bennett (52)
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Bookings
Bury - Thompson (76)
Carlisle United - Gillesphey (23), Bennett (67), Etuhu (84), Gerrard (87), Hope (90)
Sent off - Yates (85)
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Teams
Bury - Murphy, Stokes, Aimson,Thompson, Adams, Mayor, Dagnall (Beckford 77), Moore (Omotayo 60), McFadzean, O'Shea (Styles 59), Danns. Subs - Hudson, O'Connell, Dawson, Barjonas.
Carlisle United - Collin, Liddle, Gerrard, Parkes, Gillesphey, Yates, Devitt, Etuhu, Sowerby (Glendon 69), Hope, Bennett (Nadesan 75). Subs - O'Reilly, Miller, Slater, Campbell, McCarron.
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Referee - Mr Mark Heywood
Attendance - 3,657 (849 away fans)