The Blues were in a buoyant mood following their opening day victory last weekend but they knew it would be a tough test as they came up against a Swindon Town side which has been tipped for big things this season.
Manager Steven Pressley stuck with the same starting eleven for the visit to Wiltshire, with the addition of recently signed Mohammed Ali Sagaf to the bench in place of youth second year Josh Galloway.
United kicked into a strong and blustery wind in the first half, and they had to adapt quickly as almost every attempt to send the ball long was caught up in a gust and thrown back at them.
Swindon used the advantage when Doughty sent an inswinging corner to the far post early in the piece. Woolery stretched to meet it but he popped his header from a tight angle over the bar.
The Robins came again when Thomas misplaced a pass inside his own half, and Doughty checked his run to call for the ball when Isgrove stroked it through. It dipped over Collin and he was relieved to see it deflect to safety off the top of the bar.
Carlisle had to recover quickly when a ball over the top found Woolery in space on the edge of the area. He cut it back to Lyden, but his low shot took a touch off a defender and went behind for another corner.
The set pieces from wide were a real cause for concern as they bent wickedly on the wind, and yet another fizzed curler from Doughty outfoxed everybody as it flew through bodies. It eventually ricocheted off Yates, but Collin had kept his concentration and he was able to make the save.
Having been pegged back, United broke with purpose on 23 minutes when Bridge carried the ball from deep. He fed Thomas on the overlap, and his reverse pass sat up nicely for Bridge to volley. A goal bound effort was parried, and Scougall's follow up was blocked just in the nick of time as it threatened to creep over the line.
Back at the other end and Doughty found space for a cross when he pulled off his man. It hit Elliott and spooned high into the sky, and Anderson was disappointed not to do better as he headed the swiftly descending ball over the target from 10-yards out.
Yates blazed over when he was sent clean through, with United convinced the forward was offside, and Anderson brought a diving save from Collin in what was another good spell for the hosts.
Another long ball, from inside the home half, had Anderson sprinting and he got there just a moment before Collin as the keeper came off his line to deal with it. The forward had been forced wide and all he could do was pop it into the mix, but Webster was on hand to tidy things up.
Swindon had half a sight just before the break when they countered quicky as a Cumbrian attack broke down. Woolery controlled well as it came his way, but his toe poke was straight at Collin. Yates then went for glory as he spun on a through ball, but Collin was once more equal to the cruncher as he used both fists to punch it away.
United fashioned the first chance after the break when Bridge intercepted a clearance halfway inside the opposition half. He spotted Thomas on a run, but McCormick dived low to catch the delivery at the front post before Olomola could pounce.
A header from Conroy landed on the roof of the net as he tried to make something of a swirling cross from Doughty, and Bridge rifled one over at the other end when he took the ball forward before letting fly from 23-yards.
It was Carlisle who grabbed the lead when McKirdy showed a clean pair of heels as he sprinted down the touchline with the ball at his feet. He had three Swindon players tracking his run, but they could do nothing as he bent into the box before rolling the ball back towards Olufela Olomola. The forward kept his cool as he sidefooted an excellent finish into the back of the net to open his account for the club.
The Robins took just four minutes to level things up as a ball from the right seemed to stick under the boot of Yates, on the six-yard line, for what seemed like an age. Blue and red shirts converged but it was Yates who wheeled away in celebration as the ball somehow made its way over the line.
A free kick from Doughty slipped an inch over as it dipped late, with home tails up, and Anderson had the crowd on its feet when he went through a meaty challenge on the edge of the area midway through the half. His grasscutter had Collin beaten but it whizzed past the upright.
Swindon took the lead for the first time on the afternoon on 70 minutes when a corner was pinged into the six-yard box. Zeki Fryers lost his man and he had the relatively simple task of nodding it in from very close range.
Keeper Adam Collin kept his side in the game when Webster was robbed of possession by Anderson. The forward had just the stopper to beat, but Collin spread himself to make a fantastic save with his boot.
Thomas forced a parry from McCormick late in the day, when he dropped a shoulder to shoot on the run, but the afternoon got worse for the away side when substitute Canice Carroll went in for a tackle with Lyden. The referee wasted no time at all in producing the red card.
The Robins used the man advantage to good effect as they closed the game down, and Woolery snatched another goal in time added on for Woolery as he beat the offside trap before guiding it under the advancing keeper.
There was still time for home manager Richie Wellens to pick up a booking when he received a visit from the referee at the behest of the fourth official, but the action wasn't done as United's new arrival Mo Sagaf bagged a second for the Blues, when he finished off a good cross from Thomas, but it was too late for the ten men and they left with nothing to show from their long trip into Wiltshire.
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Goals
Swindon Town - Yates (56), Fryers (70), Woolery (90)
Carlisle United - Olomola (52), Sagaf (90)
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Bookings
Swindon Town - Doughty (34), Lyden (57)
Carlisle United - Knight-Percival (57)
Sent off - Carroll (83)
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Teams
Swindon Town - McCormick (gk), Fryers, Baudry, Isgrove (Twine 90), Yates, Doughty, Woolery, Lyden, Hunt, Conroy (c), Anderson. Subs - Reid, May, Henry, McGlashan, Ballard, Curran.
Carlisle United - Collin (gk) (c), Elliott, Webster, Knight-Percival, Mellish, Scougall (Sagaf 79), Jones, Bridge, Thomas, Olomola (Loft 59), McKirdy (Carroll 59). Subs - Gray (gk), Iredale, Hayden, Branthwaite.
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Match officials
Referee - Nicholas Kinseley
Assistant Referee 1 - Marvyn Amphlett
Assistant Referee 2 - Richard Morris
Fourth Official - Craig Taylor
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Attendance - 7,024 (298 away fans)