United Ladies recorded an emphatic 3-0 win over Colne Ladies on Sunday to extend their perfect start to 2025.
The Blues went into Sunday’s game slightly depleted from last weekend’s 2-1 win against Clitheroe Ladies, with match-winner Jade Beal missing through injury.
However, Carlisle continued where they had left off from in previous weeks and produced their most convincing display of the campaign so far.
The Cumbrians proved impossible to deal with for their Lancastrian opponents, who never really looked like they were in the game at all.
Early efforts from Charlotte Murray and Chelsea Norris on 6 and 15 minutes, respectively, tested the Colne 'keeper but didn’t lead to an opening United goal.
The Cumbrians’ first guilt-edge chance was on 20 minutes, when skilful link-up play from Victoria Riddet and Sammi Norman down United’s left wing caused an opening, but Norman’s cross could only find the hands of the Colne goalkeeper and not the oncoming Carlisle players.
Norman would make no mistake on 27 minutes, when wonderful work from debutant Katie Barbour on the right wing, allowed her time and space to fire a cross across the Colne box, the cross found the oncoming Norman at the back post, who fired the ball first-time into the side netting to put United 1-0 up.
Carlisle piled on the pressure further after the opening goal and managed to earn consecutive corners on 34 minutes. Norman’s first corner picked out Murray in the box, but her header was cleared on the line by the Colne full-back for another United corner.
The Cumbrians managed to make the second corner count on 35 minutes, when the ball again found its way to Murray, who passed it back to corner taker Norman, her flighted cross found Bessie Best at the back post, whose deft header found the same side-netting that Norman found only seven minutes prior, to double United’s lead.
HALF-TIME: United 2-0 Colne
The second period had a slow start from both sides and did not kick into life until the first fifteen minutes had passed. The interval came at the wrong time for United, who had such a strong hold on proceedings in the first-half.
Carlisle regained control after this and made their three points a certainty on 66 minutes through Norris’ second goal of the season. United’s third goal was of sublime quality, Norris judged the 'keeper to be far enough off her line to attempt the ridiculous and her halfway line half-volley left the Colne shot-stopper stranded to find the top corner, to send the home faithful and players into raptures and make Carlisle’s lead unassailable.
The Cumbrians managed the rest of the game with ease and looked like the only side likely to make further imprint on the scoreline.
A combination of well-timed tackling from United’s ever-reliable central midfield partnership of Murray and Ella Winter, astute defensive positioning from the Carlisle backline and quality sweeping from Emma Kenyon meant that United’s goal remained untroubled.
Another positive Sunday afternoon for the Blues, who made it three wins out of three in 2025 and moved United up to 7th in the league table, and only 5 points behind 4th placed Penwortham Town with two less games played.
FULL-TIME: United 3-0 Colne
United: Kenyon, Blaylock, Strutt, Best, Defreitas, Norman ©, Murray, Winter, Johnson-Dodd, Riddet, Norris.
Substitutes: Barbour, Scott, Nixon
United goals: (Norman 27’), (Best 35’), (Norris 66’).
POM: Ella Winter
