A Blues XI fell to defeat in the Central League Cup against a strong Burnley side on Tuesday afternoon.
The early stages of the game consisted of early pressure from United with successive corners for the Cumbrians.
The majority of the opening knockings of the game were spent in the middle third of the pitch, with both sides enjoying spells of possession, in particular the home side.
Burnley, having won last years’ edition of the cup, were a side looking to put their imprint on the tie early.
The referee also looked to take charge of the tie and was quick to hand out bookings to a number of the Clarets’ players.
McDermott was booked on 19 minutes for a late challenge in the United half.
The hosts did manage to convert their possession into a noteworthy chance on 27 minutes, when a Burnley corner was cleared only as far as Bevan, who’s cross found Westley in the box, who notched his header past Sillitoe to make it 1-0 to the hosts.
United responded instantly and had a huge chance on 33 minutes, when nice play from Hopper saw Lowes free in the Burnley box, but his shot sailed narrowly wide of the post.
The only other chance of the half came on 41 minutes when Balogun tried to catch Sillitoe out from outside the box, but his shot crept over the United bar.
HALF-TIME: Burnley 1-0 United
United came out for the second-half in good spirits and had the better of the opening ten minutes.
On 47 minutes, O’Donoghue found space on the left but his ball into the box evaded any of his fellow United teammates.
The referee deemed Brandon Ly’s challenge on 51 minutes reckless enough to warrant a yellow card.
United then went close on 53 minutes after nice play from Hopper opened up space in the Burnley final third but Robinson comfortably saved Dan’s effort.
The Clarets then came close to doubling their advantage on 57 minutes, but Ly’s shot was expertly blocked by Atkinson.
McDermott then made sure the hosts would double their lead on 59 minutes, when he rifled his shot into the bottom right corner.
Then ensued a mad two minutes for United, when the scoreline went from 2-0 to 4-0 in the blink of an eye.
Tweedy notched both goals for Burnley, his first was an expertly placed finish into the bottom left corner after a well-timed through ball, and his second was one of real quality as he finished with a graceful chip.
The hosts were then reduced to ten men, when Fitzpatrick managed to glide past Ly on the break, but Ly took matters into his own hands and the referee brandished him with a second yellow card and then a red.
Burnley extended their lead further on 77 minutes, when Ashton found Bauress in space, who hammered the ball into the bottom corner to put Burnley 5-0 up.
United persevered and a mazy Smith dribble resulted in Hopper having space to shoot, but his attempt was straight into Robinson’s palms.
The referee wasn’t done with one red card though and sent McDermott on his way for a trip on Lowes on 83 minutes to leave Burnley down to nine men.
FULL-TIME: Burnley 5-0 Carlisle United
Teams:
Burnley - Robinson, Balogun, Pye (40’ Ashton), Ward (62’ Williams), Campbell, Bauress, Bevan (62’ Tweedy), Ly, Westley (67’ Ryan), McDermott, Masara.
Unused subs - Forshaw.
Carlisle United - Sillitoe, Chapman (54’ Bell), Hopper, Porter, Fitzpatrick, Atkinson, Rigby, Skinner (67’ Hodgson), O’Donoghue, Lowes, Lambert (59’ Smith).
Unused Subs - Randall.
Goals:
Burnley - (28’ Westley), (59’ McDermott), (66’, 67’ Tweedy), (77’ Bauress).
United - N/A
Yellow card:
Burnley - (19’ McDermott), (51’ Ly).
United - (54’ Lowes), (62’ Skinner).
Red Card:
Burnley - (71’ Ly), (83’ McDermott).
United - N/A
