United fell to defeat on the opening day following a strong second-half showing from the Gills.
Tim Dieng opened the scoring almost immediately, before Jacob Wakeling added a second early in the second-half.
Jon Mellish pulled one back on 65 minutes, prior to Jack Nolan and Jonny Williams netting, which condemned the Blues to defeat at Priestfield Stadium.
Dieng opened the scoring inside two minutes following a scramble inside United’s area - the attacker lashed home through a crowd of bodies to the delight of the home supporters.
The Blues had the chance to restore parity moments later following a Ben Williams free-kick, which glanced off Aaron Hayden and went over the head of Jon Mellish at the back post.
In the following ten minutes, the Gills took control of the encounter as they looked to add a second, but United stood firm.
On 18 minutes, Carlisle provided some calm build-up play with the ball eventually landing at the feet of Ben Barclay, whose effort from the edge of the area flew over.
After the aforementioned opportunity, the visitors grew in confidence with Hayden seeing an effort go over the bar four minutes later.
The wing-backs combined to create United’s next chance on 26 minutes. Williams’ lofted delivery found Archie Davies creeping in at the back stick, but the right-sided defender’s diving header went off target.
10 minutes before the break, Mellish drove inside brilliantly before unleashing a powerful shot, which was straight at Gillingham ‘keeper Jake Turner.
The longer the first-half went on, the stronger the Blues looked. Josh Vela orchestrated a top counter attacker, which finally found Charlie Wyke, whose low shot hit the outside netting.
Team captain, Wyke, would have another chance as we edged closer to the interval, this time slamming an effort off the crossbar after Davies whipped in a tremendous cross from the right.
HALF-TIME: Gillingham 1-0 United
The Gills started the second–half like they started the first - finding the back of the net. Jacob Wakeling pounced on a loose pass by Hayden and after driving forward into space, he slotted beyond a helpless Harry Lewis.
With the hour-mark approaching, the visitors had a chance to pull one back from a corner, but the ball deflected off Terell Thomas at the near post and went out for a goalkick.
On 65 minutes, United had one back courtesy of Jon Mellish. The ball dropped to the versatile defender - playing in midfield at the time of scoring - who rolled into the far corner past the reach of Turner.
Newly-introduced Dan Butterworth came close to levelling proceedings with 20 minutes remaining after his free-kick went agonisingly off target.
On 77 minutes, the hosts regained their two-goal advantage after Jack Nolan rifled home at the near post beyond Lewis.
Two minutes later, he looked to add another and would’ve done if it wasn’t for a vital touch from Jack Ellis - who just replaced Ben Williams.
The pair were involved in a similar chance soon after, as Nolan rounded Lewis seeing Ellis come to the rescue again blocking a goalbound effort.
On 85 minutes, Butterworth took aim from the edge of the box looking to pull one back, forcing Turner into a save at full stretch.
As we entered the closing stages, Jonny Williams added the Gills’ fourth after firing a fine effort into the bottom corner from distance to confirm all three points for the hosts.
FULL-TIME: Gillingham 4-1 United
Teams:
Gillingham - Turner, Hutton, Masterson (79’ Ogie), Ehmer ©, Clark, McKenzie, Dieng (50’ J. Williams), Little, Rowe (70’ Clarke), Nolan, Wakeling (70’ Gbode)
Unused subs - Morris, Hawkins, E. Williams
Carlisle United - Lewis, Davies, Thomas, Hayden, Wyke © (88’ Kelly), Adu-Adjei (88’ Armstrong), Vela, Neal, Williams (78’ Ellis), Mellish, Barclay (60’ Butterworth)
Unused subs - Breeze, Lavelle, Allan
Match officials:
Referee - Ben Atkinson
Assistant Referee - Joseph Stokes
Assistant Referee - Alex Bradley
Fourth Official - Marcus Carmichael
Attendance:
7, 037 (533 away)
