Carlisle United’s under-18s have reached the FA Youth Cup third round for the first time since 2020 after an impressive 1-0 win at Barnsley.
Lewis Lambert’s goal early in the second half earned a memorable victory for the young Blues at Oakwell.
His strike in the 51st minute slipped through the home goalkeeper’s grasp to give Mark Birch’s side the lead.
Barnsley were unable to find a way back as Carlisle’s teenagers claimed second round victory.
United now progress to the stage in the competition where Premier League and Championship clubs join.
Lewis Lambert celebrates his 51st-minute goal at Oakwell which proved the winner (Image: Richard Parkes)
Their win in south Yorkshire came after a 4-1 extra-time first-round win at Altrincham earlier this month.
Carlisle were underdogs against their League One hosts but a dogged display kept them in the tie before Lambert put them on top.
Some first-half heroics from Blues keeper Thomas Randall and defender Hayden Atkinson helped keep Barnsley at bay.
Then Lambert, who had come off the bench at half-time, made the all-important contribution, putting Carlisle ahead after good work from Oliver Penney.
Barnsley, in response, hit the post while Randall came to the rescue again for Carlisle.
United’s side, coached by Birch and Jamie Devitt, will now await the third round draw with the hope of an eyecatching tie against top-level opposition.
Lambert, right, fires the only goal against Barnsley in the second round tie (Image: Richard Parkes)
The victory at Oakwell made it a doubly memorable week for United’s academy after a number of youth team players featured for the first team the night before.
Forward Freddie O’Donoghue, who scored his first senior goal in Tuesday’s 2-1 Bristol Street Motors Trophy win at Morecambe, was in the XI at Barnsley.
Defender Atkinson and midfielder Jonah Lowes, who made his senior debut at Morecambe, were also in the side for their second game in the space of 24 hours, while Dan Hopper and Simon Rigby, who have also made first-team debuts this campaign, also started.
United’s third round tie will be played by December 14.
United: Randall, Chapman, Hodgson (Smith 78′), Penney, Porter, Atkinson, Rigby, Skinner (Lambert 46′), O’Donoghue, Lowes, Hopper. Not used: Sillitoe, Bell, Hatton.
