Oxford United's hopes of three wins in eight days were dashed as they came unstuck at Carlisle United.

The U's were only able to show flashes of the form which had seen them beat Tranmere Rovers and Northampton Town, although Danny Hylton's 11th goal of the season gave them a lead at half-time.

But Carlisle pushed hard in the second half and the pressure told when Mark Beck headed home in the 73rd minute.

A point would still have been a decent return on the week for the U's, but they faltered a minute from the end of the 90 as Derek Asamoah poached a close range winner from a corner.

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As expected, Michael Appleton named the same XI which started Tuesday's excellent 3-1 win at Northampton.

The one change came on the bench, where Alex Jakubiak replaced Carlton Morris, who cut his loan from Norwich City short on Thursday.

Anyone hoping for the U's to pick up where they had left off at Sixfields will have been disappointed, as a stiff wind made life difficult for both sides at Brunton Park to find a rhythm.

Numerous attacks from Carlisle, playing with the wind at their backs in the first half, broke down as the ball simply drifted out of play.

United were less direct, but struggled to get anywhere near the fluency they had shown at Sixfields.

The hosts shaded the opening exchanges, with Georg Iliev tamely shooting at Ryan Clarke with the first sight of goal after Joe Riley's clearance was intercepted.

Clarke had his work cut out in the tricky conditions, which was shown vividly in the 11th minute, when the goalkeeper could only gather a high cross at the second attempt.

Aside from a Tyrone Barnett shot from 25 yards which sailed off target, most of United's effort in the opening half hour was spent trying to keep Carlisle out.

The hosts forced two good chances, but neither tested Clarke.

First, Iliev volleyed well over after an intelligent knock-down by Beck, who headed the second opening a fraction wide from Hayden White's cross.

As the half wore on, the visitors' attacking threat began to grow.

Most of their best moments came on the right flank in the form of Riley's surges forward.

The full back got in behind Carlisle's back four three times in quick succession, twice from silky passes by Andy Whing.

The home side scrambled two of his crosses clear and with the third chance Riley opted to shoot, only to make a mess of it as the ball dribbled well wide.

It looked certain to be goalless at the break, but in the final minute of the opening 45 a flash of quality saw the U's open the scoring.

Danny Rose latched on to the ball in the Carlisle half and chipped a ball over the top for Hylton, who held off a challenge before firing low past goalkeeper Dan Hanford into the corner of the net.

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Danny Hylton (second left) is congratulated by Tyrone Barnett (left) and Alfie Potter after scoring his 11th goal of the season

The home side had little time to respond before the interval, but came roaring out of the traps after the restart.

Within two minutes Beck fired a low shot just wide of Clarke's left-hand post.

The Brunton Park faithful turned up the volume as Carlisle followed it up with two quick corners, which were cleared.

United struggled to keep the ball for long, as the hosts built up a head of steam.

David Amoo and Asamoah came off the bench to add pace, while United substitute Callum O'Dowda was unable to make much of an impact.

Hanford provided some relief to the pressure, kicking the ball straight out of play three times in five minutes.

It irked the home fans, who were just beginning to get restless when the equaliser arrived 17 minutes from time.

The highly-rated Brad Potts found some space on the left side of the area and flicked an inviting cross with the outside of his right boot for Beck to head in.

Neither side looked happy to settle for a point and the game opened up.

The U's initially looked the more threatening, with Barnett having a shot deflected over and O'Dowda just missing the top corner with a curled shot.

But as the game entered the final ten minutes, Carlisle had all the momentum.

They forced a series of corners and from their 12th of the game, a minute before stoppage time, the pressure told.

The delivery was not dealt with at the near post and Asamoah was on hand to stab a shot home from four yards.

United pushed forward in four minutes of stoppage time, but could not force a good chance.

Carlisle Utd: Hanford, White, Meppen-Walter, Grainger, Brough, Potts, Marrow, Dempsey, Elliott (Amoo 59), Beck, Iliev (Asamoah 59).

Unused subs: Eccles, Robson, Sweeney, Dicker, Gillies.

Oxford Utd: Clarke, Riley, Mullins, Wright, Holmes-Dennis, Rose (Roberts 78), Whing, Collins, Potter (O'Dowda 61), Hylton, Barnett.

Unused subs: G Long, Meades, Raynes, Ruffels, Jakubiak.

Referee: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire).

Attendance: 4,382 (362 visitors).

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