Jeff Smith missed out for the visit of Gillingham after a late fitness test found that the stitches on his foot were still causing problems, which meant a recall to the starting line up for teenage striker Joe Garner.
Simon Hackney and Joe Anyinsah were kept in to provide the width, as John Ward went in search of the win that would keep his side in the top six of League One.
It took less than 10 seconds for United to create the first chance of the day when Aranalde was fouled on the left wing. Bridge-Wilkinson sent the free kick in, and a flick almost wrong-footed Sodje. Garner got a foot to it, but the Gills were able to scramble it clear as they got bodies back in to the box.
The visitors started brightly themselves and a Dickson break in the 2nd minute earned a corner as Raven came across to cover. Aaron Brown then picked out Facey at the back post, but his header was weak and United were able to deal with it.
Dickson was showing his ability as he became the main outlet for the Gills, and a neat touch in the 9th minute took him beyond Lumsdon. He crossed early, but Facey was a yard off the pace and never likely to make a connection.
Poor defending by Gillingham in the 12th minute was to be their undoing as a Bridge-Wilkinson whipped in a testing corner. Royce came for it, but he collided with his defenders, leaving him stranded and out of position. Sodje and Cox had to react but, with blue shirts converging, the pair could only combine to help it across the line and hand Carlisle the lead.
Mark Bentley tried to level things up in the 16th minute when he took the ball off Lumsdon in midfield. Stepping in to a shooting position he unleashed one, but a deflection took it wide of Westwood and behind for a corner.
The Cumbrians went up through the gears in the 20th minute when Hackney burst clear down the left. He took it in to the box before clipping it back for a first time cross from Aranalde. His delivery was clean, but it had just too much on it for Anyinsah, who could only glance his header behind.
Efe Sodje gave away a needless corner in the 25th minute and was nearly made to pay as Livesey rose highest to win the header. He got to it, but Royce was able to gather it as it came right at him.
United were caught out in the 31st minute when Facey used his strength to get on to the ball and lift it over Westwood, as it came forward quickly. As it bounced towards the back of the net the whistle went, signifying a push by the big striker, and the goal was ruled out, despite his angry remonstrations.
It was a stop / start game, with neither side able to grab the initiative, and Carlisle were finding themselves with defending to do as Gillingham stubbornly kept going. Bentley thrashed a half volley over on 37 minutes, and Dickson had a long range effort rise over the bar as they probed without causing too many problems.
Danny Graham breathed a sigh of relief as half time approached when he flicked a Gills corner away from Dickson, angling it towards the bottom corner of his own net. Westwood was alert, and he pulled it in to his chest to preserve the clean sheet.
Half Time: United 1 - 0 Gills
It was another sticky start to the second 45 minutes with the only effort of note a weak shot, from distance, that Facey couldn't catch cleanly enough. Westwood was down early to watch it, and he pulled it in to his hands as he appeared to have slipped on his way across.
The game needed a moment of brilliance to shake things up and it came on 54 minutes when Simon Hackney took matters in to his own hands to register his second goal in as many games. Running forward from 30 yards out he wrapped his left foot around it and sent a thunderbolt towards the roof of the net. Royce, perhaps flat-footed from a deflection, could only watch as it flew over his head.
Southall tried to reply in kind two minutes later with a shot that popped up awkwardly in front of Westwood, and the United stopper had to push it away, choosing safety over any kind of fancy save.
Good football opened things up on 61 minutes when Anyinsah played the ball through to Garner. He spotted Graham in a good position, but the big striker had to settle for a corner as his snapshot was blocked by Cox.
Graham was coming in to it much more and he beat the offside trap in the 65th minute when he ran on to a ball over the top from Hackney. Setting himself he volleyed early, bringing a superb save from Royce, who got enough of a hand to it to divert it on to the crossbar.
The Gills hadn't given up and Southall was disappointed with himself in the 70th minute when the ball came to him, from a scuffed King shot, just 12 yards from goal. He saw it coming in plenty of time, but mishit it and made it easy for Westwood.
The game lost its momentum again as it became very tight in midfield, with niggling fouls taking centre stage.
Bridge-Wilkinson shaved the woodwork with a blistering free kick in the 88th minute, and Cox was in the right place to put the ball away for a corner after Gall and Lumsdon had combined on the right. The cross was a good one, but the Gills defender did well as Garner, Graham and Hackney lurked.
Graham was thwarted by a sprightly Royce deep in to time added on, who sped out as Hackney slid the ball in to the danger area, and it was the last action of a gritty win for the Cumbrian outfit.
Goals
United - Cox (15 og), Hackney (54)
Bookings
United - Garner (78)
Gills - Sodje (52)
Teams
United - Westwood, Raven, Livesey, Murphy, Aranalde, Anyinsah (Gall 73), Bridge-Wilkinson, Lumsdon, Hackney, Graham, Garner. Subs - Howarth, Arnison, Carlton, McDermott.
Gillingham - Royce, King, Cox, Crofts (Stone 74), Bentley, Facey, Southall, Brown, Sodje, Clohessy (Graham 74), Dickson (Mulligan 74). Subs - Jupp, Cogan.
Away fans - 175
