Jon Mellish scored his first goal of the campaign to help Carlisle to a 2-1 Sky Bet League Two win over struggling Salford.

Mellish, who was leading scorer as he netted 16 times for Chris Beech’s Cumbrians last season, ended his drought by scoring a 59th-minute winner.

Brennan Dickenson also got off the mark for the season with Carlisle’s opener after eight minutes as United gained a first win at Brunton Park since April 6.

Gary Bowyer’s Ammies have now won only one of their six league games and suffered a fourth defeat in five games.

But the visitors will wonder how they finished without at least a point.

They dominated the first half after Dickenson’s early strike and goalkeeper Magnus Norman protected Carlisle’s lead with saves from Josh Morris, Conor McAleny and Matty Lund.

Zach Clough put the ball in Salford’s net a second time but saw the effort ruled out for offside.

Eventually the pressure told and Morris’ first for the club brought Salford back on level terms a minutes before half-time.

But they could not build on the goal and had no answer to Mellish’s effort which proved decisive.