Oldham Athletic 1 Carlisle United 3: The solution, then, seems simple. All Carlisle have to do at Brunton Park is lay out the "grape juice" away kits for the players and somehow pack all their supporters into one section of the ground.

With these things in place, United make merry. This third away victory on the spin was in dramatic contrast to their struggles at base. Especially around the opposition box, in grounds other than their own the Blues appear a different team.

It is a shame home fans are not seeing more of what the travelling faithful are witnessing right now. That challenge is firmly on the table for John Sheridan and his team. It is only proper, though, to praise excellent results like this as they come.

Where United had been sterile against Stevenage and Grimsby, here they were convincing, ravenous even. Their three-goal lead by the hour mark was the product of some decisive attacking play and movement and an attempted Oldham fightback did not have enough gusto to worry them unduly.

Much of the good stuff occurred, too, right in front of a lively away end, who must have particularly enjoyed the spell when Carlisle went from 1-0 to 3-0 in the space of two minutes. Ashley Nadesan's clinical goal was a treat and then came a splendid turn and finish from Jack Sowerby, his first for the club and United's most attractive individual goal of the season so far.

These came after the foundation of Hallam Hope's first-half header and were accompanied by some effective play in other departments. Sheridan thought Kelvin Etuhu "magnificent" in central midfield, Jerry Yates' return from suspension was also highly welcome, while Tom Parkes had another strong afternoon at centre-half.

Alongside the latter, meanwhile, was a man probably climbing a few steps to cloud nine. Anthony Gerrard was sacked by Oldham a few months ago in circumstances which remain the subject of official investigation.

This, though, was very much his day. Given the captain's armband for the occasion by Sheridan, the defender closed his ears to some mild home booing and, by full-time, was triumphant.

After the final whistle he paused to speak to some Oldham supporters as they filed out of Boundary Park. Then he raised his hands to United's fans in the upper section of the Chaddy Road End. He greeted other old faces before leaving and later tweeted, with understatement, that he had had "worse Saturdays".

It was a good day, too, for Sheridan, another former Latics man, who set Carlisle out positively despite last week's woes and was rewarded appropriately. The question of consistency remains unanswered but at least, once more, United have interrupted a slide, or escaped a "sticky wicket" as Sheridan had described it.

His players brought some of the ruthlessness the manager had demanded, after a couple of bizarre early cameos. Early in the afternoon a stand was evacuated for a few minutes, the result of a false alarm. Early in the game, another unexpected event, for it transpired Carlisle had two Tom Parkses. One was Gary Liddle, who had put on the wrong shirt - one of Parkes' spare number sixes.

The officials dealt with that after five minutes, Liddle handed his number four, and then United, matching the home side's 3-5-2, exposed a few defensive jitters with attacking efforts that brought anxious noises from Oldham's support.

On four minutes, Nadesan pounced on a short George Edmundson backpass and Hope, Sowerby and Macaulay Gillesphey almost unlocked the door. Sowerby then whipped a free-kick just wide and Oldham were less tidy coming forward, their passes not connecting and League Two's player of the month Sam Surridge at arm's length in attack.

Carlisle were more compact in midfield, Mike Jones back alongside Etuhu against his former club, while Hope, Nadesan and, from wing-back, Yates' vigorous running pushed them back and stifled some of their attempts to play out from defence. Edmundson got back to deny Hope when Nadesan had threaded him through, but then the opener came: Hope nodding in when Gillesphey had carefully steered a half-cleared header back into the six-yard box after a Yates' cross.

Oldham eventually built a response, but not with great strides. With Jose Baxter's central flicks not finding much joy, Ishmael Miller's pace from the right was their best weapon. The former West Brom man shrugged off Parkes to examine Collin's reflexes from a sharp angle, and made similar progress a couple more times, but Carlisle were just as positive, Sowerby going close again, Yates almost bustling through and Parkes clipping a Jones corner wide.

There had been some responsible clearing of lines from United's defenders to reach the break intact and then, after a cluster of Oldham half-chances, they properly cut loose. Their second came when Parkes' diagonal ball was missed by Andy Taylor but collected by Yates on the whitewash. He fed Hope, who burned past Edmundson and set up Nadesan to crack the ball high into the net.

This was Hope on one of his dynamic days. Moments later, he was in the mix again, feeding Sowerby, who turned elegantly past his man, deceived another and stroked home a splendid number three.

United's recent away wins had been tight and nuggety; this was their biggest lead on the road since pulverising Crewe 5-0 more than a year ago. Frankie Bunn, the home boss, inevitably made changes and when Callum Lang made a couple of elusive runs it was tempting to wonder why he had not been included much sooner.

At the same time, there tended to be enough obstacles. One dribble from the Wigan loanee took him to the brink of the box before the purple wall of Gerrard blocked his way. Oldham did then score when Lang split the defence and Miller showed strong pace and a crisp finish.

They could not, though, tee up one of those traditionally excruciating United finales. Surridge almost pounced on a loose Gerrard touch but the defender did enough. Sub Chris O'Grady then made a few things stick, as he replaced the tiring Miller, but nothing significant in the box.

In general, Collin was as sharp from his line as he needed to be when the ball came into his orbit. Only once was United's keeper seriously tested, and at that point he produced an outstanding tip-over as Lang met a cross from the right.

Then came what have, after events at Cambridge and Bury last month, become familiar scenes: the grape juice spilling back towards the away end, a few jubilant songs from those watching, and Sheridan talking animatedly - or as animatedly as Sheridan ever presents himself - about a potent result some miles away from Carlisle.

"If you take your chances, some games turn out totally different," United's manager said. A truth as old as the hills. Now to try, at least, to remove some of those boundaries back home.

United: Collin, Liddle, Gillesphey, Gerrard, Parkes, Etuhu, Jones (Campbell 80), Sowerby (Slater 90), Yates, Hope, Nadesan (Glendon 80). Not used: Gray, Miller, Adewusi, McCarron.

Goals: Hope 20, Nadesan 55, Sowerby 57

Booked: Jones

Oldham Athletic: Iversen, Taylor, Edmundson, Clarke, Hunt, Graham (Branger-Engone 60), Gardner, Baxter, Missilou (Lang 60), I Miller (O'Grady 72), Surridge. Not used: Dummigan, De La Paz, Nepomuceno, Maouche.

Goal: Miller 69

Booked: Graham

Ref: Dean Whitestone

Crowd: 4,730 (679 Carlisle fans)