Carlisle United 3 Accrington Stanley 1: This was a very festive way to bring football at Brunton Park in 2017 near to its close. With one match to go at Carlisle's ground this year, the Blues produced a fair helping of what has been missing in many of their home fixtures since January.

Unlike many times before, they forced the pace and, also unlike before, they showed the gumption to get back in front when Accrington had made things a little more complicated. There was another peach of a goal from Shaun Miller and, all in all, quite enough punch to get the job done on Boxing Day.

Accrington have often menaced United at their home ground but seldom enjoy the trip up the M6. The Lancashire club have not prevailed here since 1956 and although Carlisle had won just four league games at home this year before kick-off, this goes down as another failure for a visiting side with promotion hopes.

For United, though, it was a very welcome outcome indeed at the start of the second half of term. Jamie Devitt's early goal was cancelled out by Billy Kee's penalty, but then substitute Miller graced the ground with his second stunning goal of the season before Danny Grainger wrapped things up.

As against Barnet, Miller's feat was the highlight. It had similarities, too, with that extraordinary goal in September, as he cushioned the ball with his back to goal then whipped it over his shoulder into the Warwick Road End net.

It also nudged Carlisle into the top half of the table. In order to make it a 2018 to remember, there must be plenty more of this, but Coventry, on Saturday, may not fancy the journey north as a result of these good efforts.

For this penultimate game of 2017, Curle saw no need to tinker with the side that had earned a win in the previous one. The 1-0 triumph at Forest Green could have been by a bigger margin but the prize of three points was the most important statistic.

An encounter with John Coleman's Accrington always seems to get the "juices flowing", as the visiting boss put it, and the hope was that this would give United's efforts a little more gusto on home soil.

The visitors' challenge was to pep up promotion hopes that had stalled with three straight defeats. Their side included Ben Richards-Everton, a Carlisle youth defender some eight years back. Although a scrappy opening, United gave his colleagues more problems than they suffered at the other end. The game began with some flurries of head-tennis and some passing staler than leftover turkey.

It warmed up, though, in Carlisle's favour, as Hallam Hope and Richie Bennett tried to press the visiting defence with Reggie Lambe in support. Hope's attempts to get Richards-Everton on the back foot did not always pay off to start with but his persistence on 11 minutes struck gold for United.

It was also a tribute to the long-lost art of staying on one's feet under pressure, as Hope battled past challenges and ref Stephen Martin played an advantage. From there it was transferred to Devitt, whose diagonal run saw him collect Hope's pass and clip it across keeper Aaron Chapman with the fluency of someone with many more than his three United goals.

This gave Carlisle confidence and, while it also opened the game up at the other end, Coleman's visitors struggled to do any real damage, even as they fought their way to the byline at times.

United were not necessarily gorging themselves on chances but some of their football was neat, especially in midfield, where Mike Jones was tidying up expertly and also denying the dangerous Kee space. On the right, James Brown was also looking lively, and he played his part in another attack that ended with Lambe crossing just out of Devitt's reach.

On the other side, Tom Parkes made a muscular run which evaded challenges but finished with a cross that was too powerful for Hope. Devitt nearly slotted Hope through next, while Sean McConville's tame curler was little reward for Accrington's best passing efforts.

Could United make their better play count? Not for a lack of trying. Hope almost made the most of errors at the back, then another bustling attack resulted in Danny Grainger troubling the side-netting from a free-kick. Minutes later, it really should have been two, when the relentless Hope nutmegged Scott Brown and saw his through ball reach Devitt, but this time his finish cleared the bar.

Such a miss was then nearly handed the ultimate punishment. But when Devitt's misjudged backpass put Mallik Wilks clean through, Jack Bonham saved with his feet as the Stanley man failed to keep his composure.

It had been, though, an otherwise positive half from United, their lead well-earned and not one they will have anticipated losing so soon into the second half. One burst of pace and one late challenge, though, and the path was changed. Accrington's searching ball down the right required Kayden Jackson's acceleration to turn it into a chance, but that he did, getting past Parkes at the byline, then turning inside the defender, who brought him down.

Kee did the rest from the spot, and now Carlisle did not seem quite so certain of themselves. Lifted, the visitors flashed a couple of balls teasingly across goal. Carlisle tried to respond but Chapman got the better of Hope, and then did just enough to deny Bennett after fumbling a Parkes header.

By sending the ball up to Hope and Bennett, United tried to build a new platform. It nearly worked when Grainger broke onto the ball on the left and crossed, but Hope lashed over after Bennett had challenged the keeper. Jones shot wide at the end of a flurry, before Jackson hit the stanchion for Accrington when Wilks had shown Carlisle's defenders a clean pair.

It was now a more even contest, ripe for someone to decide it. Lambe made his attempt with an elusive run that Kee ended with a foul, Grainger curling the free-kick too high. Curle then switched things up, sending on Miller for Bennett and John O'Sullivan for Brown, a change of tack up front and on the right, and also in formation.

It paid off handsomely. On 69 minutes, an O'Sullivan cross broke for Lambe, but after wrongfooting a Stanley defender, the Bermudan shot wide. United were back on top but the pace of Jackson and Wilks still raised the occasional alarm, while Carlisle's attacking movements lacked some of the precision of before.

One way to ease concerns like this is to produce something spectacular, and Miller certainly has the ability. It was barely a half-chance, as the ball reached the striker with his back to goal, but his chested control and finish were of the highest quality, and left Chapman scrambling pointlessly as the ball arrowed into the bottom corner.

That deflated Stanley and sent United on the hunt for a decisive third. Jones, with a piledriver, hit the post, and then it came, when Miller backheeled, Hope drilled towards goal, and Grainger was alive to the deflection, sweeping in behind the defender and firing it past Chapman.

A couple of scrapes at the other end aside, it was a tribute to the way Carlisle and Curle had upped their game, and their tempo, when the match was in the balance. Thanks in a major way to Miller, the scales came down firmly in the Blues' favour and maybe an often challenging year can end, after all, with some hope of better things to come.

United: Bonham, Brown (O'Sullivan 66), Grainger, Hill, Liddle, Parkes, Jones, Devitt, Lambe (Etuhu 77), Hope, Bennett (S Miller 60). Not used: Bacon, T Miller, Cosgrove, Ellis

Goals: Devitt 11, S Miller 77, Grainger 83

Accrington Stanley: Chapman, Donacien, Hughes, Richards-Everton, Nolan, Brown, Clark, McConville, Wilks (Ogle 78), Jackson, Kee. Not used: Stryjek, Sykes, Johnson, Conneely, McLeod, Sousa

Goal: Kee 46pen

Booked: Kee

Ref: Stephen Martin

Crowd: 5,404 (238 Accrington fans)