MATCH PREVIEW: Cup progress is the focus

The same venue, the same teams, the same kick-off time but the quest for league points will be put on hold on Saturday as Workington meet Hebburn Town for the second time in six days with both chasing FA Cup glory on this occasion.

They go head-to-head in the First Round Qualifying tie on the back of Reds’ narrow 2-1 league victory on Monday and both teams will be able to call upon players who missed the Bank Holiday encounter.

It is about this time of year that Workington fans start hoping for a ‘Cup run’ that will meander to the First Round proper but those hopes are often extinguished immediately or, occasionally, prolonged for a couple of rounds.

I suspect it will be no different this year yet the competition still holds great interest for supporters at our level of the game.

Quite a few of the players in the Reds squad will be making their debut in the competition this weekend and I’m sure they would welcome a little personal glory added to their CV.

We last reached the First Round proper back in 2007 when away victories over Consett (2-0) and Stalybridge Celtic (5-0) earned us a 4th Qualifying Round v. Boston United at Borough Park.  Another clean sheet and a 1-0 win took us to Bury’s Gigg Lane for a memorable afternoon and a very rare November fixture in the competition!  That was nearly seventeen years ago!

Since then, we have reached the Fourth Qualifying on three occasions but have fallen to the likes of Nuneaton Town (’10-11), Mansfield Town (’12-13) and Stourbridge (’13-14).

There will be prize money available for the winners and losers with payments of £2,250 and £750 paid out respectively. 

Still replays at this early stage of the competition, of course, and should the match result in a draw, the replay will take place at the Hebburn Sports Ground on Tuesday (7.45pm).

Unfortunately, there will be no regular programme available at this game due to circumstances beyond our control but a mini-team sheet has been produced.