Recap
Summer made a late appearance at Borough Park but, sadly, there was no sign of any Cup magic.
Workington made an all too familiar early exit from the FA Cup as Hebburn avenged the league defeat from earlier in the week. The Hornets were good value for the victory which was secured as early as the fifth minute by Joe Posthill’s deft finish.
He cashed in on a sloppy start by Reds generally but, in particular, a defence that, uncharacteristically, was out of kilter. Olly Martin was barely challenged when he crossed from the right and Posthill had time and space to plant the ball beyond Alex Mitchell, with home defenders conspicuous by their absence.
Posthill almost doubled the Hebburn lead in their next attack. He waltzed through the inside left channel but Mitchell was quickly off his line to block the goal-bound shot.
And Hebburn’s positive start had Reds in disarray again as the unmarked Amar Purewal saw his shot rebound off the crossbar when the majority of the crowd and even the skipper himself, expected an offside flag to be raised.
Reds finally got a foothold for the final twenty minutes of the first half but a Dav Symington half volley and a Josh Galloway screamer failed to hit the target as did Steven Rigg’s effort and Jordan Little’s shot following good link-up play with Kai Nugent.
Posthill saw his third attempt on goal dealt with by another important Mitchell save and, like the league contest previously, Workington were a goal down at the break but, in theory, still in contention.
All that was needed was a repeat of the second half dominance produced in the first meeting but Hebburn’s rearguard had a vice-like grip on Reds’ ‘out of sorts’ attackers and clear-cut chances were few and far between.
Kieran Hunter made one routine save from Symington then gathered the ball from Rigg in the final minute as the latter bravely tried to connect to a rare Galloway cross with a diving header.
Other than that, Hunter wasn’t really needed as his defenders were bravely throwing bodies on the line to block Workington’s occasional ‘on-target’ shots from distance.
So, with Cup dreams put on hold for another year, Workington will have to recover from a disappointing showing to get their league campaign back on track with another home match on Saturday.
The only consolation coming out of a frustrating afternoon was a losers’ cheque from the FA prize fund – but even that won’t compensate for a drop in attendance figures, a worrying 200 down on the first encounter!
Workington: Mitchell, Stephenson (Allen, 76), Galloway, Little, Swinglehurst, Wilkinson, Symington, Kamara, Rigg, Nugent, Hubbold (Casson, 65). Substitutes – Beck, Eccles, McCarron (not used).
Hebburn Town: Hunter, Heywood, Turner, Thompson, Donaghy, Elsdon, Noble (Groves, 87), Spence, Purewal (Adamson, 90), Martin (Walton, 69), Posthill. Substitutes – Devitt, Murray, Robinson, Moore (not used).
Referee: Ryan Moore, Sunderland
Bookings: Wilkinson, Kamara, Nugent (Workington), Donaghy, Elsdon, Posthill, Groves (Hebburn Town).
Attendance: 598