MATCH PREVIEW: Reds host Town
After two excellent away victories in the past week, Reds have home advantage on Saturday and hope to consolidate top spot in the Northern Premier League West Division.
They host Newcastle Town at Borough Park (3pm) who visit Cumbria for the second successive week.
The Newcastle-under-Lyme team recorded a 2-0 win at Kendal Town a week ago and travel to west Cumbria backed by the knowledge of never having lost a league game against the Reds.
Previous meetings, however, have been few and far between and this encounter is just the sixth overall.
The first of those contests was back in the North West Counties League when Town became the only team to win at Borough Park during our title winning season. The return match at the wonderful Lyme Valley Stadium resulted in a 1-1 draw as Reds eventually won the title and Town, six points behind, finished fourth.
They would eventually emulate our feat by winning the title in 2010.
Since then, we met in the FA Trophy three seasons ago and, after a 2-2 draw in Staffordshire, Workington progressed in the competition following a 5-0 success in the replay.
Our league clash back in October also finished all square with Town taking the lead via Jack van der Laan’s penalty and Reds salvaging a point thanks to Matty Clarke’s first goal for the club.
Town are currently 13th in the division and their record on the road reads: three wins, four draws and five defeats suggesting another tough ninety minutes ahead.
They are managed by Dutchman, Robin van der Laan, whose career started in his homeland before progressing in England where he served the likes of Port Vale, Derby County, Wolves and Barnsley.
There will be a couple of fitness tests ahead of kick-off before Chris Willcock is able to name his starting XI.
