Recap

The idea was to concede possession, play deeper than normal and stay in the game for as long as possible, then try and profit from one of the few chances which came their way.

And it was a tactic which almost paid off with Reds certainly still in contention for an unlikely point well into the six minutes of added time tagged on at the end.

And on a day when Ceiran Casson, Steven Rigg and Jim Atkinson were immense, the rest battled away bravely against play-off qualifiers Macclesfield.

Did they match-up to the outstanding John Rooney, Tre Pemberton, Alex Curran and Co? No, not quite but it was a commendable effort from a threadbare squad.

Compare it to last season’s performance at the Leasing.com Stadium where Reds had a right good go at Macc, played some great football and lost 4-1!

The outcome, on both occasions, was a defeat and that is the only thing that matters in the grand scheme of things, proving how good Macc have been over the past two seasons.   

Both teams had a goal disallowed in the first half when the respective number 7s, Kane Drummond and David Symington were flagged offside after putting the ball in the back of the net.  Drummond tapped in at the far post after the ball was chipped across the Workington defence whilst, Symington, receiving the ball from Sam Hetherington, blasted home from fifteen yards.

In between, Macclesfield did take the lead and, inevitably, Rooney was involved.  One of his countless accurate passes found Pemberton on the right and his instinctive first touch back into the danger zone was met by Curran who finished with aplomb. 

Rooney, himself, narrowly missed the target from two decent efforts from outside the box. 

Could Workington pose more of a threat in the second half?  Well Hetherington saw one shot go narrowly wide, Rigg had an effort saved at the near post from Ollie Byrne and a Jordan Little effort was cleared off the line.

But Atkinson was clearly the busier of the two ‘keepers thwarting Drummond and Curran early in the second half and then denying Rooney on two separate occasions.

He was beaten for a second time as the game expanded into six additional minutes.  With numbers thrust forward in the later stages, Reds got caught on the counter.  Drummond broke clear down the right before squaring the ball to substitute, Dan Sweeney, who had the simple task of rolling the ball into the unguarded net.

And that goal was of some relief to the majority of the 3,800 crowd who noisily started to celebrate their runners-up berth and one, possibly two, home games in the play-offs.

There was a special moment for, Sam Christian, who celebrated his 17th birthday with his first few minutes of senior football – a moment he will never forget – on a day the travelling supporters paid homage to a Workington legend at the other end of his career.

It was Scott Allison’s final away day, after eleven seasons at the club, and the hardy Workington fans applauded him warmly as he waved goodbye.

Macclesfield: Byrne, Pemberton, Kengni, Mendy, Heathcote (Lafferty, 74), Dawson, Drummond, Curran (Perry, 64), Owolabi (Sweeney, 79), Rooney, Duffy.  

Substitutes – O’Keefe, Baker (not used).

Workington: Atkinson, McCaragher (Wallbank, 74), Roxburgh (Christian, 87), Little, Smith, Casson, Symington, Allan (Reilly, 66), Rigg, Allison, Hetherington.  Substitutes – Walker, Eccles (not used).

Referee: Sam Bragg

Bookings: Curran, Drummond, Pemberton (Macclesfield), Allan, Grainger (Workington).

Attendance: 3,821