Recap

An emotional evening for Development boss, Brian Dawson, who watched his young squad produce a dominant performance against one of his former clubs, Furness Premier League outfit Bootle.

Dawson spent three spells with the club including a period when his father, Brian Dawson senior, was player and manager there between 1989 and 2003.

Indeed Dawson senior is held in such high esteem by the village club that a plaque in his memory is displayed proudly on the pavilion building.

We often use the term ‘men and boys’ when describing the gulf in class of two competing teams and it was an apt expression on this occasion.  However, it was the boys who came out on top with Reds teenagers controlling the game from start to finish in their penultimate pre-season outing.

They scored three goals in each half and the absence of several regulars went unnoticed.

A delightful flowing move produced the first goal after ten minutes with James Bell’s defence splitting ball releasing Carl Lightfoot on the left.  His low cross was met by Tyler Harrell who confidently converted from close range.

They got another two minutes later when the lively Lightfoot escaped his marker in the box to convert Leon Dmytrowski’s pin-point cross from the right.

The third goal arrived seconds before the interval when the referee awarded Reds a fortunate penalty.  Lightfoot appeared to have his ankle clipped as he was about to shoot and the referee surprised everyone by pointing to the spot.

Thomas Houghton was in no mood to squander the opportunity, confidently converting.

They bagged a fourth ten minutes after the restart with Lightfoot side-footing home his second after Thomas Downes supplied the assist.

And that was the end of the scoring until the eighty-eighth minute with Workington completing a good night’s work by netting twice in quick succession.

Harrell scored his second, Reds’ fifth of the night, with a sublime pass into the far corner of the net and Dmytrowski got in on the act, rattling home the sixth just before the final whistle.

Team: Scott Paden-Gale, Leon Dmytrowski, Dan Whitehead, Evan Stephenson, Reuben Butterworth, Jack Burns, Carl Lightfoot, James Bell, Tyler Harrell, Josh Palmer, Thomas Houghton.  Substitutes – Elliot Lowrie, Cain Pears, Logan Bosward, Coby Bell, Matty Graham, Thomas Downes (all used).