Recap
Not sure who learned most from this pre-season encounter at Frenchfield – Reds’ former boss and current Penrith chief, Darren Edmondson, or the absent Workington manager, Mark Fell.
Edmondson was pleased to field a near-full strength squad for the first time in pre-season whilst Fell, away on a business trip, accepts that his recruitment drive is far from over.
And the dress rehearsal for the serious stuff – a week on Saturday in Penrith’s case and over three weeks until the Northern Premier League commences – confirmed there is still much work to be done in both camps.
Workington moved the ball about reasonably well but lacked a cutting edge in the final third, whereas Penrith created and squandered far more chances and should have won more comfortably than they did.
Connor Hammell’s early corner struck Danny Eccles’ left hand post and that was the first of a number of scares for Reds’ back-up squad.
Eccles made two fine saves to thwart DJ Taylor and Matty Moynan but could do nothing about Kingsley Grandison’s stunning strike in the twenty-fifth minute which looked net-bound as soon as it left his right foot.
It gave the Bonny Blues a lead they deserved and wouldn’t relinquish as Workington huffed and puffed to no avail.
David Symington had two shots from distance, which were wide of the target, while Aaran Taylor was hardly tested with four mediocre efforts from the trialists in red.
Connor Shields should have doubled Penrith’s advantage soon after the restart but missed a golden opportunity when clean through and the striker endured an unproductive stint, squandering three other reasonable chances, much to Reds’ relief.
Jonny Murray, one of twelve in blue with Workington connections, struck a powerful shot from well outside the box only to be denied by Jonny Jamieson’s spectacular diving save.
Symington and another trialist had weak efforts dealt with at the other end as Workington, after introducing experience from the bench, tried to save the game.
But it was the home side who netted the crucial second goal of the evening, albeit a fortunate OG from Aidan Howarth. The defender could do little about a decent cross from the right and the ball hit him and ricocheted into the net.
That appeared to conclude a satisfactory evening for Edmondson, Prokas & Co but there was enough stoppage time for Reds to grab a consolation goal when their ill-fortune was counter-balanced by a dubious penalty awarded in their favour.
Jack Peile and Steven Rigg seemed to collide inside the area, both fell to the ground and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.
Rigg, who scored prolifically for the Blues a decade or so ago, thumped the ball past Harvey Reay for the very late reply.
Penrith: Taylor A, Coombe, Bell, Morrey, Irving, Moynan, Taylor DJ, Moore, Coleman, Grandison, Hammell. Substitutes – Peile, Reay H, McKenna, Brown, Prokas C, Holden, Shields, Murray, Reay O (all used).
Workington: Eccles (Jamieson), Trialist, Walker (Galloway), Martin, Little, Wilkinson (Howarth), Symington, Hubbold, Trialist (Rigg), Christian (Nugent), Trialist (Benson-Lester).
Referee: Ben Scofield, Lancaster
Attendance: 159
