Recap
Having lost to the Reds first team squad in the Shaun Hocking Memorial Trophy a month ago, Whitehaven gained revenge at the expense of a depleted Reds Development Squad.
The West Lancashire League outfit swept aside the teenagers, showing little mercy in a one-sided first half in which they netted half a dozen goals.
Whitehaven opened the scoring somewhat fortuitously in the sixth minute but Reds responded well and battled away gamely for the next quarter of an hour.
But the floodgates opened when the hosts doubled their advantage after twenty minutes and it was a horror show up until interval.
By then, Whitehaven had handed out six of the best with Owen Woodburn helping himself to a personal tally of four goals with Tom Powell and John Aitken adding the other two.
After addressing the problems in a lengthy half time chat, Lee McCullough sent the team out demanding a modicum of pride in the second half.
To a man, the players responded with a much improved display restoring their credit somewhat.
Dan Whitehead, who had struck the woodwork with a fine free-kick in the first half, reduced the arrears with a well taken goal in the seventy-first minute and, for a while, it looked as though Reds might ‘win’ the second half.
But Haven restored their six goal advantage when Carl Denver converted a penalty before the game ended in ironic circumstances. Liam McCullough, son of Reds’ boss, Lee, netted the ninth goal of the evening just before the end.
It was a steep learning curve for the youngsters and compounded by a nasty injury to Jack Brown who left the field with a suspected broken nose.
Whitehaven: Fowler, Harrison, Benson, Tidy, Lomas, Powell, Green, Graham, Aitken, Woodburn, Brunton. Substitutes – Denver, McCullough, Bell, Reid, Moore, Carter, Goulding (all used).
Workington: Lister, Wade, Whitehead, Birkett, Wilson, Stephenson, Palmer, Brown, Foster, Lowrie, Webster. Substitutes – Cooke, Moore, Benson, Percival (all used).
