ON THIS DAY: 07 March – Davis hat-trick and Alli back flip
The 7th March has produced several victories for Reds in previous years but luck has been against us at times and there was one occasion when we even failed to score in a penalty shoot-out…….
2020 Brighouse Town (home) 3-1 Twelve months ago ‘normality’ was starting to unravel and the general opinion was that the pandemic might disrupt life for a while. How naive or ignorant we all were as everyone’s world was turned upside down.
Brighouse Town were first time visitors this time last year and Reds’ winning run was gathering momentum with a sixth successive victory consolidating top spot.
A bizarre, audacious forty-five yard free kick from Dav Symington midway through the first half produced the opening goal in our favour but a very young Town side equalised with their first shot on target twenty minutes from time.
So, having won the game once we had to do so again and, thankfully, our character helped obtain another three points.
Scott Allison restored the lead late in the day and there was still time for Millenic Alli to net his first league goal at Borough Park and treat us to his flamboyant, gymnastic celebration. Job done.
2017 Marine (away) 1-0 Having gone years without a victory in Crosby during our early Northern Premier League seasons, this was a fourth successive win at the Marine Travel Arena. The only goal in a hard fought encounter came early in the second half with Sam Joel finishing in style after being released by a precise James Earl assist.
There was the usual sprinkling of Reds supporters in the 300 strong crowd, as well as the soon-to-be-famous Dean Henderson whose brother, Calum, was in the Reds squad.
2015 Barwell (home) 2-1 Reds were a goal down at the break thanks to Callum Woodward’s 42nd minute opener. That proved to be a minor setback as we dominated for long periods and eventually won by the odd goal in three.
Gareth Arnison restored parity soon after the restart but then saw a penalty saved by Barwell ‘keeper, Liam Castle. The decider came from man-of-the-match, Phil McLuckie, who drove home a well struck left footed winner fifteen minutes from the end.
Danny Grainger was still a Carlisle United player at the time and was on duty for them at Brunton Park where Exeter City were the visitors.
2006 Barrow (home) 0-0 This was the first league meeting at Borough Park against Barrow since the ’87-88 campaign and our first at home in Nationwide North. After a six-goal mauling at Holker Street, this was far more competitive and both sides had chances to win, David Hewson coming closest for Reds with a shot that thumped against the post.
Plenty on view that had represented both teams with two Carlisle based players named the respective captains – Alan Gray and Graham Anthony.
In the end, though, it was the two goalkeepers – Adam Collin and Simon Bishop – who finished the happiest, both leaving the pitch with another clean sheet to their credit.
1992 Alfreton Town (away) 3-1 A mechanical problem halting the team coach didn’t auger well for the rest of the day but things turned out okay, thankfully. We were delayed for nearly an hour on the M62 and arrived at the North Street ground just fifteen minutes before the scheduled kick-off.
But, apart from three players wearing the wrong shirts and a somewhat disjointed first half performance, our luck changed for the better. Pete Davis had been handed his full debut by George Norrie and he marked the occasion by opening the scoring on the stroke of half time.
It got better for Davis, and Reds, as he scored two more after the interval to finish with a well taken hat-trick.
The official attendance was announced as 63 which included at least a dozen Workington supporters.
Strangely, Davis’ hat-trick proved to be the only league goals he scored during his time at Borough Park!
1989 Leek Town (away) 0-0, lost 0-2 on penalties After a 1-1 draw at Borough Park, Reds had to travel to Staffordshire for a Tuesday night replay in the First Division Cup competition.
It was a decent game but goalless after 120 minutes so a penalty shoot-out was needed to determine the winners.
And that’s when we created a bit of club history when we failed to score from any of our penalties. In nineteen penalty shoot-outs over the years, it was the only time we had failed to convert at least one!
Graeme Nicholson, Chris Collins, Andy Forbes and Gary Messenger all failed from the spot, Leek converting two of their three to progress.
1978 South Liverpool (away) 1-0 We had already lost a League Cup tie against South earlier in the season so were expecting a tough night at Holly Park – and so it proved. But we got that determined performance, stayed resilient throughout and took one of the few scoring opportunities which came our way.
Barry Endean, just a player at that point, grabbed the second half winner following a corner and two hard earned points were in the bag.
1962 Carlisle United (home) 2-1 The Blues were on course for promotion, eventually finishing 4th, but Reds claimed the bragging rights after winning both derby matches by the odd goal in three.
Top scorer Mike Commons scored both in the Borough Park encounter with George Walker replying for United.
Making his debut for Carlisle that night was Geoff Martin, who would become a popular Workington player in subsequent years. It didn’t work out for the left winger at Brunton Park and he became a Red twelve months later, becoming a favourite over five seasons at the club.
1959 Exeter City (home) 2-2 This was Exeter’s first visit to Borough Park in the inaugural Fourth Division campaign and a draw was considered a fair outcome. Billy Robson was on course to finish as our top scorer but, significantly, the brace he bagged on this occasion would be his last league goals in a Workington shirt at Borough Park.
Reds completed that first season in the Fourth in 17th position, Exeter a commendable 5th.
1953 Port Vale (away) 0-2 Reds were quite content to leave the Potteries with what was considered a ‘respectable’ defeat as Freddie Steele’s Vale were one of the title favourites at the time. They had the backing of a 12,000 crowd that day and won with a bit to spare. But they finished the season as runners-up, missing out on the Third Division North title by one point, with Reds next to bottom in 23rd!
