On this day – 16 April
A look through the archives to see what was happening to Reds on 16 April in previous years…..
An away game at Stourbridge is usually regarded as a tough assignment, so to go there on a Monday night with only three substitutes and five teenagers in the squad left a feeling of trepidation amongst the players and the small band of supporters who made the five hundred miles round trip two years ago.
We had made the same Monday night journey twelve months earlier and lost 3-2 in the play-offs but this encounter was more low-key with Reds and Stourbridge on course for mid-table rather than a top five finish.
Again the match produced a 3-2 score-line but, on this occasion, favoured the Cumbrians.
We had found ourselves 2-1 down soon after the interval but Leo Holliday’s first senior goal brought us level and Steven Rigg’s penalty secured the points ten minutes from the end.
Rigg (pictured), who also scored our first goal, and skipper Gari Rowntree made outstanding contributions but so too did young Holliday and the even younger Joe Hetherington.
There was another gritty away win to celebrate in 2016 when Reds pulled off the perfect ‘smash and grab’ raid at Ashton United with Scott Allison netting a well taken winner with our first clear-cut opportunity in the eightieth minute.
Ally Mitchell, in his first spell with the club, had a great afternoon as did the back four (Simpson-May-Calvert-Smith) in front of him.
The 16 April date also agreed with us in 2013 when we won a Conference North ‘dead-rubber’ at Droylsden with loan signing, Jacob Hazel, scoring the only goal of the match.
It took an extra-time goal to see off Carlisle United in the Cumberland Cup semi-final with Gareth Arnison’s calmly taken winner seeing us through to the 2009 final. There were a few familiar names in the United line-up including the aforementioned Mitchell alongside Messrs Swinglehurst, Blake, Aldred, Bowman and a young lad called Tinnion all of whom pulled on a Workington shirt in subsequent years.
Nearly 300 Workington supporters made their way to Ewen Fields for what effectively was the ’04-05 title decider against Hyde United. The away support in the 1,300 attendance certainly made plenty of noise but luck was against us on the day.
Adam Collin was harshly sent off (the red card later rescinded) and Craig Johnston took over in goal. And the winner favoured the home side with Marc Green deflecting an unfortunate own-goal past our temporary ‘keeper.
Hyde completed a double over us that season and pipped us for the title!
There might have been the cry of ‘Get Goulding On’ during a 2001 home match against Stocksbridge Park Steels as we trailed at half time against the Sheffield outfit.
Gary Milne, Reds’ man-of-the-match on the day, grabbed a deserved equaliser and then set up the winner for Graham Goulding (pictured) after the latter had came off the bench replacing Glenn Murray.
It had been a busy Easter Monday with Reds, Town (v. Barrow) and Comets (v. Berwick) all staging home fixtures that day!
To give you an idea of how bad things were in the early nineties, a ‘best of the season’ crowd of 234 turned out for a rare derby match v. Penrith. But those who opted to stay away in 1990 probably made the right decision after a very dull 0-0 draw!
All three Cumbrian clubs finished in the bottom half of the table with Reds 16th, Netherfield 20th and relegated Penrith 21st.
