On this day – 2 April
A look through the archives to see what was happening to Reds on the 2nd April in previous years…………..
Trips to London were always eagerly anticipated even though our record in the capital wasn’t too clever. Visits on 2 April produced mixed results – a win and two defeats.
The victory obtained in 1960 over Crystal Palace, our only success at Selhurst Park, was a bit of a smash and grab raid with Jimmy Currie scoring the only goal of the match.
Palace, playing well below their perceived level, had been hit by a drop in attendances but the crowds, poor for them, were good for the Fourth Division and over 12,000 watched a surprise Workington victory.
Six years later, we lost 4-1 at QPR and a disappointing April (just one win in eight) effectively ended our promotion bid. Dixie Hale scored our consolation goal at Loftus Road.
We did finish a commendable 5th in the Third Division but whereas third placed Rangers pushed on the following season, winning the title, we began our descent and finished at the foot of the Third Division twelve months later.
No joy in 1977 either, a 2-0 defeat at Watford, who included former Borough Park favourite, Tony Geidmintis, in their line-up, was the start of a depressing run to non-league football with Reds failing to win any of their final thirteen matches in their last campaign of Fourth Division football.
Our best win on this particular day was long ago during the North Eastern League era with a 5-1 score line against Eden Colliery Welfare finishing in our favour. The prolific Andy Lincoln scored a hat-trick, the only one by a Workington player on this day.
Six wins have been recorded in the NPL era with the first of those a 2-1 success over Goole Town in 1978. Ian Hodgson (pictured) scored both goals that day, his first brace for the club.
Apart from the win at Palace, there wasn’t much joy on the road until 2016 when Matty Tymon (pictured celebrating) grabbed a late decider at Matlock Town.
And twelve months ago we lost 1-0 to Mickleover Sports at Borough Park in yet another must win game. The writing was on the wall after that – relegation suddenly becoming unavoidable!
We did.
