ON THIS DAY: 21 February – Floodlight failures & future England managers
Own-goals, deputy goalkeepers, red cards and even the occasional floodlight failure are just some of the abnormalities Reds have experienced on the 21st February in years gone by…….
2015 Barwell (away) 2-1 This was a narrow but convincing win at the end of a week which saw Matty Tymon become the first Reds player charged with improper use of his ‘twitter’ account. He did his talking on the pitch on this occasion scoring the winner and being involved in Conor Tinnion’s opener.
It was a memorable afternoon for Anthony Wright (pictured) who made his 300th appearance for Reds.
2012 Gainsborough Trinity (home) 0-2 Trinity completed a Blue Square Bet North double over Reds with the Borough Park score line the same that had been inflicted upon us at their place. The visitors were skippered by Workington lad, Kevin Sandwith, who was nearing the end of a notable career.
2009 Tamworth (away) 0-1 Tamworth also completed a league double over Reds, 4-1 at Borough Park and 1-0 in the return, with Reds winning an FA Trophy encounter in between. We felt we deserved a point from this evenly fought contest, which was decided by a controversial Gareth Sheldon goal when Kyle May was down injured!
2006 Lancaster City (away) 4-0 This was the night the floodlights failed at the Giant Axe with the Nationwide North fixture abandoned at half time when Reds were already four goals to the good.
City’s goalkeeper, Tony McMillan had been sent off inside the opening ten minutes and two different outfield players had taken turns to deputise. Amidst the chaos, Reds scored four goals – Tony Hopper and Kyle May at the right end with two City defenders contributing with own-goals.
Futile attempts to restore the power were made but the referee’s patience ran out and he called a halt to proceedings at 2122.
Tommy Cassidy wasn’t in the best of moods either having suffered a puncture whilst driving to the game!
2004 Belper Town (away) 1-1 Jonny Wright’s debut for Workington was unusual, bordering on bizarre, but memorable nevertheless. He was name as a substitute and introduced to the game midway through the first half.
Regular goalkeeper, Kevin Wolfe then retired at half time through injury and it was Jonny who took over between the posts for the second half, with Belper already 1-0 ahead. The makeshift ‘keeper made three excellent saves, gathered crosses like a natural and finished with a clean sheet to his name.
Rob Ennis’ goal had got Reds back on terms but it was Jonny who picked up the man-of-the-match accolade afterwards.
1998 Congleton Town (away) 3-1 We had inflicted a 4-0 defeat upon Congleton at Borough Park seven days earlier and completed a back-to-back double with a solid performance at Booth Street.
Lee Collins had blasted us in front from the penalty spot and a stunning George Corrie volley doubled the advantage early in the second half. Town reduced the arrears but Derek Walsh’s well worked goal restored the two goal margin just before the end.
1987 Oswestry Town (home) 0-2 Another frustrating afternoon in a very frustrating season saw Reds fail at home once again. Martin Harris started the game as a substitute but was soon back in the dressing room following his dismissal – a retaliation offence after being fouled by the visiting ‘keeper!
1981 Burton Albion (home) 0-0 Having been thumped (0-5) at Eton Park two months earlier, Reds held firm in the return and, despite the lack of goals, it was a decent game to watch.
Playing for Albion was Bryan Kent who would eventually sign for Workington.
1979 Gateshead (home) 3-2 We enjoyed our meetings v. Gateshead during this particular season – knocking them out of the FA Cup then completing a NPL double at their expense.
Two of our north east based player, John Reach and Barry Donaghy, scored that night with Neil McDonald also finding the target in between.
1976 Lincoln City (away) 1-4 Workington faced Graham Taylor’s all-conquering City outfit who were well on their way to the Fourth Division title. Our poor record at Sincil Bank continued with an emphatic defeat which saw us concede twice in each half.
The match contained an own-goal for each side with Reds’ Chris Kisby credited with Lincoln’s second goal and Sam Ellis deflecting the ball past Peter Grotier for our consolation.
John Ward, who spent a loan spell with Reds three years earlier, scored against us on a difficult afternoon.
1964 Torquay United (away) 1-2 Reds fell to their customary defeat at Plainmoor but, thankfully, top scorer Dave Carr got back on the goal trail. He hadn’t scored since Boxing Day but his goal in Devon sparked a six-match scoring sequence, boosting the push for promotion in the process.
1959 Southport (home) 2-0 Billy Robson’s fifteenth goal of the season helped us to a straightforward home win with Noel Hodgson also on target that day. But a barren run followed with Reds failing to win any of their subsequent twelve matches.
1953 Grimsby Town (home) 3-1 The attendance for the home match against Grimsby was 3,000 up on the previous home game and recorded as 10,454, bettered only by Carlisle United’s visit! The team treated the bumper crowd to a commendable performance with Danny McDowall, Jack Bertolini and Harold Wallbanks sharing the goals.
