ON THIS DAY: 28 December – Murray hat-trick
Bumper crowds, scoring five, past and future internationals on target for Reds and the odd hat-trick thrown in for good measure are just some of the highlights from matches played on the 28th December in previous years…….
The home match against Carlisle United in 1964 didn’t go as planned and the Third Division fixture resulted in a 1-0 defeat with Peter McConnell scoring the match winner.
But the gate of 11,953 provided ample consolation, albeit some 7,000 down on the corresponding fixture from twelve months earlier.
It meant the two festive clashes against United were watched by an aggregate attendance of 26,095.
A future Welsh international, Nick Deacy, scored for Reds on this day in 1974 helping us to an emphatic 3-0 win over Crewe Alexandra.
He had joined us on loan but would forge a decent career in Netherlands playing for the likes of PSV and Vitesse during the late seventies.
And some twenty four years later, in 1998, former England international, Paul Stewart, got his name on the score sheet in Reds’ North West Counties League fixture at Vauxhall GM.
Paul’s effort was a late consolation in a 2-1 defeat as our 17 match unbeaten run came to an abrupt halt!
Reds have twice scored five goals on this day in emphatic Northern Premier League wins.
The 5-2 victory over Harrogate Town in 1991 eased some of the gloom at Borough Park and ended a run of seven consecutive defeats. The outstanding Alan Stewart scored twice for Reds and made one for Keith Glover with Bob Rice and an own-goal completing our tally.
There was an even better win on the ground in 2002 when we inflicted a 5-1 defeat upon Lincoln United and that was after the visitors had opened the scoring.
It was a red letter day for Glenn Murray who scored his first hat-trick for the club with goals after nine, forty four and seventy minutes.
Robert Ennis and Graham Goulding also netted for Reds that day.
Workington’s last outing on this day was at Stockport County seven years ago with over a hundred Reds fans, in the 2,285 crowd, witnessing a 1-1 draw.
Joe Jackson, who would finish as top scorer in that ill-fated campaign opened the scoring at Edgeley Park in what was probably the best away day of the season.
