ON THIS DAY: 30 January – FA Trophy glory
Reds have experienced FA Trophy and Vase glory on the 30th January in the past, won at Holker Street and travelled the length and breadth of the country representing the club in league and cup action…….
It is now eleven years since one of our best away days, certainly in the non-league era, when we travelled to AFC Wimbledon for an FA Trophy 3rd Round tie.
A win over Rushden & Diamonds in the previous round suggested we were in the midst of a special cup run and that was confirmed beyond doubt when we won at Kingsmeadow by the odd goal in five against a team riding high in the National League (Conference).
And we did so after twice coming from behind.
Nathan Elder opened the scoring with a header after fifteen minutes but Jonny Wright headed Reds’ equaliser, via a corner, on the half hour mark. AFC regained the lead when Danny Kedwell converted a penalty but we would go on to dominate much of the second half but were into the final ten minutes before we levelled for a second time. Jonny’s cross/cum shot deceived the home ‘keeper and finished in the net and there was only going to be one winner after that piece of good fortune.
It got even better when Shaun Vipond drove home the winner in front of the travelling Workington supporters – cue pandemonium in the away end.
The team on that memorable January afternoon in 2010 was:
Tony Caig, Andy Langford, Gari Rowntree, Kyle May, Lee Andrews, Shaun Vipond (Andy Hardman), Phil McLuckie, Tony Hopper, Jonny Wright (Callum Ruttledge), Gareth Arnison, Anthony Wright. Substitutes – Stephen Hindmarch, Adam Main, Aaran Taylor.
Over a hundred fans made the journey south and were part of the 2,301 gate which generated receipts of £21,714 – our share of which amounted to £9,271.
Our other exploits on this day included:
2001 Barrow (away) 2-0 Reds handed a first team debut to seventeen years old Glenn Murray in a low key NPL Challenge Cup tie at Holker Street. He almost marked the occasion with a goal just before the end. But the evening belonged to Brian Dawson who scored two well taken goals, the first after just two minutes, to secure a first competitive win at Barrow in twenty two years.
Murray was the youngest player on view but Kenny Lowe became the oldest (41) when he appeared as a late Barrow substitute.
1999 Sudbury Wanderers (home) 3-0 Reds one and only sortie in the FA Vase represented our best chance of reaching Wembley and we took another step towards a national final with our only home win in the competition, albeit after extra time. Darren Wilson broke the deadlock four minutes into the extra half an hour, Matt Swailes doubled the lead soon after with his first Borough Park goal and Lee Taylor’s first goal for the club secured our passage into the quarter finals.
We didn’t know any of the Sudbury players but the Suffolk club included a defender called Norfolk in their line-up!
The attendance at Borough Park was announced as 1,308.
1993 Farsley Celtic (away) 2-1 We had inflicted a 3-0 defeat upon Celtic at Borough Park seven days earlier and went on to complete a league double with a fine performance in the return. After turning round at half time a goal down, Graham Caton’s superb ‘thirty yarder’ restored parity before Graham Flynn netted the winner direct from a free kick.
1988 Sutton Town (away) 1-4 This particular club, based near Mansfield, went out of existence in 1997 but they caused us an embarrassing afternoon in a NPL Challenge Cup tie thirty three years ago – they were a division below us at the time. Their ‘star’ player was Kenny Burns – the former Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Leeds United and Scotland international – and it was he who opened the scoring. Malcolm Rice’s first goal for Workington was scant consolation.
1982 Gainsborough Trinity (away) 2-4 Reds’ fifth visit to the Northolme ground failed to produce a first win there and we finished second best on this occasion, despite well taken goals from John Reach and Bryan Kent.
1960 Exeter City (away) 0-1 It took a few visits to Devon before we scored our first goal at the other St. James’ Park, this being a second successive 1-0 defeat there.
1954 Grimsby Town (away) 0-1 Bill Shankly’s first defeat as Workington manager was against his former club, less than a month after his departure from Blundell Park.
- Whilst Reds were celebrating in London back in 2010, Danny Grainger was enjoying a satisfactory afternoon north of the border. He was playing for St. Johnstone against Hearts – a club he was soon to join. Danny’s assist led to Kenny Deuchar’s winner which proved the only goal of the match.
