MATCH REPORT: Queen of the South 2-0 Workington AFC

Paul Armstrong
Jul 1
2 min read

There is always a bit of intrigue surrounding the first pre-season outing – how will the team play, what systems will we use, who are the trialists etc. etc?

And on a day when a former Workington player made his debut for Queens and an ex. Doonhamer was introduced for his first game in red, supporters were reasonably satisfied after finding answers to pre-match concerns.

Both teams are just two weeks into their respective pre-season schedules, but Queens had one game in the bank and were that yard quicker throughout the ninety minutes. Having said that, Reds grew into the contest and competed well for an hour although clear-cut goal scoring opportunities were few and far between.

There might have been a concern that Peter Murphy’s side would rattle in a few goals when wholesale changes were made in the second half, but that would be disrespectful to Reds’ array of Development Squad players.

Fair to say that all twenty-two players made a valuable contribution in this testing workout with work ethic and commitment there for all to see. Apart from the disappointment of the result, a deserved win for the hosts it has to be said, Darren Edmondson and his staff were well satisfied with the afternoon’s work.

Queens netted their goals on the hour and after seventy-five minutes, with the first just before Reds started to introduce their substitutions.

Ben Johnstone smashed home the opener from a good twenty-five yards after a quickly-worked corner routine caught the visitors off guard. And the second came when Kylan Hunter showed good skill on the other side of the pitch before easing the ball past Alex Mitchell.

Danny Eccles replaced the latter and he made three important saves to thwart Benjamin Luissint, Hunter and Jack Stott, keeping Workington in the contest.

Skipper Dav Symington who, along with Josh Galloway, was the last of the senior players to be substituted had come closest to troubling Ross Stewart in the home goal.

The ‘keeper was almost deceived by an angled lob from Symington then made an excellent save at the foot of his left-hand post to keep out a clever free-kick. Reds’ talisman squandered a couple of other chances, dragging both wide when well positioned.

And a trialist centre-forward saw a rising shot on the turn just clear the Queens’ bar with the best effort of the second half.

Two trialist defenders, the identity of one we know, both impressed for Reds and last season’s trio of Charlie Barnes, Kai Nugent and Josh Galloway also caught the eye. And there was a pleasing debut for Will McGladdery in the holding midfield role. The former Holker Old Boys player looked a decent addition to Edmondson’s evolving squad.

Plenty of scope for improvement but enough to leave the travelling fans optimistic ahead of the new campaign.

Team: Mitchell (Eccles), Galloway (Fulton), Hill (Pickering), Trialist (Johnston), Trialist (Telford), Barnes (Routledge), Symington (Douglas), McGladdery (Christian), Dawson (Trialist), Trialist (Palmer), Nugent (McDonough).

Attendance: 512