MATCH REPORT: Workington AFC 1-0 Morpeth Town
- 15 hours ago
- 2 min read
Borough Park has staged so much late drama this season, so no great surprise that we had to wait until the eighty-eighth minute for a goal.
But the fact it came in Workington’s favour brought some much-needed cheer to their drenched supporters and kept alive what, are still, faint hopes of survival.
It is a worthless exercise trying to calculate how many points they need to be assured of Step 3 football next season. They are still adrift of those above in the Premier Division table so there is much to do. Yet, if spirit, commitment, determination and dogged stubbornness count for anything, don’t write them off just yet.
In atrocious conditions – a strong wind, driving rain and ankle-deep mud, credit to the match officials and both teams for completing this war of attrition. There was even a hint of an abandonment at one stage but the referee made the right call to complete the contest.
I know several species of animals that like nothing better than to wallow in mud but not many footballers enjoy strutting their stuff in such conditions. And as one home player said afterwards, “If ever there was a debate for a 4G surface in Workington, one look at the aftermath provides the answer.”
Chances were few and far between but the one that mattered fell to Luke Hunter late in the day – two minutes from the end of normal time, in fact. A good forward pass from Steven Rigg created a situation where Morpeth ‘keeper, Dan Langley, and home debutant Hunter faced a 50/50 race for the ball.
But Langley lost his footing slightly, leaving Hunter with a bit more space and he kept his composure to score his first goal for the club – converting from an acute angle.
Morpeth had the ball in the net a few minutes earlier but the ‘goal’ was disallowed for what might have been hand ball or an offside situation.
And, even after Hunter’s well taken decider, Morpeth claimed the ball had crossed the line in a goal mouth scramble but no evidence to support that hopeful claim.
Workington had to complete the final quarter of an hour with only ten men after Charlie Barnes was sent off for the third time this season. Already on a yellow card after a seventy-second minute foul, he picked up another after halting Aaron Chung’s progress seven minutes later.
But, despite even more adversity, the players kept going and a first ever league success against Town was the reward they just about deserved.
So, plenty of smiles afterwards unless, of course, you were the laundry lady or a member of the ground staff!
Workington: Mitchell, Casson, Dickinson, Whitehall, Little, Barnes, Ellis, Carroll, Hunter, Ogwuru (Rigg, 76), Nugent (McDonough, 85). Substitutes – Swinglehurst, Hopper, Palmer (not used).
Morpeth Town: Langley, Evans, Miller (Chung,66), Robson, Henderson, King, Bone (Gordon, 66), Dowling, Bollado (Hooper, 66), Chater (Griggs, 85), Barlow. Substitute – Mason (not used).
Referee: Dale Wilson, Leyland
Bookings: Little (Workington), Evans, Robson (Morpeth Town)
Red card: Barnes (Workington, two yellows)
Attendance: 752
