Workington Reds 0 Grantham Town 2

Promotion-chasing Grantham Town continued on their journey at the expense of Workington Reds.

The visitors to Borough Park left with a 2-0 victory to their name despite a battling first-half performance from the home side.

At half time, Reds did not deserve to be a goal down with the effort from Sam Osbourne coming against the run of play.

But the second half lacked the enthusiasm of the first and the visitors got a late second from a defensive mix-up and the result was sealed.

The home side, perhaps devoid of the pressure that has been on their shoulders in recent weeks, were playing well at the start.

The opening moments belonged to Reds, and they were getting the better of their opponents, who are still fighting for a play-off berth.

An early ball fell to the feet of Dave Symington racing towards the area, and he looked to blast the ball goal-wards but it took a deflection and went out for a corner.

That was whipped in and Matty Douglas tried to get a touch but it was eventually cleared.

Then, Sam Osbourne and Lee Shaw combined well as Grantham broke down the field but Sam Smith stepped in with a crucial tackle to halt the charge.

Reds then had a succession of good chances. The first came in the 18th minute when young Max Brown, in his first start for the club, turned and took his shot inside the box but there was not enough power behind it and it rolled to the keeper.

Then, Symington got in a good ball to the on-rushing Jordan Holt, he did well and put in a nice cross into the box looking for the run of Allison. The striker tried to take it on the volley but the chance went skyward over the bar.

Reds kept the ball alive in the box but the final ball from Steven Rigg lacked power and the stand-in Grantham keeper gathered easily.

Symington then tried his luck around 20-metres out. It had the firepower but, unfortunately, it went just wide of the target.

Rob Wilson showed a nice piece of vision to slot the ball into the path of Brown. He looked up to take on the keeper who just stuck a foot out to divert it from its course, at the expense of a corner.

Into the 31st minute and it appeared that Steven Rigg was pulled down in the area but the ref waved away all calls for a penalty, much to the disgust of the Workington faithful.

Grantham's first real chance came as Danny Meadows got the better of the Reds defence and got a cross right across the face of the goal.

But the sliding Sam Osbourne couldn't get there in time and Reds managed to clear and avert the danger.

Against the run of play, it was the visitors who took the lead. First, Scott Allison was fouled as Reds attacked the Grantham goal, the ref waved play on but the pass went astray and Grantham went on the attack.

Aaran Taylor made an initial scrambling save at the feet of Lee Shaw and Reds' defenders got back but they could not halt the shot of Osbourne from short range that found the corner of the goal.

Meadows looked to extend the visitors' lead going into the dying minutes of the half but his effort was blocked by Smith.

And there was excitement to end the half as a superb shot from Rob Wilson rattled the crossbar before flying back out and into play.

Wright had a couple of efforts blocked before the ref blew the half-time whistle and Reds went in not deserving the 1-0 scoreline against them.

Reds were dealt another blow at the break when Sam Smith had to be replaced by young Joseph Hetherington after struggling with a hamstring problem.

But they were looking to battle back as Anthony Wright was brought down around 25-metres out. Up stepped Symington and he unleashed another nice shot, but again, it missed the target and Reds were left searching.

The home side nearly found themselves two down when Osbourne had a good chance in the area. The defence closed in and the shot went narrowly wide.

Reds had to make a second change when Leo Holliday came on for Wright, who was struggling after taking a knock to his ankle.

Gari Rowntree was called upon to make a couple of crucial tackles to keep Grantham restricted to just the one goal.

And, at the other end of the field, a shot from Brown shaded the wrong side of the near post.

The half seemed to lack the energy and enthusiasm of the opening 45 minutes and Reds were left nursing several injury worries, with another game tonight looming at Stourbridge.

And a third youngster was on the field for the home side in the 85th minute when Cameron Harker replaced Brown.

To add insult to injury, Grantham bagged a second in time added on after a mix-up at the back.

A ball over the top was missed by Taylor and Lee Shaw was there to hammer it into the back of the net.

A Rob Wilson effort went just wide as Reds threw everything at their visitors and an Allison effort was also blocked.

Rigg put the ball over the top of the net in a final effort as the whistle sounded for the end of the game.

Reds: Taylor, Symington, Rowntree, Douglas, Smith (Hetherington 46), Wright (Holliday 65), Brown (Harker 85), Wilson, Allison, Rigg, Holt. Subs (not used): Andrews.

Grantham: Soloha, Potts, Luto, Lewis, Galinski, McGovern, Meadows, Wright (Hollingsworth 83), Osbourne (McMenamy 80), Shaw, Burrows (Vince 89). Subs (not used): Bastos, Thompson.

Goals: Osbourne 35, Shaw 90+1.

Yellow cards: Lewis 72,

Referee: A Kitchen.

Half time: 0-1.

Crowd: 228.