Workington Reds 3 Stourbridge 1

Workington Reds certainly put on a performance that watching former skipper Tony Hopper could be proud of on Saturday as they moved back into the play-off berths.

Hopper, who has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, made an emotional return to Borough Park at the weekend.

And the players did not disappoint him as they brushed aside promotion rivals Stourbridge 3-1 to clinch the all-important league points.

The win saw them leap up to fifth in the Northern Premier League table and lay their marker down to the rest of the chasing pack.

Despite missing three of their midfield due to injury and suspension, Reds rose to the occasion with Josh Calvert and the versatile Conor Tinnion marshalling well in the centre of the park.

And up front, Sam Joel proved a constant thorn in Stourbridge’s side, the youngster’s pace and tenacity breaking them down on several occasions.

Reds dominated for long periods of the game and, on the rare occasions their visitors threatened the defence, with Sam Smith and Kyle May to the fore, they looked more than capable of dealing with it.

League top scorer Luke Benbow did manage to add one more to his tally on the day, through a late penalty, and the visitors had the most glaring miss I think I have seen at Borough Park.

Jordan Archer had his head in his hands after missing an open goal in the first half, and who knows if this would have put a different slant on the game.

But Reds were determined and, in the dying minutes of the first half, they slotted away two quick goals to assert their authority and added a second shortly after the restart for the second half.

Stourbridge had their own spells but Reds weathered the storm and were applauded for a great display.

The visitors had an early shout for a penalty denied by the referee as Benbow claimed he had been fouled in the area.

But then Reds began to push forward and cause their visitors some trouble, Dave Symington attacking down the left and punishing Stourbridge on several occasions.

There was an early chance as Symington cut in from the left and put the ball across the face of the goal. Jack Ryan got on to the end of it but his shot was halted on the line.

Then, against the run of play, Stourbridge tried to take advantage of a goalmouth scramble in the 22nd minute, with only some desperate defence keeping them at bay.

A shot from Leon Bainbridge was blocked on the edge of the penalty area and then came the miss of the match.

Benbow put the cross in and fed the ball to Broadhurst, who then tapped it back to the waiting Jordan Archer who then miss-kicked his shot wide with an open goal in front of him.

Reds breathed a sigh of relief and got back to the task at hand as Tinnion just shot wide before Symington’s effort went into the hands of the keeper.

Tinnion had a great chance for Reds as he blasted a shot at goal that the keeper did well to palm away. He went back for a second attempt but this time he was blocked and the ball went out for a corner which the visitors dealt with.

Tinnion again attacked with flair as he sent a defender the wrong way before curling a ball in. It was met by the head of the rising Ryan but it went wide.

Reds were on top but the all-important goal still proved elusive.

Scott Allison made a great break through the centre, before slipping it through the defenders to the supporting Joel.

The youngster turned and tried his luck with a shot but it lacked power and the keeper scooped it up.

It took a while in coming but, when the goal finally arrived, it was a spectacular one.

Symington moved across the centre of the field, turned and took his shot from 25 yards out and it sailed into the top corner of the net with the keeper helpless to stop it.

And once Reds were on top, they kept the goals coming. Into the second minute of injury time and Sam Joel shot past the keeper from eight yards out to go in at half-time 2-0 up.

The second half opened with Joel looking to get his second but, this time, he was thwarted by the keeper.

Then Symington tried on his left foot, it beat the keeper but came back off the bar and the defender put it out for a corner.

Joel deservedly got his second in the 54th minute when he beat the keeper in the area and then, as the defender slipped, he slotted the ball home into an empty net to make it 3-0.

It could have been four as Tinnion whipped in a corner and May leapt up to meet it but for the second time the ball rattled the crossbar.

Stourbridge came back on the attack they were awarded a penalty as Gari Rowntree brought down Dodd in the area.

Benbow stepped up to add to his ever increasing goal tally as he slotted home from the spot to bring his side back into the game.

This brought the visitors to life and, partly inspired by the speed of sub Matt Dodd, they were putting the home side under pressure.

Leon Broadhurst came close to narrowing the gap as his header just came off the crossbar to deny Stourbridge a second goal.

But in the end, Reds held out comfortably and now look ahead to another long trip next weekend to Coalville Town, to keep their momentum going.

Reds: Taylor, Simpson, Rowntree, May, Smith, Calvert, Allison, Tinnion, Ryan (Waterston 66), Joel, Symington (Cham 89). Subs (not used): Douglas, Henderson, Fowler.

Goals: Symington 43, Joel 45+2, 54.

Stourbridge: Gould, Wedderburn, Westlake, Tonks (Dodd 61), Preston, Westwood (Green 70), Jones, Broadhurst, Benbow, Archer (Cooke 88), Birch. Subs (not used): McPike.

Goals: Benbow 72pen.

Yellow cards: Preston 30, Westwood 41.

Referee: L Doughty.

Half time 2-0.

Crowd: 403.