Goalscorer Dan Wordsworth described the “brilliant feeling” of grabbing the late winner for Workington Reds as they made it two wins from two NPL North West Division games at Trafford on Tuesday.

The experienced defender bundled the ball into the back of the net in the 85th minute at Shawe View to help his side snatch the three points despite being down to 10 men after Gari Rowntree was sent off for receiving two yellow cards.

The 1-0 win was also the team’s first clean sheet of the season, with Wordsworth’s performance at both ends of the pitch proving decisive in the final result.

Speaking to the club’s website, the man of the match said: “It doesn’t get much better than that, especially down to 10 men, and we weren’t at our best today.

“It just shows the character in the dressing room, to go down to 10 men and still get the win.

“It was a brilliant feeling.

“If we want to be up there at the top of the league, they’re the sort of games when we need to win.

“We’re not always going to be able to play pretty football, sometimes we’re going to have to dig in, and tonight was a perfect example of what we need to do to win this league.

“We weren’t happy on Saturday with conceding a goal but tonight, a clean sheet and a goal personally, I don’t get many so I’ll have to celebrate.”

Reds face a busy weekend with a trip to take on Newcastle Benfield as they open their FA Cup campaign on Saturday before they host Pontefract Collieries at Borough Park on Monday looking to make it three league wins from three.

The quick turnaround will pose an early test for manager Danny Grainger and his squad’s strength in depth but Wordsworth is not concerned and believes they have players waiting in the wings who are capable of slotting into the side seamlessly.

“Playing Saturday, Monday, that’s not a problem,” he said.

“There’s plenty of lads who can do a job and we’re just champing at the bit now to keep going and get those wins.”

The Reds stalwart made his debut for the club during the 2011/12 season.

He went on to play more than 100 games over the next four seasons, captaining the club 40 times when they finished as league runners-up to FC United of Manchester in 2014/15 before leaving to play in Australia for Queensland club Caboolture Sports.

The former Carlisle United youth product returned to the West Cumbrians in 2017 and has been a regular in the team since then, first under joint-managers David Hewson and Lee Andrews and now under new boss Grainger.