A dramatic final minute goal from the ever-alert Phil McLuckie sealed the points for Workington Reds in an action-packed encounter with Stourbridge.

The game took a long time to get going but once it did then it was end-to-end excitement, finishing 2-1 to Reds.

One goal separated the two sides for the majority of the clash, a Sam Joel strike four minutes before half time.

The pace was increased in the second half as Stourbridge looked to get the equaliser while Reds tried to widen their advantage.

Gari Rowntree was superb in defence for Workington as he looked to lead his team to a crucial three points.

And the Reds defence as a whole dealt well with the powerfully-built attack of Luke Benbow and Kyle Perry, who were direct in their approach to goal.

But Stourbridge broke through late on to equalise and set up a very tense finale. And it was the toe of Phil McLuckie that ended the deadlock with seconds remaining.

His late goal, stabbing home from close range, ended what had been a mammoth battle between the two sides.

This first half began quietly but ended with a bang as both sides took a little while to find their feet.

There were some tough opening exchanges from both sides with Aaron Forde getting into a good position for the visitors but his shot went wide of Aaron Taylor's goal.

Then some neat footwork from Matty Douglas saw him thread his way through the visitors' defence before finding Dave Symington in space on the left.

He turned and eventually got off the shot but it lacked the power to trouble the keeper.

The man whose goal scoring ability needs no introduction, Luke Benbow, had the first real shot of the match.

The ball came to him in the area but he stumbled and his shot went wide of the mark, much to the relief of the Reds faithful.

Reds won a free kick in the 22nd minute and it was floated in well from Conor Tinnion but the Stourbridge defence fluffed their lines slightly and keeper Matthew Gould had to dive at the feet of Sam Joel to halt him getting a shot away.

Joel again found space in the box shortly after and he looked to run and get his shot away but it was blocked by a Stourbridge defender and went out for a corner.

That was whipped in by Symington and it did glance off a home head but unfortunately it was wayward and went out for a goal kick.

Some confusion in the home defence allowed Kyle Perry chance of a shot but it was blasted over the crossbar.

Stourbridge's big forwards were pressurising the Reds defence but they were standing stern and when Reds broke away they were looking dangerous.

Joel found himself on the edge of the box with the ball at his feet and he took the defence before blasting a hot at goal but the effort was off target.

With all the to-ing and fro-ing it looked like the first half would still end goalless but nobody told the home team.

Into the 41st minute and a great cross from Symington found Joel at the far post and he slammed it in the back of the net.

A scuffle between Gari Rowntree and Kyle Perry saw the ref hand out yellow cards to both players.

And it was Rowntree who bounced back quickly as he took on the defence and tried a shot of his own that just went wide of the target.

There were chances at both ends as the second half opened with both sides looking determined.

Symington and Joel looked to combine with the final ball just going astray before at the other end a cross from Aris Christophorou went right across the face of the Reds goal but nobody could get a final touch.

Stourbridge had another superb chance to equalise as Luke Shearer got a touch onto a great cross from Benbow but it went narrowly wide of the far post.

Christopherou and Phil McLuckie rattled into a tackle that left the Reds player on the floor clutching his knee and the Stourbridge defender with a yellow card but Reds couldn't make the free kick pay for them.

But they were back on the attack shortly after with Joel taking the ball up before involving Allison who, in turn, got the ball out to Symington on the right.

He came inside and struck his shot powerfully but it ricocheted back off the keeper and Stourbridge cleared the danger.

On the break, Stourbridge looked to get back into the game with a great ball in to Shearer who had the pace to take on the Reds defence but he managed to balloon his shot over the bar.

Reds sucked up a large amount of pressure before Dan Wordsworth brought the ball out of his own area and up past the half way line where he fed Joel.

The attacker decided to have a go himself and but his shot whistled into the arms of the keeper.

The game continued to go from end to end and the visitors got a free kick around 20-yards out which sub Josh Green stood over.

His initial effort came off a defender but came right back to him but his second chance came back to Benbow. He worked hard down on the left hand side but his cross went straight out over the top of the goal.

Into the 79th minute and Stourbridge were left to play the game out with just 10 men as Benbow saw a straight red card from the referee after he collided with Rowntree and the ref judged him to have his studs showing.

Reds answered in the right way as Tinnion put a great ball into Allison who just had the keeper to beat but, when he was pulled down, the ref waved away the home cries for a penalty.

Waterston then looked to have an identical chance as he went one-on-one with the keeper but his effort was parried out for a corner by Gould.

Then, in an agonising blow for the home side Stourbridge got the equaliser they had been searching for as Shearer got on the end of a cross to flick the ball home.

Going into the added five minutes of time it was all Stourbridge as the goal put them on the up. And Anthony Wright made a crucial clearance as the visitors threw everything at their hosts.

But the excitement hadn't finished as into the last minute of fifth minute of injury time Reds went on the attack.

Matty Douglas looked to get a shot in that the keeper just couldn't keep hold of and in came the onrushing Phil McLuckie to stab the ball into the back of the net and cue the celebrations.

Stourbridge had one final chance with a corner that was dealt with before the ref blew the final whistle much to the delight of the Reds faithful.

Reds: Taylor, Douglas, Rowntree, Wordsworth, Calvert, Wright, Symington, McLuckie, Allison, Joel (Waterston 73), Tinnion. Subs (not used): Earl, Mellen, Whitehead, Fowler.

Goals: Joel 41, McLuckie 90+4.

Cards: Rowntree 45.

Stourbridge: Gould, Westlake, Christophorou, McCone, Pierpoint, Forde, Tonks (Green 61), Broadhurst, Perry (Cooke 78), Benbow, Shearer. Subs (not used): Marsh, Evans, Collingridge.

Goals: Shearer 86.

Yellow cards: Perry 45, Christopherou 57.

Red card: Benbow 79.

Referee: Richard Aspinall.

Half time: 1-0

Crowd: 383.