Nine-men Workington Reds suffer double whammy as they fall to defeat against Stafford Rangers

An eventful contest at the Marsden Stadium ended in a double whammy against the west Cumbrians.

For not only did Reds lose three valuable points but they also finished the game with nine men.

Jake Simpson saw red after 24 minutes for a pull as last defender on Izak Reid and to compound the agony referee Barry Lamb awarded a penalty.

The contact had been made outside the area; Reid tumbled into it and the official awarded the penalty which subsequently doubled the Stafford lead.

Conor Tinnion was the second player to walk after 71 minutes when he was upset over a decision not to award him a corner.

He reacted angrily, lashing the ball in the general direction of the referee’s assistant who had made the call.

It didn’t hit him but the referee clearly saw it as an aggressive act of dissent and immediately produced the red card.

The final scoreline rather spoiled what had looked, at half-time, as an excellent comeback by the visitors.

They had gone down to 10 men and were 2-0 behind as a result midway through the first half but, by the interval, were back on terms and seemingly back in the contest.

The trouble was Stafford scored again to regain the lead in the first minute of the second half.

That pushed the advantage back towards the hosts, who had other opportunities to add to their lead.

Somehow Reds survived to cling onto the hope they could snatch something on the break, but when Tinnion was sent off with 19 minutes remaining, all hope seemed to have gone.

But soon after his departure, one last chance did present itself.

Substitute Sam Joel gathered a cross into the box and was unmarked with time to pick his spot, but unfortunately fired just the wrong side of the upright.

The game had started badly for Reds as Stafford went in front after only four minutes.

An attempted clearance in the Reds’ box was blocked and the ball fell kindly to Kyle Perry who forced it home from six yards.

Rob Wilson came close to giving Reds parity when his free-kick from just outside the area cleared the wall and rippled the outside of the netting.

Then came the decision which was so crucial. Reid went down under Simpson’s unfair challenge but the referee should have awarded a free-kick just outside.

Instead, he sent off the Workington full-back and awarded the penalty.

Even then, Reds almost got out of trouble as Aaran Taylor saved Reid’s spot kick but he could only push it out and this time the taker made no mistake with the second chance.

It was to Workington’s great credit that the 10 men came back and were the better side in the closing 15 minutes of the half.

On 38 minutes, Josh Calvert got on the end of a deep corner from Tinnion and his powerful header found the opposite corner of the net.

In the second and final minute of time added on, Reds were level.

Did Mr Lamb decide he had made an error earlier and even things up?

Certainly there was only an innocuous coming together, almost an accidental tangling of legs, when Scott Allison went down in the box.

The referee pointed to the spot and Dave Symington levelled things up for a great pre-interval boost.

The problem was Stafford scored immediately after the restart.

Reds were caught out by a long ball over the top and leading scorer Josh Gordon, a target for Leicester City, held off the challenge to fire past Taylor.

Reds lived dangerously for a while with Gordon missing a great opportunity by heading over the bar.

Once it was pinball stuff in the Reds’ six-yard box before Taylor smothered and the Workington keeper twice saved headers from the dangerous Perry.

When Tinnion’s red card followed, the nine men seemed to have no chance, but there was that late opportunity for Joel which he just couldn’t take.

Stafford: Whitehouse, Griffiths, Bowen, Tolley, Morris, Reeves, I. Reid (Thornton 88), Sanders, Perry, Gordon, L. Reid. Subs (not used) Cater, Haughton, McFarlane, Kyprianos.

Workington: Taylor, Simpson, Rowntree, Smith, Calvert, Earl (May (80), Symington, Wilson, Ryan (Joel 72), Allison, Tinnion. Subs (not used) Waterston, Douglas, Fowler.

Referee: Barry Lamb

Crowd: 653

Star Man: Rob Wilson