Workington Reds 3-2 Fleetwood Town Under-23s

A strong first-half performance handed a new-look Workington Reds the victory over visiting Fleetwood Town's Under-23 side.

Despite going 1-0 down in the early moments, Reds always looked comfortable and picked up three goals in a six-minute spell that dazzled their visitors.

Niall Cowperthwaite was putting on a commanding performance for Reds but they looked good across the park.

It was a slightly different story in the second half as Reds utilised their packed subs bench to allow managers Dave Hewson and Lee Andrews a good look at all their players.

It allowed Fleetwood to come back into the game and they got one back through sub Shayden Morris who showed a lot of promise but, in the end, Reds held out.

The early moments of the half belonged to Workington, they looked the more eager side and spent the majority of the first five minutes in the Fleetwood half, looking for that crucial opening.

Conor Tinnion tried a shot from just outside the area but it was just wide of the target but Reds continued to press.

But then they were caught out on the break as Fleetwood made their first real foray into the Reds half in the sixth minute.

And it was Dan Mooney who delivered the blow as he calmly advanced on keeper Aaran Taylor before slotting it past him into the back of the net.

He could have had a second moments later when Mamadou Djabi broke down the right-hand flank and put in a great cross to meet the run of Mooney coming into the box.

His first shot rebounded back off the back of Lewis Tidy but then Taylor stepped up to the plate and made two great saves in quick succession to deny the forward.

Reds looked to hit back with a couple of free-kicks being cleared by the Fleetwood defence.

But, in the 19th minute, Reds got the goal they deserved for their efforts.

A free-kick just outside the area was whipped across by Tinnion and Niall Cowperthwaite rose up to meet it but his header came back off the post.

But it only went as far as Matty Douglas and the defender returned to his goalscoring form of last season as he headed home to level the game.

Two minutes later and Reds had the lead when an effort from Jason Walker was spilled by the keeper and Kieran Maguire was on hand to mop up the ball and fire it into the back of the net.

And they just kept coming as Maguire did well to find Tinnion in space in the box and he calmly slotted it past the keeper into the far corner.

Reds continued to up the tempo and a shot from Hubbold from the edge of the area looked goal-bound but was blocked in the nick of time by the visiting defence.

They were looking dangerous with every attack but the score remained at 3-1 at the break.

It took a while for the second half to pick up the pace as Fleetwood looked to try and get back in the game.

Mooney thought he had pulled one back when he got in the clear and got the ball in the back of the net only to be called back for offside.

David Renyard had come on at half-time in place of Cowperthwaite and he had a chance to put Reds in the clear but both his shot and the following one from Douglas were cleared off the line as Fleetwood scrambled to defend.

Then, at the opposite end of the field, a free-kick from Michael Donohue found the head of Lewis Baines, forcing a good save from Taylor, palming the ball out for a corner which was cleared.

A header from Sam O'Halloran went right into the hands of the keeper but a mistake allowed another Fleetwood sub Morris to show off his pace and skills.

He took on the last line of defence and then put the ball past replacement keeper Lewis Casson to bring his side back into the mix at 3-2.

Sheldon Mossop came on in the latter stages of the game for Reds as they used their entire bench but saw his shot well saved by the keeper.

Fleetwood had one last throw of the dice as a James Hill header just went wide of the target and Reds held out for the win.

Reds: Taylor (Casson 70), Douglas (O'Brien 68), Rowntree (Pearson 56), Smith (Hetherington 83), Tidy (Harker 66), Hubbold, Bradbury (Holliday 83), Cowperthwaite (Renyard 45), Walker (Mossop 75), Maguire (Pattinson 68), Tinnion.

Goals: Douglas 19, Maguire 21, Tinnion 25.

Fleetwood: Urwin, Holgate (Steer 72), Rydel, Boyle, Hill, Baines, Djabi (Morris 66), Garner (Cooke 72), Nadesan (O'Halloran 66), Donohue (Matete 72), Mooney (Johnston 72). Subs (not used): Trialist.

Goals: Mooney 6, Morris 80.

Referee: John Mulligan.

Half time: 3-1.