Workington Reds youngsters made progress in the FA Youth Cup – but needed penalties to see off Bishop Auckland at Borough Park.
The game had finished 1-1 but it was Reds who got through as goalkeeper Scott Paden-Gale continued his heroics from the match.
He had made a number of important stops in the 90 minutes and then when the tie went straight to spot-kicks he saved two to keep Reds on course for a 4-3 shoot-out win.
A draw was probably a fair result to what the game produced as the two sides were generally well-matched with neither able to fully dominate the opposition. Although technically good, both teams had too many mistakes in them.
It was, however, a great experience for the youngsters as many were playing in a national competition for the first time and they gave everything they had.
Reds had taken a rather fortuitous fifth-minute lead when a free-kick on the edge of the area from Dan Whitehead seemed to deceive keeper Aidan Gill who seemed to misjudge the bounce and was left to fish the ball out of his net.
Bishops responded well and had strong claims for a penalty turned aside, but that prompted a good spell from Workington.
Thomas Downes and Jack Burns both went close but despite some good approach work Reds couldn’t grab the all-important second goal.
At the other end Paden-Gale made two fine saves, the second in particular a one-handed stop to keep out Callum Watkinson’s header brought loud applause from home fans.
However, on 33 minutes Bishops equalised when Alex O’Hagan fired home from the edge of the area with the Reds defence left floundering.
Both sides had good spells in the second half but defences held firm although Reds probably had the better chances, although needing two more fine saves by Paden-Gale to keep them on terms.
In the dying moments of the game Reds were reduced to ten men when substitute Josh Palmer was sent off after picking up a second yellow in a short space of time.
Both teams missed with their first two penalty attempts before Reds scored four in a row. Bishops missed their sixth and the hosts were through, earning a trip to Stockton in the next round.
