Workington Reds closed to within a point of NPL West leaders Warrington Rylands with an impressive 4-0 win at Bootle.
The Cumbrians still have a game in hand of their rivals and also meet on Saturday in a potential title shoot out at Borough Park.
In fact a good number of Rylands players were at Bootle for the game and significantly filed out of the ground just after Dav Symington hit Reds’ third on 54 minutes.
Admittedly Reds played against ten men for jut over half the game but they had been in control against 11 after a positive start.
The downside for manager Chris Willcock was the fact that full-back Kyle Harrison had to limp off just before the break and is said to be 50-50 for the big one on Saturday.
Reds had laid out their credentials from the first minute when Brad Carroll got on the end of a corner and his downward header was hacked off the line by keeper Theo Roberts.
The home side were forced back for lengthy periods yet did have the first real chance after that initial Carroll header.
A poor clearance by Jim Atkinson allowed Bootle to put Charlie Holland into a good position. But initially having posed the problem Atkinson did well to close down the winger’s angle and force him to shoot wide.
The breakthrough goal came on 34 minutes when a corner was only partially cleared and Sam Smith hammered a shot through a crowd of players into the back of the net.
Bootle were reduced to 10 men after 43 minutes when midfielder Jordan Wynne was shown a straight red card for a high boot which caught Conor Tinnion in the face.
It was an eventful close to the half as in stoppage team Clarke delivered a ball in from the left and Ruben Jerome gathered slilfully, turned smartly and fired past Roberts.
There was still time for Harrison to pull up painfully and be replaced by teenager Keelan Leslie.
Workington controlled the game completely in the second-half, very happy on the artificial surface which hadn’t been playable for two previously scheduled visits.
The third goal came on 54 minutes when Reds worked the ball across the box and Scott Allison very unselfishly laid on Symington to take his time and fire home.
It was a chance for Scott Fenwick and Nico Evangelinos to get some game time and both had over half an hour.
Fenwick, in fact, should have scored with his very touch but blazed over from ten yards and then sgtraight after shot straight at Roberts from the edge of the box.
The home keeper did well to punch away a fierce shot from Symington and there was a Dan Wordsworth effort cleared off the line.
But finally on 87 minutes Reds scored their fourth to round off a very good night’s work. Carroll blasted home from the edge of the box following a corner.
