Workington Reds Ladies suffered a second home defeat on the spin despite a spirited performance against Preston NE Ladies as the winter weather arrived at Derwent Park.
It finished 3-1 after the Reds had started well, taking the lead in the second minute when a through ball from Chloe Henderson found Emi Rudd.
Rudd had still had plenty to do as she collected the ball outside the area. She squared up the Preston defender and shifted the ball to the right looking to create a yard of space.
She then hit her shot well and it found the net past Preston keeper Justine Elliott.
Playing with the wind the home team’s positive close possession wasn’t rewarded as longer balls being played forward were hard to control and often ended up running to safety.
On 12 minutes, Preston levelled having benefited from a ball being played from their own half with the Workington defenders appealing for offside which wasn’t given.
Madison Hadley took full advantage to play on as she bore down on keeper Laura Miller and slotted home to level.
Preston then took the lead on 21 minutes through a penalty that seemed to be harshly awarded as the home defence had looked to have taken care of business and cleared the danger.
However Freya Hunt stepped up and confidently slotted home the spot kick past Laura Miller.
The away team increased their advantage to 3-1 when a mistake from the home side in possession saw Preston collect and hit on the counter with Hadley grabbing her second of the game.
The half finished with Preston leading 3-1 and the home side feeling bitterly disappointed as their efforts had deserved much more.
It was Reds that started the brighter in the second half despite the heavy rain and strong wind in their faces.
The ball was played on the floor and periods of crisp passing play saw the home team have extended periods of good possession.
But with a healthy lead and with the favour of a strong wind behind them, Preston were able to concentrate of defending their lead and seeing the game out to collect all three points.
Despite the result, manager Paul Mackenzie was upbeat afterwards saying: “We were on the wrong side of a couple of decisions and these ended up being critical calls which changed the course of the game.
“That said, we won’t dwell on them as we look to focus on the many positives of the performance from our perspective.”
“We had two good chances early on with the second being slotted home in composed fashion to take the lead. This was followed by spells of good football, especially in the second have where I thought we established a foothold in the game through positive passages of play.”
Reds keeper Laura Miller was awarded Player of the Game by the Preston staff and Chloe Henderson was awarded the Match Day Sponsors Player of the Game by Andrea Challenger from Tony Marks of Main Street whose support is much appreciated.
The Reds squad was: Miller, McDonald, Foster, Fawkes, Hooper, Ritchie, Douglas, McGrady, Henderson, Rudd, Donaldson, Birkett, Kemp, Bragg, Geen, Ivison.
