Workington Reds Ladies booked their place in the next round of the Regional Plate competition, thanks to a 2-1 win at Chorley Development.
The pitch was in fair condition for the time of the year, but played heavy in general making slick passing and running a near impossibility.
Instead, the game was won in the trenches, where battling and fighting for every gain that could be made was key to the overall result.
The visitors started off positively and were on the front foot from the first whistle.
Hannah Geen played a through ball to Sophie Birkett as she threatened the Chorley back line but the pass ended up agonisingly close to the outstretched leg of the Reds winger.
On the opposite wing, Morgan McGrady’s keen running was unsettling the home defence as Emi Rudd, Sophie Douglas and Keeley Holliday were looking to feed telling balls in to dangerous areas.
Full backs Alice Kemp and Natalie Hooper were linking well with the attacking players from deeper wide positions, but the breakthrough came from a ball over the top from centre back Naomi Foster in the 23rd minute.
Foster’s ball was glanced by a Chorley defender into the path of McGrady who met the ball at pace. She then composed herself and slotted cleanly home to give the Reds the well-deserved lead.
However, the lead only lasted for 12 minutes as Chorley made progress down their right.
A cross into the box was met by Olivia Holling who collected and finished with composure to beat Reds keeper Laura Miller.
It was all square which was probably poor rewards for the Reds given their control in the half.
The Reds went ahead again just before the hour mark when Foster’s fellow centre back, Eleanor McDonald also turned provider.
McDonald delivered a sublime cross into the box from a corner on the left which was met by the assertive running of Birkett who had stolen a march on the Chorley defence and she headed home from the near post.
Substitutions had seen Linzi Donaldson, Hannah Fawkes, Zara Sandelands and Kacey Rodgers being introduced either side of the goal.
All of them added fresh legs and eagerness to the visitors and this contributed in keeping the host at bay in the latter stages of the game.
Hard work and determination in the middle of the park from Emi Rudd nearly saw the Reds increase their lead as she fought to fashion a strike on goal for herself from 20 yards out only to hit the crossbar with the Chorley keeper, Caitlin Eastham well beaten.
As the game entered the last 10 minutes, substitute Liv Bennett, who was making her debut for the Reds Ladies, came close to killing the game off.
She collected the ball around half-way and drove at the Chorley back line. Bearing down on the keeper, Bennett looked set to score, but was thwarted bya brave stop from Eastham.
Rudd was selected by Chorley as the visitors’ Player of the Game for her graft and guile in the middle of the park over the 90 minutes.
After the game, the Reds captain Naomi Foster said: “This performance was about all 16 squad players and their contributions on the pitch.
“We were disappointed about our performance last week at Penrith and it was important for us to respond positively and collectively, which is exactly what we did.”
The Reds move on to the next round of the competition and this will see them making their sixth away trip on the spin in 2023 when they play Alder FC Women on February 12.
