Scott Allison continued his remarkable run of goal-scoring to earn Workington Reds a priceless win at promotion rivals Leek Town.
It was the seventh game in a row that Reds’ record marksman had found the net and took his Workington tally to 141.
Allison was there to sweep the ball home in the 89th minute when he reacted quickly to a Stephen Rigg headed knock-down.
It had been a game of limited chances for either side with defences on top and afterwards Reds boss Danny Grainger paid tribute to the opposition.
“I think sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition and they certainly stopped us playing as we like. We couldn’t get it wide like we want to and I thought they were very good.
“But the satisfying thing is we still found a way to win it and what can you say about Scott Allison. He’s on a great run of form, and not just with his finishing. He’s such an important player for us.
“I hadn’t really though late on that a point would be a good one. I still wanted to win it and at the end we had four forward players on the field.
“That’s just one defeat in 20 games now and all the credit has to go to the players who have been superb. But we have to keep it going and continue to the end of the season.”
Reds are now joint second with Leek but behind on goal difference and the pair are 11 points clear of fourth-placed Mossley and 14 ahead of Runcorn Linnets in the final play-off position.
Reds now have two successive home games to try and close the nine-point gap on leaders Macclesfield – struggling Ramsbottom on Tuesday and Bootle on Saturday.
