Workington booked their place in the Fred Conway County Cup semi-final with a 4-2 win over Carlisle United at Borough Park.
They will play holders Carlisle City, again at Borough Park, later this month with the winners to tackle either Whitehaven or Penrith in the final.
It was an excellent performance from Danny Grainger’s men against a starting Carlisle side made up of five senior players and the rest members of the youth squad.
Twice Reds had to come from behind in a lively first-half and they turned round all square 2-2 with four excellent goals and some flowing football to entertain the 603 crowd.
Workington should have taken the lead after only five minutes when Matty Clarke’s pinpoint cross found Keelan Leslie but from close range his header was clawed away by the stretching arm of Mike Kelly.
Steven Rigg did not connect properly when the ball fell for him from another early Reds attack and Kelly held on comfortably.
It was rather against the run of play when Carlisle took the lead on 12 minutes. Ryan Edmondson slipped round Sam Smith out on the right and from a tight angle drilled a shot beyond Danny Eccles into the net.
Workington drew level on 28 minutes with a spectacular finish from Obua Mugalula. He had made a lively start to the game and when presented with a shooting opportunity let fly with a fierce, dipping shot over Kelly into the net.
Parity lasted just three minutes and Carlisle had regainjed the lead. A long ball from Jack Robinson found Mason Hardy clear and one-on-one with Eccles he smashed his shot past the home keeper.
It had become a Goal of the Game contest for two minutes later Reds were on terms again with a superbly struck effort by Rigg from the edge of the area which gave Kelly no chance.
Rigg, putting in a great shift for his side against his former club, almost got a second soon afterwards but this time another fiercely struck shot came back off the post.
Workington started brightly in the second half and Magalula was through but denied by Ben Barclay who made a very important close range block.
Barclay and Edmondson were replaced by younger players and gradually took charge, eventually getting in front for the first time on 67 minutes. This time Magalula was the provider when he got to the by-line and a perfect cross was tucked away by Ruben Jerome.
Carlisle did have opportunities on the break and Eccles had to produce a brave block at the feet of Hardy after he was left alone in front of goal. Then Nik Bollado put one just the wrong side of the post after cutting in from the left.
But it was Workington who wrapped-up the tie on 80 minutes when Lewis Reilly collected a Rigg knock-down to fire past Kelly from close range.
Grainger was delighted with the performance and result, but also pleased at being able to get 45 minutes into Ben Hughes, after being out all season and an hour for Brad Hubbold who has missed three games with a calf injury.
There was also a reminder from Magalula that he has something to offer the manager as he enters the crucial final stages of the season, looking to cement a play-off place.
