Radcliffe were Danny Grainger’s pick to win the NPL Premier Division – and that was before last night’s 4-1 win over his Workington side at Borough Park.
They were very impressive, the best same League opponents Reds have tackled for some considerable time.
For the first quarter of the game they were outstanding. Reds couldn’t get near them and all the pre-match discussions on what they were about were confirmed by their excellence – particular in their ability to boss the mid-field and flood men forward at will.
Wing backs Jamie Morgan and Scott Duxbury continually rampaged down their respective flanks and caused Reds all sorts of problems in defence.
It took them only six minutes to score the opening goal. The experienced Jordan Hulmes cleverly made space for himself cutting in from the right and although Jim Atkinson made the block it fell to Morgan who was able to steer the ball home.
Ten minutes later they were in again. This time Morgan stole in on the blindside of Matty Bell, bore down on goal and fired clinically past Atkinson.
Workington, after their 6-1 defeat at Ilkeston, were understandably shattered by this sort of start and it was to get worse.
On 22 minutes Hulme, popping up on the left this time, curled a superb shot beyond Atkinson into the far corner. It looked like it was going to be a hard night.
But credit to Reds they scored a splendid goal on 24 minutes when they built possession, found Kofi Moore on the edge of the area and he turned his man brilliantly before thumping his shot beyond Mateusz Hewelt into the far corner.
Dav Symington struck the outside of a post with one of his long-range free kicks and there was no further damage at the other end.
The sides turned round at 1-3 when Grainger made two changes with Brad Hubbold and Keelan Leslie replacing Greg McCarragher and Matty Bell.
Workington enjoyed more possession, and Radcliffe weren’t as dominant as they had been earlier, but crucially the home side could not fashion any more openings. Symington was nearest with a low drive which had Hewelt scrambling but found the side netting.
Whoever scored the next goal would determine how the game was going to finish but unfortunately it was Radcliffe who struck on 63 minutes. A long cross field ball from Nicky Adams found Hulme and he cut in from the right and fired past Atkinson from a tight angle.
Through a mixture of game management from Radcliffe and damage limitation from Reds it stayed at 1-4 until the final whistle.
Reds had completed a loan signing before the game and 17-year-old Blackpool forward Taylor Bowen was given over 20 minutes but had no chance to show his finishing prowess.
That defeat – the third in a row – leaves Reds next to bottom ahead of Saturday’s home game against Stafford Rangers.
