Workington Reds crashed to a 5-0 defeat at Stockton Town last night after being hit by a crop of injuries.
In a challenging game without seven senior players the west Cumbrians were beaten by a team manager Mark Fell considered the best he’s seen this season.
A physical side with pace and power, Stockton dominated virtually from the start and once the first goal went in after 18 minutes Reds were very much on the back foot.
It had reached 3-0 at half-time and the visitors were in damage limitation mode for the second-half.
Two more goals were conceded and there was no getting away from the fact that Reds were a poor second best and the only pleasing feature for manager Fell was a bright performance from Jamie Allen and steady introductions under difficult circumstances for three of the Development side who started on the bench.
What was not argued was the fact that Reds gave away a number of silly goals in the five they conceded, with a lack of strong marking the main problem.
Stephen Thompson set the ball rolling in the 18th minute and three minutes later Reds’ worst fears were realised when Josh Scott added a second.
Michael Roberts grabbed the third on 40 minutes to make it a tough half-time team talk from Fell.
It didn’t help that Thompson scored his second three minutes after the restart and the agony was completed two minutes from time with Scott’s second.
To hear what Fell thought of it listen below:
