Workington Town Women have booked their place in the County Cup semi final draw after a controlling performance over a spirited Stanwix side.
The hosts gave a great account of themselves over the 90 minutes of the cup tie, forcing Workington to stay focused throughout.
Some might say that Town were somewhat fortuitous with their opening goal in the 7th minute, others would argue that if you put yourself in good positions you’ll generate your own luck.
Either way, Town went ahead after good work on the right by Kirsten Donald saw the midfielder create a crossing opportunity from a dangerous position.
Donald delivered and the keeper came to collect with Bea Barber in attendance. Unfortunately for the home side, the resulting attempted save rebounded off Barber and into the empty goal.
The following quarter of an hour passed by with Town creating several chances on the back of controlled football.
Their lead was doubled in the 24th minute after a strike on goal from Keeley Chatters rebounded off the crossbar and fell to Rowan Williams following up.
Williams remained composed as she passed the ball in to the back of the net with clinical execution.
Town remained on top and further chances were built from the middle of the park, but a combination of last ditch tackles and good saves resulted in the two goal lead being taken in to the half time break.
With a little over 10 minutes of the second half played, Town extended their lead to three goals.
Chloe Henderson controlled a throw in on the right in the final third and crossed to find Hayley Bracken centrally.
Bracken controlled the ball with one touch before powering home with her second to give the Stanwix keeper no chance of saving.
A further 12 minutes had passed when Town had forced a corner on the right.
The ball was delivered in by Nat Broad and Bracken challenged the Keeper who managed to push the ball away from goal.
Barber was lurking on the edge of the area and when the ball found its way to her, she reacted with instinct as she drove the ball home through the crowd of players and in to the back of the goal.
With 15 minutes remaining, Town scored their fifth and final goal after Henderson delivered a dangerous ball in from the left which was finished off convincingly by Donald at the back post.
Barber was in attendance centrally and occupying defenders but was unable to reach the flight of the ball, however Donald had picked up a good position on the back post.
The midfielder intelligently allowed the ball to fall across her body to mimic the travel of the would be defender and Keeper, before guiding the ball in the opposite direction and in to the open goal.
The game played out its remaining minutes without further drama and as such had earned the right to progress in the competition.In addition to the pleasing result, Town were also delighted to see Morgan McGrady returning to action having been sidelined with an injury for most of the season.
On her return, manager Paul Mackenzie said: “It’s been a tough season for Morgan, not really knowing what was happening next has been extremely frustrating for her and for the club.
“However there’s plenty of games still to play and our aim is to manager Morgan over the coming weeks so that she remains available to us over the final three months of the season.”
