Workington Town Women secured their place in the Women’s Cumberland County Cup final, after a convincing performance against holders Penrith Ladies at the Fibrus Community Stadium.
A goal in either half from Hayley Bracken and Bea Barber in front of 250 appreciative supporters was enough to claim the spoils and give the home side some revenge for defeat in the final 12 months earlier.
Town were quick out of the blocks as they pushed Penrith back and applied pressure to the visiting back line.
The urgency of play from the home side was nearly rewarded in the 10th minute when a quick throw in from Barber on the right released Brackens keen running.
Bracken’s timing gave her control, but covering defenders and Hope Lawsons reaction to leave her line applied pressure which resulted in the striker’s effort being lifted slightly over the target.
More pressure followed resulting in a corner from Nat Broad finishing narrowly over the cross bar and a free kick from 25 yards out finding Lawson well positioned.
Home confidence grew with each attack as pressure was applied incrementally.
Cassie Donald started a sweeping move from one flank to the other as she connected with Naomi Foster who in turn fed Broad in an advanced position.
Broad’s deft flick to Kirsten Donald gave her an advantage as she picked out Barber in behind.
Defensive cover resulted in a corner from the right, which could only be half cleared before falling to Barber, resulting in a fierce strike which seemed destined to find the back of the net only to end up being deflected behind.
Soon after, the home side’s dominance was rightly rewarded when a restart from Lawson was met by Kirsten Donald on the half way line.
Donald’s header found Broad who again displayed deft control to bring the ball under control, before releasing to meet Bracken’s attacking movement.
Bracken showed great composure to move the ball away from the advancing Lawson with one touch before calmly passing the ball in to the goal and securing the lead.
Laura Miller was very infrequently called in to action for the home side, but reacted excellently when needed.
The first was to tip a deflected free kick from distance over the bar to safety late in the first half and secondly when Sharena Robinson closed in on goal from the left with minutes of the game remaining.
Miller positioned herself well at her near post and saved convincingly with her foot from close range to push the ball behind.
Town doubled their lead in the 75th minute with a move that started off in their own half.
Helen Wagstaff carried the ball effortlessly through the middle of the park before linking with Broad. Broad’s creativity was on display again as she flicked to find Barber but the striker’s touch was uncharacteristically heavy as it found a visiting defender.
Fortunately for Town, Cassie Donald was on hand to apply pressure which resulted in the ball finding its way back to Barber as she smothered an attempted clearance.
Barber’s composure was on point as she steadied before stroking the ball past Lawson and in doing so doubling the home side’s advantage.
Two further chances were crafted by Town as the game drew to an end. Kirsten Donald and her midfield accomplices had taken control of the middle of the park, so it was no surprise to see her setting off the next attack.
Donald found Barber who released Bracken on another defence splitting run.
Having claimed control in behind the line and with Lawson advancing, Bracken set herself to shoot. However, a surprisingly unpunished heavy challenge on her trailing leg had influenced the quality of strike which resulted in the ball travelling past the wrong side of the post.
Soon after, substitute Sarah Smith was in on goal after good pressing from Morgan McGrady had regained possession on the half way line and released Smith.
Smith won the footrace to the edge of the area and again, Lawson was off her line, Smith lifted and beat the Keeper, only sadly to see her effort hit the cross bar before being cleared to safety.
Focus again turned on Smith with minutes of the game remaining after she was adjudged to have gone in too strongly in a 50-50 challenge.
The result was a straight red card for Smith, which was unfortunate for a player that has missed most of the season through injury and had battled hard to return to action ahead of time.
This marked the last notable action of the game with the final whistle following shortly after.
There was no player of the game issued on Sunday, however the performance from Workington was shared equally between all players and as such each should take full credit.
After the game, Captain Naomi Foster said: “I thought we were awesome today and the unity that the team showed made a huge difference.
“We have a variety of experience in the squad, but our ethos is that everyone is equal and this brings great value to what we do.
“To be back in the final and having the opportunity to go a step further than last year means a lot to us all.”
Manager Paul Mackenzie added: “I thought we were on top in every facet of the game today.
“Our back line repeatedly shut attacks down, or midfield was on top throughout and our front line showed great creativity and energy proving to be a real threat from the first to the final whistle.”
“On behalf of the team, I’d like to pay special thanks to the supporters that came down to cheer us on today.
“It shows there’s an appetite in the community for what we are doing and it makes such a positive impact to us all when we see great numbers down supporting us.”
