In three previous games against the Reds, Stockton Town had helped themselves to 14 goals.
The fourth meeting at Borough Park produced only one goal, and the 27th minute penalty proved to be the match winner for the Teessiders.
But Workington had to play with 10 men for 72 minutes, plus two more and four more as added time at the end of each half.
In the end it was a brave, battling defeat when earlier on it had looked like a dismal formality and another drubbing for the West Cumbrians at the wrong end of the table.
Even the most hardened Stockton supporter might have admitted at the end that Reds had deserved a point for their efforts.
Sometimes, though, effort isn’t rewarded and it was more the lack of a cutting edge where it mattered that prevented the home side from gaining what they deserved,
Full-back Charlie Barnes was shown a straight red for a high tackle on Cameron Painter, who later had to leave the field with a gashed knee.
Nine minutes later Tyler Magliore was adjudged to have brought down Stephen Thompson in the area and from the spot Kevin Hayes scored the only goal of the game.
Earlier the industrious home skipper Steve Rigg had headed against the post from Josh Galloway’s cross and saw another effort saved low down by Nathan Harker.
At the other end a fiercely driven free kick from Hayes should have produced a second goal but there was just nowhere there to apply the finishing touches as it flashed invitingly across goal.
In the second-half the lively Hayes caused problems for Workington but with a reshaped defence working hard, and a couple of decent saves by Danny Eccles, they stayed in the contest.
In the closing stages it was Workington who forced the pace and substitute Josh Palmer went close with a couple of efforts, one over the top and another just past the post.
Palmer, who has been scoring goals regularly for the Under-23s, looks a promising young player and has played his way into Billy Barr’s first team squad.
Fellow forward Rigg, who put in another great shift, has had a recent scan on his knee so is really battling through the pain barrier.
Isaac Whitehall, the second signing for Barr, had a solid debut starting in midfield and then having to fill in at the back through the early departure of the classy Magliore with a hamstring concern.
Despite another home defeat and the widening gap to eight points for safety, this spirited effort against a top six side while handicapped through a red card, will provide hope that not all is lost.
You can hear what Billy Barr thought of the performance, of the fans, and how he’s progressing with team strengthening, by listening below:
