Workington 3 Stourbridge 1

With the team travelling up on Friday afternoon and staying overnight in Shap, a later pitch inspection was possible and the go-ahead was duly given by the match referee at 1 pm, although any significant rainfall during the match might have left the ref with a difficult call to make had conditions deteriorated.

Already shorn of three central defenders in Duggan, Pierpoint and Sho-Silva, the Glassboys suffered another blow in the warm-up when Chris Knight sustained an ankle injury and had to pull out of the game with teenager Jacob Wedderburn steping up to take his place in a back four that also saw Kieren Westwood make his first start.

On a soft and slippery surface that quickly cut up (who'd be a groundsman?!), the hosts applied themselves better, used the ball more wisely and were livelier in the forward areas and deserved the three points, although a Matt Dodd inspired late rally meant that the visitors briefly threatened a seemingly unlikely comeback.

The Cumbrian side had the better of the early exchanges. In the 7th minute a corner was only partially cleared and Dave Symington struck a low shot through a crowd of players, but his effort was safely held by Matt Gould. Five minutes later Symington was in the thick of the action again with his low cross from the left finding Jack Ryan, but his shot goal-wards was well blocked. Gradually Stourbridge grew more into the contest. On 18 minutes a speculative early low shot from Benbow was spilled by Aaron Taylor, who recovered quickly to gather. Four minutes later some desperate defending from the hosts saw shots from Benbow, Broadhurst and Tonks in quick succession all blocked before the danger was averted.

With 24 minutes gone, the Glassboys ought to have grabbed the lead. Benbow sent over a deep cross from the left and Birch at the far post turned a header back towards the onrushing Jordan Archer who flashed his close range shot wide of a gaping goal. After that let-off the hosts were soon back on the attack with a Jack Simpson cross being met by Symington, however his volley was too close to Gould who saved on his line. Workington pressed once more on 32 minutes with Conor Tinnion getting away a low snap-shot that drew a smart save down by his right-hand post by Gould before the follow-up was blocked for a corner. Four minutes later Tinnion retrieved a ball and curled a cross in from the left for Ryan to send a header just past the post.

Workington were finally rewarded for their endeavours in the 43rd minute as the Glassboys again struggled to clear the ball. It was turned into the path of Symington who was allowed a little too much time to let fly with a crisp drive from over 25 yards out that flew past Gould into the top corner.

Stourbridge would probably have been relieved to have gone in at the interval only one down, but instead two minutes into stoppage time, they found themselves falling further behind. Tinnion bisected the Stour defence as he pushed the ball through into the area for Sam Joel to bring it down and hit a low angled shot that Gould got a hand to, but he couldn't prevent the ball finding the far bottom corner of the net.

Soon after the re-start Joel went close again with an effort that curled wide of the top corner. Then at the other end Tonks sent in a free-kick, but Archer's header lacked the power to trouble Taylor unduly. In the 48th minute a driving run from Sam Allison took him past Westlake before clipping a rising shot that bounced down off the crossbar before being cleared for a corner. Two minutes later a clearing header from Wedderburn was collected by Symington who quickly got a shot away that Gould was equal to. Stourbridge hit back with Westlake advancing into the right-hand side of the area before turning the ball back invitingly towards Brad Birch, however he miscued his shot and Taylor made an easy save.

With 55 minutes on the clock, Stourbridge were left with a mountain to climb as the Reds added a third. Benbow lost possession in the centre of the park and Josh Calvert hit an early ball forward down-field, which Joel won the race for. He flicked the ball past the advancing Gould and then eased out the recovering Westlake before walking the ball into an empty net.

In the 61st minute Stourbridge made their first change with a shake-up seeing Matt Dodd replacing Tonks. Seven minutes later Wedderburn could only find the side netting with a far post header from a free-kick and then in a flurry of activity, the home side went close to a fourth before Stourbridge gained a lifeline. Josh Green replaced Westwood for Stourbridge. Moments later a right-wing corner from Tinnion saw Kyle May power a header against the crossbar before the visitors broke forward and rather needlessly Gari Rowntree bundled over Dodd close to the by-line to concede a penalty which Benbow confidently fired home past Taylor. With ten minutes to go Stourbridge came close to reducing the arrears to just one goal when a free-kick into the box saw Archer win the first header before Preston headed on and behind him, Broadhurst sent a header against the bar. After that though Workington saw out the game well, with Joel going close to his hat-trick when he fired wide from Simpson's cross. Josh Cooke was introduced for his Stourbridge debut near the end, but he had little time to make his mark.

The result sees Stourbridge remain third in the Premier Division table, but they lost ground on second-placed Nantwich Town, who won 3-2 at Ilkeston, coincidentally the Glassboys' next opponents. Workington climbed to 5th as a battle royal continues amongst eight clubs behind Nantwich before a play-off berth.