Harrogate Town returned from the Cumbrian coast with an hard earned victory over a resiliant Workington.
Simon Weaver fielded a much changed starting eleven with Ryan Fallowfield making his seasonal debut,Danny Ellis returning from injury and Lloyd Kerry also making the line up.
Paul Clayton and Cecil Nyoni were among the seven subs allowed in the F A Cup,along with long term absentee Andy Gascoigne.
Workington,cheered on by a large partisan crowd had the better of the early exchanges,as Town took time to gel together and Andy McWilliams and Luke Shiels were soon called upon to make vital defensive headers.
Matty Tymon wasted an Anthony Wright cross by firing straight at Peter Crook,before he headed a Phil McLukie corner wide,after Fallowfield had made a last ditch tackle.
Town began to hit back, with Shiels pushing forward to head a Brendan Daniels free kick against the post,although in the excitment nobody noticed the linesman’s raised flag for offside.
The half ended with Workington’s, Joe McGee ,shooting over from a free kick and Tymon heading at Crook.
The second half was only three minutes old when Daniels appeared to be upended in the box,but Referee,Paul Newhouse,ignored Town’s penalty claims and booked the Town striker for diving.
Harrogate began to take control, with Daniels firing just over the top,and a Joe Colbeck free kick,after a foul on Jack Emmett,came back off the crossbar with home keeper,Jonny Jamieson stranded.
Nyoni and Clayton replaced Fallowfield and Colbeck and as the “Reds”began to tire,Town began to threaten more.
Gari Rowntree conceded a corner from a dangerous,Dom Knowles header as Town pressed,and soon afterwards,Knowles broke clear but unselfishly squared to Emmett,whose delayed shot was well smothered by Jamieson.
Matt Bloomer replaced Kerry to play alongside the inspiring skipper,Danny Ellis,as the game seemed destined for a draw.
However,with only five minutes left on the clock,Scott Allison brought down Daniels twentyfive yards from goal and the lethal left foot of Daniels curled a shot past the defensive wall,to beat Jamieson’s despairing drive and give Town the lead.
It only remained for Town to negotiate six minutes added time, caused by blood injuries to Shiels and the “Reds”,Kyle May,and they were into the next round.
Even a return journey from hell, which took over six hours because of a serious road accident on the A66 and also the closure of the A1 at Scotch Corner,which necessitated a journey through the Lake District and a tour of several North Yorkshire towns and villages,and saw the arrival back at the CNG Stadium at midnight,couldn’t dampen the spirit of the Town party.
Workington 0 Harrogate Town 1 Att.599
Town
1 Crook, 2 Turner, 3 McWilliams, 4 Fallowfield (Nyoni 63), 5 Shiels, 6 Ellis (c), 7 Colbeck (Clayton 63), 8 Kerry (Bloomer 74), 9 Knowles, 10 Daniels, 11 Emmett.
Unused subs,
12 Thewlis, 16 Swain, 17 Gascoigne, 18 Thirlwell
Goal scorer,Daniels 85 Booking Daniels Att.599
Report by John Harrison
Photographs Craig Hurle
