Colne went down to a three goal defeat to league leaders Workington at the Sovereign Play Stadium on Saturday. The Reds were hit by injuries and fielded a weakened team which battled well in atrocious conditions during a second half deluge.
In the opening stages, Workington pushed forward with some good attacks on the left wing but Colne defended well with Matty Makinson and Tyler Brownsword coping well with the threat of Liam Brockbank and Connor Tinnion. And Alex Coleman made a good tackle to clear the ball off the toes of Robert Bowman as he burst into the Colne penalty area after ten minutes before Marcus Poscha did well to win the ball as Robbie Hebson made a good run up the right wing.
At the other end, Rio Wilson-Heyes saw his shot fly across the face of goal as Colne settled into the game with some promising attacks with Billy Hasler-Cregg and Eli Hey finding gaps in the visitors defence.
After 36 minutes, Colne conceded a needless corner and when the cross came over, Hakan Burton made an instinctive save to keep out a point blank header but the loose ball fell to Bradley Carroll who forced the ball home at the far post to give Workington the lead.
Colne looked to hit back and Aidan Chippendale’s run and cross from the bye line found Hey at the near post but his shot on the turn flew across the face of goal. With half time approaching, the Reds came close again when Chippendale forced a corner and the resulting cross fell to Hey in the area but his shot was blocked by defenders in a crowded goalmouth.
Colne were caught cold at the beginning of the second half when within a minute of the restart, Workington doubled their lead with a simple goal as Scott Allison converted a low cross from the left wing with a side-foot shot.
Colne pushed forward with Joe Coveney and Chippendale providing good balls into the visitors’ penalty area and as Hey chased a through ball, he looked to have got past the keeper before the ball stuck in the mud and was cleared by the last defender.
The heavy rain was making the pitch unplayable and contributed to Workington’s third goal on the hour when a headed back pass caught Burton wrong-footed and Nathan Waterson nipped in to fire a shot into the empty net.
The Reds battled on in atrocious conditions and Hey saw his angled shot fly just wide of goal from a good chance. Brad Lynch provided more chances with some great attacking runs into the area from the left wing and Chippendale saw his goal-bound shot blocked in the visitors’ goalmouth. But in the final minute of the game, Burton made a great save to keep out Bradley Hubbold’s goal-bound shot as Workington threatened to score again.
Colne Team
Hakan Burton
Andy Hollins
Marcus Poscha
Alex Coleman (C)
Matty Makinson
Joe Coveney
Rio Wilson-Heyes
Tyler Brownsword
Eli Hey
Billy Hasler-Cregg
Aidan Chippendale
Brad Knox
X
Waqas Azam
Brad Lynch
X
Connor Hughes