By Garry Clarke
AFTER returning to winning ways last Saturday beating Whitby Town 1-0 for a hard fought victory, Warrington Rylands venture north to take on old rivals Workington in a NPL Premier Division fixture, kick off 3pm.
Rylands have a rivalry with the Cumbrians which dates back to the 2021/22 season when the two teams went head to head for the NPL west title.
Workington seemed to have wrestled the iniative back from Rylands, following the two sides 1-1 at Borough Park in the final few weeks of the season. But as Rylands kept on going, Workington stumbled to set up a dramatic final day, with Rylands claiming the title by a single point after their foes failed to overcome bottom of the table Market Drayton Town.
Defeating Runcorn Linnets in last season’s play off final, Workington made the step up to the Premier Division 12 months after Rylands and after a great start to the season topping the table in the early weeks they dropped as low as 19th before a revial saw them move up into the play off places. They have struggled for consistancy as they continue to yo-yo up and down the table and after last Saturday’s games they occupy 12th place on the table.
With no game last Saturday they lost 3-1 away to Radcliffe on their last outing, one of two defeats in their last six games which with 3 draws and a win leaves them 17th in the NPL Premier Division’s current form table while Rylands with 2 wins , 3 draws and a defeat are 11th in the current form table.
Going into Saturday’s game the two team’s league records this season are:
P W D L GF GA GD PTS POS
Rylands 25 13 9 3 40 24 16 48 2
Workington 25 8 8 9 52 55 -3 32 14
Earlier this season Workington visited Rylands on Tuesday 10th October when only a 77th minute Matty Regan goal separated the two teams as the Blues maintained their unbeaten record over the Reds.
Having won six of their 12 home games with four draws and two defeats, Workington have the 8th best home record in the NPL Premier Division this season while Rylands, still unbeaten in the league on their travels, have the 2nd best away record, five wins and seven draws, in the division.
A familiar face in the home side’s ranks will be Joe Bunney who joined the Cumbrians earlier this season having played 8 times for Rylands in their 2021/22 NPL West title winning season.
Workington play at at Borough Park Workington CA14 2DT which according to Google Maps is approx 136 miles from Rylands Recreation Club and should take 2 hours 30 minutes.
