TWO goals in added time sent Workington Reds tumbling out of the FA Cup at Radcliffe on Tuesday night.

Danny Grainger’s side had gone 3-1 ahead on 66 minutes after dominating the first qualifying tie for long periods.

Then two enforced substitutions by the Reds, plus a spirited response by the hosts, saw them pull level by the 78th minute.

When Sam Smith was sent off on 81 minutes for a second bookable offence it seemed more a question of seeing it through to penalties which would follow the 90 minutes.

Reds got that far but in the five minutes which were added on Radcliffe scored twice to seal their place in the draw for the second qualifying round.

It was a disappointing end to the game and Grainger said: “We were the better side for 90 minutes. That’s three games against teams from a higher League that we have played recently and, although losing, have been better than them each time.

“You give them credit for coming back from 3-1 down, but they didn’t play a lot of football. It was largely a case of finding the big men up-front, which is what we were expecting. I thought we dealt with that well but it was the second phase which cost us.

“We go again after training on Thursday with a derby game on Saturday at Kendal and we will be going there to win it. We will have a couple of injury issues to contend with but we have a good squad and there will be opportunities for some to come in and prove themselves.”

Reds had been very positive out of the blocks and deservedly took the lead on 13 minutes with another smart finish from last season’s top scorer Scott Allison.

Jack Shiels was short with a back pass to keeper Cameron Belford and Allison was onto it quickly before lifting the ball over him to find the net and his 123rd goal for the club.

Allison also had strong claims for a penalty waved aside when Shiels clearly used his arm to block his progress but referee Declan Brown was probably unsighted or maybe the Reds forward was over-dramatic in his fall in the box.

So it stayed 1-0 until the 28th minute when Reds failed to properly clear a ball into the box. It broke to Andy Owens who thundered a fierce shot past Jim Atkinson.

Reds couldn’t have had a better start to the second half when Reuben Jerome put them back in front on 46 minutes. Belford blocked a shot from Dav Symington and Jerome finished off from close range.

When Brad Carroll brought a flying save out of Belford and then crashed one past him on 66 minutes to take Reds two goals clear, it looked as though a few Radcliffe heads dropped.

But after Allison and Jerome were replaced, Radcliffe were thrown a lifeline on 72 minutes by a spectacular free kick bent round the wall by skipper Matt Crothers – and from that point they never looked back.

Atkinson could only half-punch clear a corner on 78 minutes and experienced striker Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro fired home the equaliser.

When Smith was booked for a second time on 81 minutes and made the long walk to the dressing room it gave Radcliffe another boost.

But Reds made it through the 90 minutes, with penalties onlyminutes away, when disaster struck.

Crothers thumped in another juicy strike from the edge of the area and right at the end Owens scored his second from similar range.

As Grainger suggested at the end: “I don’t think they will score better goals all season than they did tonight.”