Workington Reds boss Danny Grainger was delighted after a strong performance saw his side dispatch Radcliffe in a pre-season friendly.

With just one more match to go before the start of the league season, Grainger’s men racked up a 4-1 victory, with Scott Allison at the helm.

Allison was handed the captain’s armband and he stepped up to his duties, earning praise from Grainger as he also scored two goals, one from the spot.

“Scotty is quite a quiet lad but he has such an influence on the dressing room and when he talks people stand up and listen, so for me it was one of the easier decisions I had to make,” Grainger told the club website.

“I’ve said before there’s many captains in that dressing room but Scotty leads by example every time we train, and every game we have, he gives 100 per cent.

“He was fantastic from the spot and he showed his confidence, stepping up and dispatching it the way he did.”

Grainger was pleased with the overall performance against a difficult side as the new-look side start to gel.

“I was absolutely delighted with the lads, they’ve took on board everything we’ve done in pre-season and this was probably one of the best performances we’ve had,” he added.

“I spoke to them before the game and we said this would be as close as we get to the real thing and I’m delighted with what they’ve done.

“They’ve applied themselves well in tactics and implementing our plan. At times the boys were faultless.”

Gari Rowntree scored Reds’ opening goal with a header before Allison doubled the lead with a penalty after Rowntree was brought down in the area.

Radcliffe hit back with one of their own but Reds re-established a two-goal advantage when Allison found the back of the net, before he turned provider for the fourth, with Brad Hubbold scoring.

And it could have been more for the upbeat Workington side who also saw an effort from Nathan Waterston disallowed by the referee.

Reds have one final friendly ahead of them, this Saturday as they travel to last season’s NPL West Division champions Atherton Collieries.

Then the league season will kick-start with the visit of Pickering Town to Borough Park on Saturday, August 17.