Wade impresses on debut but Runcorn thirds are blanked by Neston

Runcorn III 0 Neston VIII 4 SATURDAY saw a disappointing afternoon for Runcorn Hockey Club’s men’s third-team who had hopes of building on the previous week’s victory.

Although fielding a slightly weaker team from the previous week, the two sides were evenly matched with both fielding a mixture of youth and experience.

The first half reflected this with half-chances created at both ends of the field.

After 15 minutes captain Graham Skelland had to retire with a leg injury leaving Runcorn with only one interchange.

This did not appear to affect the team, though, and the half continued fairly evenly.

Indiscipline crept into Runcorn’s play and when Riley Cooper was sin-binned, the momentum shifted to the visitors but Runcorn managed to get to half time with the scoreline still blank.

Restored to 11 players, the second half looked to be more of the same until Neston found space on their right and scored the opening goal of the game.

The visitors now took control and having more substitutes available enabled them to dictate the pace.

A second goal soon followed and when Neston created a very well taken third, the match was all but over.

A late fourth goal created a slightly flattering scoreline but Neston deservedly took the points.

Riley Cooper and Robert Mault were the pick of the Runcorn team with young Ben Wade making an excellent debut up front.