Winning streak ends on a rare blank night
CITY OF LIVERPOOL FC ......................... 0 RUNCORN TOWN ...................................... 0
ALL good things, so the old saying goes, come to an end. And that was the case for Runcorn Town on Tuesday evening as their streak of consecutive league victories to start the campaign was snapped at 11 matches.
Game number 12 with City of Liverpool FC eventually ended in a goalless draw in what Town boss Chris Herbert later described as an “ugly” performance by the Merseysiders.
For the statisticians, the final scoreline was the first blank one in the Herbert era at Runcorn. It was also the first time the team had been involved in such a contest since a goalless clash with West Didsbury & Chorlton back in March, 2016, some 70 matches ago.
Speaking after the match, Herbert said: “It was a bit of a weird game.
“City of Liverpool were made up with how they played but we were very disappointed because we feel we should be winning those games.
“They came out just to be horrible really. There were a few naughty tackles and they were looking for trouble.
“I’ve got no problem with teams being ugly with us – it will happen – but to shout things off the line, I wasn’t happy with. I suppose it’s the way they think they can win games of football.”
It was the Purples who had the first half-chances in the game forcing a couple of corners which were eventually dealt with by the Runcorn rearguard.
Town gradually got themselves into the encounter and by the 20 minute ● mark were largely in control.
One opportunity came when Mark Reed played in Craig Cairns but the usually lethal Runcorn hitman rolled the ball wide of the target with Purples’ players calling for offside.
Soon after, City keeper Graeme McCall did well by adjusting his position quickly to tip a curling effort from Paul McManus over his crossbar.
From the resultant flag-kick, the ball fell into the path of Kieran Evans who hurried his shot blasting the ball high over the target from 20 yards.
Just after the half-hour, Town lost Marcus James to an ankle injury and manager Herbert moved striker Simon Thelwell to centre-back as Kevin Exell entered the fray.
Town’s defence was put under some pressure when Francis Foy sent over a fine cross onto the head of Dean Shack- lock but he nodded the ball wide of the target.
And just before the interval, Craig Robinson headed wide following a pinpoint centre from Luke Denson.
The home side pressed forward after the break and Runcorn found chances breaking forward at a premium.
An opportunity did arise when Town were foiled by a double save from keeper McCall. Reed had his low shot blocked by the keeper’s feet. Teammate Joe Holt following up hit a powerful drive that was brilliantly turned away by the alert Purples’ No1.
Just after the hour, centre-back Robinson was booked for a foul on Exell and barely a few minutes later the same player saw yellow for a second time for a challenge on Cairns and was dismissed by match referee Jack Nield.
Despite being a player short, it was City of Liverpool who looked the more likely of the two teams to score.
Late on, Michael Roberts volleyed an effort over the Runcorn crossbar while Town goalkeeper Andy Metcalf was called into action to collect the ball from a corner as the home side battled to end the visitors’ undefeated run.
However, the full-time whistle which sounded soon after ended those hopes and Town, although dropping their first league points of the campaign, still lead the way and still remain the team to beat in the Hallmark Security League Premier Division.