Fine effort by thirds in defeat

Warrington II 3 Runcorn III 1 RUNCORN Hockey Club’s third-team’s inconsistency continued on Saturday as they faced second-placed Warrington.

Sitting at the opposite end of the table, the expectation was for a very difficult afternoon for the visitors.

But, having played poorly the previous week, the Runcorn team put in one of their best displays of the campaign.

From the outset, Warrington were out-played and outenthused and most of the play was in the home side’s half of the field.

Although no chances were created, the movement and effort from the midfield and forwards was outstanding.

However, in one of their rare excursions into the Runcorn danger area, Warrington benefited from a lucky break of the ball to score their first goal of the contest.

The play became a little more even but Warrington were unable to build on their advantage.

Just before half-time a poor defensive tackle gifted Warrington a penalty flick which they converted.

The 2-0 scoreline was harsh but the second half saw Runcorn continue to force the play.

Chances from a couple of penalty corners were missed and when Warrington were awarded a second penalty flick, it looked all over.

A great save from goalkeeper Ray Garner kept hopes alive, but a third penalty soon after was converted to make it 3-0 to Warrington.

Runcorn scored a deserved consolation goal through Ian Townley’s penalty corner strike, but it was too late in the end.

The game summed up Runcorn’s season, showing they can more than match all teams in the league but unable to get the wins.

This was a fine team performance, but Dan White and Dylan Hughes playing out wide both had outstanding games for Runcorn.