Linnets fly on to go 13 points clear at summit
BARNTON ................................................... 1 RUNCORN LINNETS ................................. 3
RUNCORN LINNETS made it 11 straight league wins on Friday night, although the trip to bottom-of-the-table team Barnton proved to be a much more difficult encounter than many had predicted.
The decision to bring this game forward from the usual Saturday afternoon kick-off proved to be crucial. The pitch was very heavy (yet certainly playable) from the off but, with the torrential rain on Friday night and Saturday morning, there is no doubt that the match would not have survived on the original date.
Michael Ellison moved away from his favoured 4-3-3 formation to a good oldfashioned 4-4-2. Mark Houghton was restored to the starting XI to partner Freddie Potter in the attack.
Adam Jones started at right-back, in place of Danny O’Brien, and Jimmy Moore replaced his customary central colleague Aaron Morris, for whom this was a very rare absence. Matty Atherton continued his makeshift role in the middle of the back-four.
Runcorn controlled the opening stages, building attacks down the flanks but not really testing Robert Cooke in the Villagers’ goal.
Barnton looked much more purposeful opposition than the team that had visited the Millbank Linnets Stadium just before Christmas, and they scored without doubt the best goal that the Linnets’ stubborn rearguard has conceded so far this season to take the lead on 20 minutes.
An attack up the left worked its way infield with Jack Woolley receiving the ball a good 25 yards out from goal.
He looked up and unleashed a stunning strike that found the very top corner, rebounding in off the goal post and giving Terry Smith absolutely no chance of making a save.
Linnets have now conceded the opening goal in three of their last four league matches, but a telling trait of Ellison’s side is that they never let this affect them and continue about their business as originally planned.
Soon after Barnton had taken the lead, Runcorn should have been awarded a penalty when a Barnton player handled the ball onto the crossbar in a desperate attempt to clear a corner.
However, it mattered not as, within a minute of that incident, the referee did indeed award Linnets a spot-kick when Kris Holt was brought down just inside ● HALLMARK SECURITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION the penalty area. With main and reserve penalty-takers O’Brien and Stuart Wellstead both watching from the substitutes’ bench, Mike Simpson eventually threw himself into the fire, his strike from 12-yards just about squirming under Cooke to equal up the score.
The visiting Linnets were determined to go into the half-time break with a lead and Potter twice went close.
But five minutes before the interval, the second goal did arrive for Linnets – and in some style.
Louis Corrigan has fitted in seamlessly since joining the club last month, and his set-pieces have been very impressive.
From a free-kick, quite central and about 22 yards out, Corrigan bent his effort around the Barnton defensive wall and inside Cooke’s right-hand post.
Barnton almost scored a free-kick of their own, just before half-time, only to be denied by an excellent save by Smith low to his right.
The second half was not to be a thing of much beauty, both sides to their credit continuing to try to play football on an ever-deteriorating playing surface, but neither being able to take a real foothold.
Barnton made an excellent job of stopping Linnets from playing and creating chances, closing down in a flash when the ball was near their penalty area.
Potter came within a hair’s breadth of connecting when Paul Shanley’s dinked cross took out Barnton’s defence and goalkeeper, the big centre-forward was a split second late in arriving as the ball flew across goal to safety.
Shanley was starting to dictate the play and drew a fantastic tip-over save from Cooke, cutting in from the left wing to curl a shot goalwards.
This was the cue for change. Potter and Houghton were replaced by Wellstead and Hickey, Linnets reverting to a 4-3-3 system. The impact was almost immediate as the pace of the now front three caused terror amongst a tiring Barnton rearguard.
With 15 minutes remaining, Runcorn scored the decisive third goal that they had been craving. It was a very wellworked one too.
Atherton played out from the back to find Holt in the centre circle. In one move, Holt spun and lifted the ball over Barnton’s defence to set Shanley through on goal with 30 yards of space to run into. Despite claims for offside from Barnton, Shanley kept his cool to place his shot through the legs of Cooke to the delight of the travelling Linnets’ faithful.
Holt almost scored the fourth but his shot was cleared off the line by Paddy Hamid with Cooke out of position.
At the other end, Smith had to be alert to smother a one-on-one as Barnton refused to throw in the towel. The exhausted players of both sides left the field to great applause from both sets of fans, and it was thoroughly deserved. Barnton had belied their lowly league position, giving Linnets their toughest test for quite some time.
From a Linnets point of view, it was especially pleasing to win ‘ugly’.
Despite their ability to dominate games and win well, there will not always be that luxury and it is critical to pick up victories in other ways if the team is looking to claim a significant prize. RUNCORN LINNETS ................................. 2 ASHTON ATHLETIC.................................. 0 RUNCORN LINNETS’ brilliant winning run was extended to 12 matches on Tuesday night when they blanked Ashton Athletic 2-0 at the Millbank Linnets Stadium.
The Hallmark Security League’s Premier Division Player of the Month for January, Freddie Potter, set the team on their way to the three points with a fine header inside the box on 24 minutes.
And the victory was confirmed when Paul Shanley fired home a superb shot from just outside the area midway through the second half. Runcorn are now 13 points clear at the top.