Megan makes it another semi-final

SALE UNITED ................. 0 LINNETS LADIES ............ 2 LINNETS Ladies eased to a third successive Cheshire Women’s League Challenge Cup semi-final appearance with a comfortable win at Crossford Bridge Sports Ground on Sunday.

Having been inactive for the past three weeks and unable to train for the last two, holders Runcorn were never in danger of not progressing but with a little more deternination, the victory margin could have been bigger.

Manager John Pickering’s tactics to counteract Sale’s danger players and to exploit their evident weaknesses proved to be spot on, however.

As Sale failed to take advantage of the slope in the first half, a flowing move between Megan Pickering and Becky Barker teed up Chelsea Gillies to finish with aplomb after only 12 minutes.

That became 2-0 just after the half hour as Lucy Wieland’s headed pass was emphatically turned home by Megan Pickering.

Tempany Carlson came close to a third when her free-kick was headed off the line while a further Linnets ‘goal’ was ruled offside.

The only sour note of the first half for the Linnets was the injury recurrence which saw Barker being replaced by Lyndsey Hopley on 19 minutes.

Linnets made four half-time substitutions with Nicola Hyland, Jade Walton, Lile Ashley and Marcia Jones Sacharewicz coming on.

The home side upped the tempo in the second half but Rebekah Durr, in the Runcorn goal, hardly had a save to make.

With Lile Ashley particularly effective down the right, combining with Marcia Jones Sacharewicz, the visitors still looked the likelier scorers.

But the game petered out into a series of corners at both ends.

It came as no surprise when Linnets’ Player of the Match Mandy Kennedy was dismissed in the 89th minute for a second bookable offence.