Loan arrival a real boost, says Ellison Linnets boss reflects on ‘point gained’ at Ramsbottom
MICHAEL Ellison is excited by the signing of Louis Hayes on loan from Chester following Runcorn Linnets’ 1-1 draw with Ramsbottom United on Saturday.
Linnets took the lead late in the first-half through a stunning Zac Aley header but were pegged back by Nic Evangelinos’s equaliser with just over 15 minutes remaining.
“It was certainly a point gained,” Ellison admitted. “There was a hangover from Tuesday night you could see that.
“I’d have liked to change it but unfortunately I was unable to with the options I had.
“You could see there was a bit of a hangover but I thought the firsthalf was pretty even. We scored a fantastic goal and had a really good chance and they had a couple of really good chances too.
“In the second half we were under quite a bit of pressure to be fair to them but it’s a tough place to go.
“I was disappointed after the game to be honest, because when you are 1-0 up with 15 minutes left, I was just disappointed with their goal.
“We switched off and let them in and we ended up hanging on for the point so it’s a point gained,
● Runcorn Linnets goalkeeper Michael Emery collects the ball against Ramsbottom United. Match report on page 46 certainly.
Runcorn are eight points outside the play-off places and Ellison has acted by completing a trio of signings in midweek.
Goalkeeper Michael Emery, midfielder Hayes and striker Sean Mullan all arrived and could feature in their FA Trophy third round qualifier against FC United of Manchester on Saturday.
“We missed out on Louis a few weeks ago,” Ellison explained. “He went to Bamber Bridge onloan.
“The plan was to try and get him in and we are glad to have finally got him in and he’ll go into the squad against FC United.
“He’s a really good young player with a lot of potential who just needs game time so hopefully he can play some of his best football for us.”
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PAUL McManus believes Runcorn Town are finally beginning to perform to the standards he expects following a 2-0 win over Padiham on Saturday.
Town, tipped for promotion during the summer, currently sit eight points outside the three promotion places but have lost just one of their last nine games in all competitions.
Runcorn have won two consecutive matches 2-0 and McManus is pleased by the momentum generated.
“These past two games have been extremely good results for us,” the player-manager said.
“Clean sheets are massive as it gives us a base to build from and we’ve had some very good football played too.
“We said recently that we feel things are moving in the right direction, and although we have had too many draws in that period, with a little more luck we could easily find ourselves third.
“But we are moving in the right direction.” Craig Cairns, who rejoined Runcorn from City of Liverpool in the summer, bagged the second against Padiham to take his tally to 10 goals in in the last 10 matches.
With a trip to Barnoldswick Town on the horizon, McManus is hoping the ‘massively healthy’ competition for places continues to push his side towards the top three.
“Craig has started to find the net more regularly as we know he can and his performances have been very good too, which is extremely pleasing to then see him score,” he said of the striker.
“We have worked on a number of things during our unbeaten run and the lads are really starting to perform to the standards we expect.
“We have a great balance at the minute and also massively healthy competition too which seems to be getting the best out of some so long may that continue.”