Joy as Linnets secure the double over Kendal Town
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RUNCORN Linnets made one of the longer journeys of the season up the M6 to Lakelands in search of a third straight league victory, and a first league double, having beaten
Kendal Town 4-0 at home in September.
After mass changes for the midweek Integro Cup tie with Leek Town, Michael Ellison’s selection looked much more like the line-up for the league victories over Brighouse and Widnes. But Tom Owens was back in the centre of midfield in place of Louis Hayes, and Connor McCarthy started in place of suspended Ryan Gibson.
The visitors showed their intent in the first minute. Immediate pressure on the defence out right by
McCarthy forced a throw-in, followed by the inevitable trip on Paul Shanley, back in action after 90 minutes on the bench on Tuesday to rest his countless bruises from the win at Widnes.
Louis Corrigan’s free kick curled in just behind Liam Caddick, whose clever backheel flick bounced off the top of the bar.
Quick passing moves between Shanley, Caddick, Lewis McKinney and Ally Brown gave the home defence repeated problems, leaving the Runcorn half of the pitch, down the hill, largely untouched.
There were signs that Kendal left-back Seydou Bamba and winger Aaron Fleming had the capability to cause problems, but they were few, far between and on the break, with the Linnets defence coping with relative ease.
On 10 minutes, an attempt by Chris Wraighte to shield the ball out for a goal-kick failed pleasingly when it didn’t reach the line.
Shanley flicked the ball off him for a corner, from which Shan himself attempted a snapshot from a tight angle. The effort found the side netting.
The increasingly slick surface was cutting up fast, and Linnets’ quick passing game to feet was not going to get easier, but the seemingly inevitable happened after 16 minutes.
From a lay-off by Shanley, Ally Brown picked up the ball on the right touchline, deftly passed three defenders to the corner flag and crossed sharply for Connor McCarthy to despatch a firm right-footed shot into the bottom right corner.
It was hard to believe that it would be the only goal for the men in away orange, but half a dozen contacts with the woodwork, as many just over the bar, and a string of solid saves by Bacon ultimately made it so.
By the 25-minute mark, McCarthy had cleared the bar with a 22-yard shot after a 20-yard solo run by Caddick, and the referee had been unmoved by appeals for a penalty when McCarthy was sent sprawling. Kendal had managed one single move in the Runcorn half involving more than two players. The visitors looked as though they had at least two more men on the pitch.
After several weeks of cameo appearances due to a nagging injury, Connor McCarthy was showing signs of performing at his fast, forceful, dogged best, until he gave way to Alex O’Neill after the hour mark.
Almost half an hour was gone when the hosts had their first attempt on goal, the ball falling to
Wraighte outside the penalty area, his powerful shot flying high and wide, but not by much.
The ball was soon back at the top of the hill, where it stayed for most of the remainder of the wet first half.
A Brown/Corrigan one-two brought a corner on the right, headed out for another, and Corrigan’s follow-up evaded everyone in the box before bouncing off the top of the crossbar on the far side.
Keeper Emery’s long clearance enabled McCarthy to run through on goal, but the Kendal number one blocked his shot well with his legs.
The 1-0 lead didn’t reflect a first half in which the three points could already have been well on their way back to Cheshire.
The second half was a very different affair. Kendal spent far more time in the visitors’ half, and while chances were fairly evenly shared, Town’s attacks tended to involve more players and more passes, with Linnets advancing chiefly on the break.
Lewis McKinney seemed up for the battle, as his gloves were literally off. Then again, the wind and rain had abated, and he is from Oldham, not Milan.
In the first five minutes of the second half, Kendal offered more attacking threat than they had in the whole of the first.
At the bottom end, a four-man move on the break resulted in a McKinney shot from outside the area slamming against the bar, with the fingertips of Bacon helping it on its way.
Several minutes of home pressure followed, a three-man move across the outside of the box leading to a Sean Paterson shot, blocked by Peter Wylie, and another from Wraighte flying well wide.
The introduction of Alex O’Neill, for his first Linnets outing in the league, added an extra threatening dimension. His speed on fresh legs, and confidence on the ball, doubled the threat on the break provided by Shanley, who was fouled rather less than by most opponents of late.
O’Neill did quickly became the target for fouls after beating defenders to the ball. The first brought a Corrigan free-kick which again hit the bar. With 20 minutes to go O’Neill was brought down again, on the break from a cleared Kendal free-kick, resulting in Hinnigan powering an audible header straight at the home keeper.
After two more home attacks that petered out under close defensive pressure, a Shanley diagonal pass across a crowded box found the advancing Caddick in limited space. Leaning back, he blasted a shot a foot over the bar.
With six minutes remaining, Linnets attacked from the left, a beautifully-flighted ball from McKinney clearing the reach of Bacon, but just shading the far post.
Town had a chance to level the score with a minute to go, a free-kick from outside the area on the right clearing two Kendal heads at the far post and going out for a goal-kick.
That put Shanley away into the opposite box, for possibly the best opportunity of the match.
He heard a shout from
McKinney, advancing from his left, and rolled it that way. It bobbled over the rutted turf for Bacon to get there before the advancing Runcorn number seven.
The season of giving and goodwill might have been looming, but the away fans behind the goal would have preferred a more Scrooge-like approach by Shanners.
The 1-0 scoreline suggested a close game, and that would have been a fair reflection, if it had started at 4pm. But if this had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it before half-time.
A third successive league win moved Runcorn Linnets to 11th place, and six points from the play-off zone.
Next stop is a home fixture against second-placed Trafford on Saturday, December 14, ko 3pm.