Thumping win sends Town into shutdown period
RUNCORN Town overcame Burscough
5-0 on Saturday before the NWCFL season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kieran Holsgrove opened the scoring from the penalty-spot before Burscough suffered a second-half collapse as Craig Cairns bagged a hat-trick and Marcus James added a fifth.
The NWCFL made the subsequent decision on Monday to suspend the campaign until further notice as the coronavirus outbreak continues.
The Premier League and Football League made the decision last week to postpone their respective seasons until April 3 but NWCFL games continued.
Following the government recommendation that all non-essential social contact be ceased, however, the non-league term has been halted.
“The league management committee has agreed it has no alternative but to suspend all NWCFL fixtures until further notice with immediate effect,” a statement read.
“Obviously none of us know what will happen next but we will keep monitoring the situation and report back when we receive guidance from the FA and other authorities.
“We would like to wish all players, officials and supporters of our clubs and league well during this difficult time.”
Runcorn remain eight points outside the top-three – who will all gain automatic promotion – in the NWCFL Premier Division with seven matches of the season remaining.
They were dumped out of the Liverpool Senior Cup at the quarter-final stage by a youthful Tranmere Rovers side made up primarily of under-18 starlets.
Jake Burton and Danny Walker-Rice helped Rovers progress to the semi-final as assistant manager Danny Jarrett led Town in the absence of Paul McManus.
Player-manager McManus missed the encounter due to a prior engagement.
McManus will celebrate one year in the hotseat next month after replacing Chris Herbert in April 2019.