Pad penned in but it’s snow joke at Barlick
RUNCORN TOWN ...................................... 2 PADIHAM ................................................... 0 ITH no goalkeeper available for Chris Herbert’s Runcorn Town side he was forced to move club captain Simon Thelwell into the specialist position for the visit of high flying Padiham at Pavilions on Saturday afternoon.
Padiham started the game strongly retaining possession and forcing Town to defend deeply.
When striker James Dean beat Town’s stand-in keeper Thelwell to a throughball, his lob was only inches wide of the target.
Town created an opening with a superb piece of football involving Josh Maguire and Craig Cairns. Swift interpassing and a defence-splitting backheel by Cairns set up Maguire but the youngster skied his shot out of the ground when a goal looked certain.
Padiham responded with Dean causing problems for Town’s rearguard.
And they had a goal ruled out for offside in the 14th minute when Patrick O’Brien lashed a loose ball home near the dead-ball line.
Town took the lead in the 21st minute when a corner from Keiran Evans found Carl Rodgers on the edge of the penalty area, the Town midfielder lashed a powerful volley goalwards. The ball took a couple of deflections but there was no stopping Rodgers’s rocket-shot finding the back of the Padiham net.
A long centre from Padiham defender Ashley Brierley bounced off the top of the bar. Then a clever dummy by Dominic Craig created an opening for Dean that Thelwell did well to block for an unproductive corner.
At the other end, some unselfish play from Cairns ended when Kevin Exell’s shot brought a full-length save from Padiham goalkeeper Michael Donlan for a corner. From the resultant flag-kick taken by Evans, Marcus James headed just over the angle.
Cairns was causing havoc to the Padiham defence and from his shrewd pass, teammate Mark Reed fired an effort that hit the crossbar.
Soon after, a good run from Paul McManus was ended with a perfectlytimed tackle from Brandon Barski.
As the half drew to a close, a long centre from Evans found Reed who headed
W● just over the angle of post and crossbar.
When Cairns and Reed combined, Donlan did well to thwart Cairns’s goalbound shot.
Just before the half-time whistle, a fierce shot from Zackery Wilkes hit defender James taking the pace off the ball and bounced safely to Thelwell.
The second half started well for Town. In the 54th minute a perfect pass from midfielder Joe Holt put Cairns through on goal. As he rounded Donlan, Cairns was brought down by the goalkeeper.
A yellow card and penalty were awarded and Cairns picked himself up to hammer the ball home from the spot.
Town continued to attack and a driven ball from Maguire was deflected for a corner that came to nothing.
A free-kick from Wilkes on the touchline was centred to find Barski in the penalty area but his header flew over the crossbar.
Padiham were pressing for a goal and Town defended well with Thelwell looking comfortable in his unusual goalkeeping role.
Town almost netted a third goal when a dribble from McManus took him past four Padiham defenders. The ball fell to Cairns who lashed it goalwards. It took a deflection into the path of Reed who rolled it towards the open net only to see Barski respond by hacking it off the line.
Padiham missed a glorious opportunity to score when a high bounce took the ball over McManus. The ball fell to Dean who hammered it beyond the far post with the goal at his mercy.
At the other end, a cross from Exell found substitute Joe Kearns who hit it first time but it deflected off Mark Young for a corner.
Evans then hit a shot that rebounded back to him. He evaded pair of Padiham defenders before hammering the ball narrowly wide of the target.
In the final minutes, a back-heeled effort from Reed was cleared off the goal line by Alexander Murphy.
Reed then hit a shot from a narrow angle that struck Donlan’s outstretched legs before being cleared by Young. BARNOLDSWICK TOWN ......................... 7 RUNCORN TOWN ...................................... 2 RUNCORN TOWN had a night to forget in the wilds of East Lancashire on Monday night where snow flurries and a flurry of goals all contributed to a 7-2 reverse at Barnoldswick Town.
After Simon Thelwell’s excellent efforts in Saturday’s shutout victory over Padiham, Runcorn’s regular goalkeeper, Louie Mackin, was back between the sticks.
But sadly for the No.1, it turned out not to be a successful return to duty.
Barnoldswick were ahead with just four minutes on the watch when Kenny Taylor’s low shot beat Mackin.
Runcorn throught they had levelled on 18 minutes but after netting from a Joe Holt pass, Craig Cairns saw his effort ruled out by an assistant’s flag.
Town went close to equalising through Paul McManus and Cairns again only to fall two goals behind after 36 minutes, Taylor slotting in from close-range after going around Mackin’s challenge.
Sixty seconds later it was 3-0 when a speculative shot from distance by Aaron Hollindrake flew into the Runcorn net.
After a light scattering of snow around the ground just before and during the interval, Town found themselves four goals down barely two minutes into the second half, Zack Dale hammering home from a Taylor pass.
Runcorn grabbed a goal back on 55 minutes when Cairns’s smart work set up McManus who fired low into the home side’s net.
Shortly after, Town defender Keiran Evans had a goal ruled out by another close offside call.
Barnoldswick took full advantage of perhaps a stroke of luck being on their side by going up the other end of the field and making it 5-1 on 64 minutes, Dale applying the perfect finish to a rapid counterattack.
Some nice play by Town after 73 minutes was rewarded when following a long-range strike by Joe Holt saved by Barnoldswick goalkeeper Stuart Cross, Cairns was on hand to tuck away the rebound.
Soon after, Evans was unfortunate to see an effort strike an upright as Runcorn kept plugging away.
But in the latter stages, the home side added further goals through a Jake Lloyd shot and an Elliot Firth header to end a miserable evening for Chris Herbert’s men.