Linnets soar at summit as they hit Colne for six
COLNE ......................................................... 1 RUNCORN LINNETS ................................. 6
RUNCORN LINNETS turned in a dazzling performance at Colne last Saturday as Michael Ellison’s men recorded an eye-catching victory against one of the Evo-Stik League West Division’s strongest sides.
In difficult conditions, due to a powerful swirling wind at the exposed Sovereign Play Stadium, Linnets adjusted perfectly to inflict a margin of victory that has been on the cards for a while.
Runcorn boss Michael Ellison had more players available for selection than in recent weeks after struggling by with a threadbare squad, with one particular addition to the substitutes’ bench bringing absolute joy to the travelling Linnets faithful late in the game.
Freddie Potter and Paul Shanley returned to the starting XI while Kieran Nolan missed out through suspension.
Ellison kept to his recent change in formation with Potter and Connor McCarthy forming a fearsome partnership in attack.
Linnets came flying out of the traps and had appeals for a penalty turned down before Kris Holt opened the scoring on eight minutes.
Picking up the ball from midfield, Holt found space outside the penalty area and curled a glorious effort into the far top corner, giving goalkeeper Hakan Burton no chance.
Linnets kept the pressure up after taking the lead and found themselves two goals to the good on 25 minutes.
From a similar position to where Holt had scored, Danny O’Brien swung a low free-kick into the heart of the Colne penalty area.
The ball was swept home through a crowd of bodies by Potter.
Only four minutes later, Linnets were gifted the opportunity to score a third goal from the penalty spot.
Another O’Brien free-kick was delivered into the penalty area and seemed to go harmlessly out of play for a goal-kick.
But when everyone had gathered themselves the referee was pointing to the penalty spot, having seen Pete Wylie pulled to the ground as the ball was on its way.
O’Brien calmly sent Burton the wrong way with his spot kick to give the Linnets a 3-0 lead after just 30 minutes.
Colne looked totally shellshocked, but ● a Steve Cunningham side never throws in the towel and as half-time approached, the hosts found a bit of composure and started asking a few questions of the Linnets’ defence.
Shortly before half-time, Colne did grab a goal back in the most fortuitous of circumstances.
A harmless-looking cross from the left from Alex Curran seemed destined to be drifting out of play for a goal-kick before getting caught in the wind and turning towards the top corner of Dylan Forth’s goal. Forth tried to scramble the ball away, but its unpredictable flight caught the keeper out and he and ball ended up in the back of the net.
It would be the only minor blip of an otherwise flawless Linnets performance.
Despite being so comfortable and unlucky to concede, a 3-1 scoreline put the game in a position from where the next goal would be crucial.
On 52 minutes, that goal came and it was scored by McCarthy.
Louis Corrigan swung in a corner-kick to the far post. Aaron Morris controlled and sent the ball back across goal, McCarthy being on hand to poke it over the line from two yards out.
The game settled down with the Linnets in a commanding position and Colne trying to find an avenue back.
They did find a couple of openings and looked threatening from set-pieces. But the Linnets’ defensive unit stood firm and rebuffed anything thrown at them. The closest Colne came to a damage-limiting goal came in the 79th minute, when Forth made a superb save from a close-range header.
A minute later, this miss was punished to the max by Linnets. Breaking out at speed down the left wing, Kurt Sherlock – on as a substitute – advanced into the Colne penalty area and was brought down in a cynical challenge to earn the Linnets a much clearer-cut penalty than the one in the opening half.
O’Brien again converted to put the result beyond any doubt.
In the 86th minute came a wonderful moment for everyone associated with Linnets. Over 14 months ago one of Ellison’s key players, Zac Aley suffered an innocuous looking injury.
The prognosis, however, was not good and setback after setback resulted in knee surgery being required.
Aley himself said how tough it had been to watch his team mates win the Hallmark Security League Premier Division title last season from the sidelines.
But while many would have thrown in the towel on the game, he showed a tireless determination and loyalty to the cause to fight through all the pain and frustrations to get his career back on track.
It is rare that in such a strong away performance, the overwhelming highlight of was a substitution.
But the delight could not be hidden as Aley was brought back into the team, in place of Louis Corrigan, to start his Linnets career all over again.
He even had the audacity to help create the sixth and final goal of the day.
Breaking out from his left-back position, Aley advanced with the ball to find McCarthy, who in turn fed Shanley to pick his spot and beat Burton from 10 yards out. It was a very well-worked Linnets goal rounding off a magnificent performance from Runcorn.
Of their 11 league games played so far, this was without any doubt the strongest and best Linnets performance.
Colne are a very good side and they will be expecting to be in the promotion dogfight come April. However, on the day, they had no answers to a devastating Linnets attacking game and were also kept very quiet by an equally impressive defensive unit.
Ellison demands the highest of standards from his players and often finds areas for improvement even in victory. But he will look back with sheer delight on this performance and know that his side achieved close to perfection.
Last word of the day, however, must go to Zac Aley. It’s great to see him back!