Flying Linnets home in on maximum points
RUNCORN LINNETS ................................. 3 MAINE ROAD ............................................. 0
AFTER another flurry of transfer activity which had seen the departures of Gary Grier, Chris Lawton and Matt Holmes, Michael Ellison bolstered his depleted squad with two new signings.
Both came off the substitutes’ bench in a solid victory in the first of three successive home games for Linnets.
Adam Morning, a player signed by Colne to give them a cutting edge as they pipped Linnets to the title in 2016, had put pen to paper on Friday night and arrives with a tremendous pedigree from higher levels of the game with Manchester City and Oldham Athletic among his former clubs.
The other recruit was fellow attacking midfielder, ex-FC United of Manchester star Rory Fallon, who is working his way back into football after a long absence with a serious knee injury that required a second operation last November.
With a number of players still unavailable, Runcorn boss Michael Ellison was able to name an unchanged starting XI for the first time this season, with the team that had beaten City of Liverpool all keeping their places.
Maine Road always make for a difficult 90 minutes and it was no different this time around, their work rate and ability making it difficult for Linnets in the first half.
It was Maine Road who had the first real chance and they should have taken the lead when Linnets got too casual with the ball at the back. Only a strong save from Terry Smith kept the scores level.
Midway through the half, Runcorn did take the lead.
Danny McKenna refused to be beaten in two separate tackles and his tenacity allowed Paul Shanley to break into the penalty area to play a delightful ball across the six-yard box. Mark Houghton could not quite reach it, but in-form attacker Stuart Wellstead did – side footing home at the far post, before tearing off in celebration, thumping the Linnets badge on his chest.
Despite taking the lead, Linnets could not get a full grip of the game, neither side able to say they were the dominant force.
This continued into the second half with both teams having early chances as ● the game started to open up.
Aaron Morris flicked over a header from McKenna’s corner before Kyle Hamid played a delightful lob that left the goalkeeper stranded but drifted wide by a foot.
Road had a brief flurry of corners that Linnets did well to survive, before Morris bagged his first competitive Linnets goal on the hour mark.
McKenna’s in-swinging corner was of such sublime quality that all Morris had to do was simply guide it past the helpless Ryan Livesey in Road’s goal to provide the Linnets with a much soughtafter cushion in the match.
The goal knocked the stuffing out of Maine Road and Linnets set about increasing their lead further.
Morning, Fallon and Kasie Jones, a product of the Linnets youth squad, were all introduced from the bench. All inside the Millbank were delighted to see boss Ellison continue to give youth a chance in a highly experienced side – especially youth from inside the club.
All made an immediate impact with Morning having a goalbound header turned over before striking the post with a slightly-scuffed half-volley.
Shanley did well, cutting in from the left and attempted to set up Morning, but Fallon nipped in and got a shot away, only to be denied by Livesey, with Morning arguably in a better position.
Some gloss was added to the scoreline in the final minute. From excellent football around the Maine Road penalty area, the killer pass across the box by Fallon set up Shanley who swept home the goal that his efforts on the day thoroughly deserved. RUNCORN LINNETS ................................. 5 AFC LIVERPOOL ....................................... 2 RUNCORN LINNETS battled from two goals down on Tuesday evening before eventually seeing off rivals AFC Liverpool 5-2 in a thrilling encounter at the Millbank Linnets Stadium.
Goals from George Lomax on 15 minutes and an Adam Weston penalty six minutes later put Linnets in a 2-0 hole.
Runcorn had a chance to cut the deficit just before the half-hour but striker Stuart Wellstead had a penalty saved by AFC goalkeeper Dom Garner.
But the AFC number one was beaten from 12 yards just minutes later when Wellstead fired home a penalty awarded for a foul by Allen Weston.
Seconds before the interval, Linnets levelled the game when Mark Houghton tapped the ball home following fine play from Paul Shanley.
Linnets went ahead for the first time in the contest six minutes into the second period via a close-range strike from Rory Fallon. A foul inside the box on Shanley afforded Runcorn another penalty just before the hour and Wellstead duly obliged for a second time to increase Runcorn’s lead to 4-2.
And they completed the scoring 11 minutes from time, Shanley curling in a fine goal from just outside the 18-yard box.