McIntyre’s men get back on goal trail Linnets enjoy Cheshire Cup rout ahead of Trafford clash
RUNCORN Linnets will be looking for a return to winning ways in the Northern Premier League Division One West when they entertain Trafford on Saturday.
Linnets bounced back from successive home defeats with a 7-1 win against Cheadle in the Cheshire Senior Cup at the Apec Taxis Stadium on Tuesday.
A Iwan Murray brace, plus goals from Joe Lynch, Craig Lindfield, Lloyd Marsh-Hughes, Oladapo Olarewaju and Carl Spellman underlined Linnets’ superiority and showcased the squad’s strength in depth.
The big win came after last week’s 4-0 home defeat against high-flying Mossley and Saturday’s 2-0 loss against FC United of Manchester in the FA Trophy.
“It’s been a long week, it feels like a long time since we won at home – maybe because of the type of fixture that we’ve had,” said boss Calum McIntyre after the win against Cheadle.
“I thought we were excellent on Saturday against FC United and deserved more.
“We were disappointing in spells against an excellent Mossley side and it was important on Tuesday that two defeats didn’t become three – particularly nils, ‘Runcorn Linnets nil’ over the last two fixtures hurt me.
“Losing is not something we have made a habit of and certainly don’t intend to make a habit of but equally, our form on a Tuesday evening – whether that be FA Cup replays, league fixtures – hasn’t been to the level that I want it to be so there was a real emphasis on the right level of performance on Tuesday and more often than not, if you get that right you will get the right result. I thought we were good value for the win on Tuesday.
“We went strong tonight and made sure the competition got a level of respect from us because it was a game of football and when that happens we want to win games.”
Saturday’s clash against Trafford at home pits sixth against seventh, with Linnets looking to leapfrog their rivals – who head into the match one point ahead having played two games more.
“It’s important because it’s the next game – if we win on Saturday we get three points, we won’t get any more than that just because we’re playing a team in and around us,” said McIntyre.
“We recognise we want to win our home games in the league and we’ve done well away from home picking up the points that we have, so for us it’s just important that, on the back of the Mossley defeat – which I haven’t forgotten about, when we lost games of football I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again, that’s what I’m tasked with doing.
“We want to put on a performance that gets us a result at home where it’s three points. Trafford are a terrific side, they play a really good brand of football and they are a team that won’t struggle with the pitch, it will suit them and we will have to be at our best.”