Ben's late show saves the day for Runcorn Linnets

By David Davies

But it was no surprise that after four  weeks in which your most effective choice of transport would have been  Noah’s Ark, the team appeared a bit ring-rusty.

Scrappy is probably the best word to describe the early exchanges, with little in the way of slick passing or fluid football.

Early attempts to get the ball to  Wharton, Ryan Gibson and Liam Caddick in dangerous positions were  pounced upon quickly by a Colne defence that looked a yard faster and  sharper than that of the hosts for large parts of the game.

The first two solid chances came at the  other end. Right-back Waqas Azam got to the corner of the six-yard box  on five minutes, but he shot wildly high under pressure.

And after a stray pass in the centre  circle by Louis Hayes, Reece Webb-Foster was put through in what looked  like an offside position, but a good chance was missed when he hesitated  enough for Peter Wylie to block the effort.

The first real Runcorn chance came  after 12 minutes, when a neat three-man move by Ally Brown, Wharton and  Craig Lindfield resulted in a cross to the left corner of the six-yard  box, from where Ryan Gibson’s header slammed into the left upright.

Both teams’ efforts in the middle third were being thwarted by tight marking and closing down.

Colne attacks came from quick forward  balls from halfway, with a bit too much space allowed for shots on goal.  By the mid-point of the half, the home fans were feeling grateful for  Colne’s shooting boots appearing to be on the wrong feet, three more  shots skewing mercifully high and wide.

Just short of the half-hour, a longer-range shot was parried by Craig Ellison, and he clamly gathered the resulting corner kick.

The Runcorn ’keeper looked a little  less assured when caught on the ball five minutes later, gaining control  in the nick of time.

In the closing minutes of the half,  there were promising moments in dangerous areas for Linnets Wharton and  Gibson, and for Colne’s Webb-Foster and Bradley, but all lost the ball  to awkward bounces, off a pitch that was ironically firm after the  rigours of storms Ciara and Dennis.

Half-time impressions were that the  home team had applied better quality football to the few chances  created, but that they had struggled to exploit them against a quick and  regimented defence.

Colne had certainly been afforded more  viable attacking opportunities, but their finishing would be a cause of  frustration for manager Steve Cunningham.

Colne hit the ground running in the  second half, and Bradley’s follow-up to Azam’s free-kick required two  grabs at ground-level by Ellison to end the danger.

In the 49th minute, a penetrating  diagonal run by Ryan Gibson from the right looked dangerous, until David  Sherlock ended it with a per-
fectly timed, ball-winning tackle.

From the 50th minute, Brown started to  show the kind of defence-bothering form that made him Linnets’ player of  the month for January, and by the end he had made a convincing claim  for man-of-the-match status.

On 53 minutes, another powerful run through the middle by Gibson set up Lindfield to his right, but his shot from 18 yards cleared the bar.

Two minutes later, Michael Ellison set  out to unsettle Colne with a double substitution: Zac Aley in a straight  swap for Louis Corrigan, and Louis Hayes giving way to Kris Holt. A  fans’ favourite from the 2018 NWCFL triumph, the rousing reception for  Holt honoured not only the start of his third spell with the club, but  also his 100th Linnets appearance.

The double change was followed by ten  minutes of more threatening passing football by the home team, but as so  oftens happens in the world’s greatest but most perplexing sport, it  culminated in the visitors taking the lead.

A threatening shot towards the right  post by Connor Hughes forced Ellison to dive full stretch, and from the  resulting corner, Linnets’ Achilles heel struck again.

Kyle Hamid headed away, but the ball came back into the box for Hughes to bury it largely unchallenged.

Characteristic hard work by Hamid won  the ball in midfield several times and set up probing runs by Brown up  the right, but crosses by both found either Burton or a defending head.

On 78 minutes a cross from the left  found Colne sub Hasler-Gregg unmarked in the middle, but it was a  fraction too high for the header.

A foul on Holt 35 yards out led to a  Hamid free-kick, headed out by centre-half Marcus Poscha, but picked up  by Brown wide left. His cross was headed out by Hasler-Gregg, Hamid  again diverting the ball out to the right.

There appeared to be two Ally Browns on  the pitch, as he was already there to pull a cross through the six-yard  box. Wharton back-heeled from a yard out, but Colne’s worst nightmare  was averted as the former Red’s attempt was blocked on the line. So he  back-heeled it again, and the nightmare was realised. 1-1.

With nine minutes remaining, Rochdale  youth loanee Keaton Mulvey replaced Caddick, and his pro club pedigree  was immediately evident as he tore into the Colne rearguard on the left  flank.

Linnets fans will look forward to seeing what he can do during his month’s loan.

The draw was probably a fair result,  Linnets having shown more skill in the build-up, but Colne having  defended tighter. Clinical finishing by both sides would undoubtedly  have taken all three points back up the M6.

Boss Michael Ellison left the arena returning the fans’ applause, but unable to do so with a smile.