6^th August 2022, Hyde United v Runcorn Linnets FC : 0-1

The final pre-season game provided Linnets with a chance to bounce back from a somewhat bizarre second-half capitulation against Marine four days earlier, and to provide a launching pad for a positive start to the new league season, with a home derby against Widnes on Saturday 13th August.

The trip to NPL Premier side Hyde United served the purpose with aplomb. We can still say that the results of friendlies don't really matter, but a well-deserved 1-0 victory was a great morale booster. It also landed a first trophy of the season, as Hyde present the Ray Stanley Memorial Shield to the winners of their final home pre-season fixture. A nice touch, in honour of a great servant to their club.

Injuries picked up in midweek proved not too heinous, as manager Dave Wild had assured the fans in his post-match interview on Tuesday.

Zack Clarke sat this one out, but he believes that the ankle that caused him to bow out after just ten minutes against Marine would be fine in another seven days. Ben Halfacre had replaced him then, only to suffer a groin injury himself. He played the first hour at Hyde, but was feeling the strain. 

Sean O'Mahony returned, after a precautionary withdrawal with a knock to a knee against Marine, and he and Sam Heathcote resumed their impressive centre-back partnership for a full 90 minutes.

The pattern of two-and-a-half very tight games against higher-division opposition (final sideways mention for the Twilight Zone second half against Marine, I promise) resumed here. Quick pressing efforts by both sides yielded few solid chances, as both defences provided frustration for both attacks.

Inside three minutes, an Ally Brown ball up the right set up Ben Halfacre for a shot from 18 yards that just cleared the bar, and shortly afterwards Hyde's Eddie Brown suffered very similar frustration when he found just enough space to latch on to a cross from Adam Dawson.

They were the only two near things in the first quarter of the game, as defences snuffed out the opposition or limited them to long-range efforts that didn't threaten the target. But Hyde had more of those slim opportunities, as they enjoyed more possession.

Either side of the half-hour mark, Runcorn did carve out a couple of openings.

Crilly on the left fed Brown's advance up the right, and his cross found the feet of Halfacre just inside the penalty area, but he was offside.

Then Quarless headed on Danny Taberner's clearance for Halfacre to pass to Crilly. Quarless reached the area in time to meet Crilly's cross, and opted for the risk of a first-time volley. It might have produced a truly spectacular opening goal, if it had flown fifteen feet lower.

Lewis Doyle was winning waves of tackles in the middle of the pitch throughout the first half, but the referee deemed most of them to be fouls. The impression grew that a good game of football might break out, if he would relent in being quite so picky about any form of physical contact.

Five minutes before the break, Taberner in the Runcorn goal was called upon to make his first diving save, to keep out Tom Pratt's shot from the edge of the area.

The last action before half-time found Heathcote and O'Mahony undecided about who should connect with James Short's cross, beyond the right post, and the former's header squirted wide.

With a well-stocked bench, and 45 minutes to decide on a line-up to start the competitive season, Dave Wild would surely make changes after the break. But an unchanged Runcorn team started the second half well.

Crilly tried a through ball into the area for a well-guarded Halfacre, when a shot from outside it might have proved more profitable. And Jacques Welsh headed inches over the bar from James Short's cross.

Hyde had already made their first change, and substitute Tongue was the first man to make a bid to give the Tigers the lead. Taberner watched the distant shot clear his bar by a yard. 

Runcorn personnel changes commenced, and they would put the away side firmly in the driving seat for the rest of the afternoon.

Turner and Quarless retreated to the bench, in favour of Sidi Sanogo and Dapo Olarewaju, who made an early and welcome return in yellow and green from his dual registration at Abbey Hey. The Manchester club were in preliminary FA Cup action, which would have cup-tied Dapo.

As usual, he had an immediate impact. Dapo has previously turned out for Hyde in the NPL Premier, so they knew what he can do, and how quickly he can do it. Robust physical challenges by the left side of their defence were the chosen remedy. At least the referee maintained his aversion to them.

Sidi settled into a controlling influence in the centre of midfield, as Sidi does, and Hyde were spending increasing amounts of time in their own half as a result.

That pressure increased when Nialle Rodney came on for Ben Halfacre, with a quarter of the game remaining. The home team conceded more and more free-kicks, as the only way to rescrict his threat, but the Tigers back line defended them well.

Linnets assistant manager Jamie Rainford soon joined the fray in place of Stuart Crilly, and he was clearly enjoying himself, as he prowled the Hyde third seeking to exploit the possession gained by the three subs who preceded him. It was a combination that would decide the outcome.

Sanogo swung in a cross from inside the goal line on the right which looked like it might sneak inside the far post, but it curled out rather than in. Rodney met it ten yards beyond the left post, and slammed a shot into the upright.

Ten minutes from time, Nialle took possession and cut in from the left to the edge of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back across the penalty arc, from where Rainford controlled, took two paces forward and fired a low shot beyond the reach of the goalkeeper. 

I hadn't noticed that Hyde No1 Bellagambi had recently been replaced by No13 Chew. The shirt number was prophetic for any superstitious Tigers fans, as the substitute 'keeper's first task was to retrieve the ball from the net.

The dying minutes were spent mostly with the Hyde defence being run ragged by exchanges between Olarewaju and Brown up the right hand side, and the final whistle ended a half in which Runcorn were comfortably in command.

It was a final pre-season game that offered much to encourage Linnets fans about the prospects for the coming season. Questions were being asked about the need for some lethal finishing, but Rome wasn't built in a day. 

The more critical Runcorn faithful should perhaps dwell on the fact that they have found little to moan about at the back (and I promised not to mention the second half against Marine again, so I won't). If there's a more competent defence in the NPL West this season, their team will be very hard to beat indeed.

One member of that defence, Linnets' skipper James Short, will be more than happy to point out that he was the first man in the league to lift a trophy in the 2022-23 season.

In other news, if anyone fancies a spying mission, Widnes will entertain Winsford United in an FA Cup replay on Tuesday, kick-off 7.45pm.       

NB. The views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Runcorn Linnets FC or its Board.