3^rd September 2022, Marske United v Runcorn Linnets FC : 2-1

Linnets' hopes of a lucrative Emirates FA Cup run are over for another year but they can hold heads high after a stirring second-half fightback.

Two goals down relatively early in this first round qualifying tie at a ground with only bad memories for Linnets supporters, the team could easily have folded to their high-riding opponents from a division higher.

But the visitors emerged for the second half looking a completely different outfit and after halving the deficit, they might well have gone on to salvage something.

That they didn't wasn't for the lack of trying. Linnets gave everything in an effort to turn the tie around.

Centre backs Sam Heathcote and Sean O'Mahony spent the dying moments supplementing the Linnets attack.

The underdog away side couldn't quite force an equaliser to bring Marske back for a replay at APEC Taxis Stadium.

But the transformation in the performance will provide further hope that Runcorn are beginning to turn things around after a mixed start to the season.

Two previous visits to Mount Pleasant had seen Linnets ship six goals each time but this was a much closer affair.

They could hardly have responded any better to conceding twice in four minutes and take credit for taking the game down to the wire against a team which has made an unbeaten start to life in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Premier Division.

These two clubs had contested play-off finals on either side of the Pennines last season with contrasting fortunes.

While Marske defeated Stockton Town to clinch promotion from the East Division to Step 3 of the non-league pyramid, Runcorn's disappointment at defeat to Marine in the West Division final had been followed by the loss of their manager and a number of key player departures.

The resulting absence of the two top goal scorers from last season, one of them their midfield playmaker and set-piece specialist, has provided particular challenges, which have still to be completely overcome.

But any perceived lack of attacking threat has been offset by solid defensive showings over the opening weeks of the season.

They briefly allowed their guard to stop in this match, however, and were punished - Marske scoring twice in quick succession, both goals stemming from Runcorn lapses.

The home side's opener resulted from a corner which 'keeper Danny Taberner will feel was avoidable as the ball slipped from his grasp.

The flagkick was cleared to the edge of the box from where Adam Boyes - overall top scorer in last season's FA Cup - returned it with interest with a stunning finish, after 13 minutes and an encouraging start for Runcorn.

It soon got worse. A high ball forward, from inside the Marske half, not only bounced awkwardly for Sam Heathcote but also a little higher than he might have anticipated as he tried to manoeuvre into a position to deal with it.

In his efforts to head back to Taberner, the big centre back could only loop his attempt over the stranded 'keeper before sinking to his knees in dismay and disbelief as the ball ran into his own goal.

It looked a long way back for Linnets and it could have been all over before the break but for Tabermer with two fine saves and the woodwork coming to their rescue. Boyes sent a 35th-minute header against a post.

Sensing something needed to be done to stem and turn the tide at the seaside ground, Linnets boss Dave Wild made a double change at half-time.

Extra pace was injected with the introduction of winger Dapo Olarewaju for his 50th Runcorn appearance while Louis Hayes came into the midfield.

The substitutions, accompanied by some Wild words, certainly had the desired effect and as play restarted, the more purposeful Linnets were taking the game to the hosts.

Ally Brown came within a whisker of an almost immediate response, his header from a quickly taken free-kick veering agonisingly wide in the 50th minute.

Having scored just one goal in 85 Linnets appearances up to the end of last season, Brown had already struck twice in the first six matches of 2022-23.

The right back had waited since January 2020 to double his Runcorn goal tally, before scoring in victory at Trafford in the previous round of the Cup.

He has evidently got a taste for it now, grabbing the winner at home to Witton Albion - like Trafford one of his former clubs - and consolidating his unlikely status as Runcorn's top scorer for the new campaign to rock Marske back on their heels.

Brown's third of the campaign in the 66th minute left the outcome back in the balance.

When the elusive Olarewaju was brought down from behind, the free-kick from the right glanced conveniently off Heathcote's side and into the path of Brown, who slipped a shot home from beyond the left post.

It made for a cliffhanger finish with Linnets creating several late chances to clinch a draw. The harder they pressed as time wore on, there was always a risk of Marske catching them on the break.

Linnets have still not beaten or indeed got anything off Marske in five league and cup attempts, three of them away from home, but the extent to which they pushed their nemesis this time was reflected by a post-match comment on the host club's official twitter site: "Linnets made a game of it in the 2nd half but we just about saw things out."

Runcorn Linnets: Danny Taberner, Ally Brown, James Short, Lewis Doyle (Isaac Turner, 86), Sean O'Mahony, Sam Heathcote, Sam Turner (Dapo Olarewaju, 46), Jacques Welsh, Zack Clarke, SIdi Sanogo Forfana (Louis Hayes, 46), Eden Gumbs. Subs (not used): Jamie Rainford, Nathan Corness.

Attendance:435.

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