12^th November 2022, Runcorn Linnets FC v Kidsgrove Athletic FC : 2-0 Sponsored by Ian Caldwell Memorial

Linnets entertained Kidsgrove Athletic with high hopes of emulating last season's domination over the Staffordshire side. On their way to the promotion play-offs, Runcorn had followed a thumping 4-0 midweek home win in September, with a single-goal away victory in mid-March.

There was only one change from the Linnets starting line-up for Tuesday's 2-2 draw with 1874 Northwich, as Ryan Brooke served a one-match suspension for his pair of yellow cards in the 1-0 win at Clitheroe. But it involved a more radical change of formation and approach.

Tom Moore started on the left of a back three, with Sam Heathcote in the middle and Sean O'Mahony on the right. It meant that full-backs Ally Brown and James Short could get forward up either wing far more than in recent weeks, and it was to place stalwart centre-half O'Mahony in the role of Runcorn's main provider, taking the ball repeatedly up to halfway, and firing passes up the wing for Brown, and towards the Kidsgrove area for Jamie Rainford and Eden Gumbs to cause trouble.

It was Sidi Sanogo who had the first opportunity to put this novel approach into productive effect, and he really should have done better.

In the very first minute, a Kidsgrove free-kick from the halfway line was repelled, and James Short crossed for Sidi at the edge of the penalty area. He turned his man and advanced on goal, and with most of it apparently at his mercy, he shot straight at the legs of Ryan Brown, as the 'keeper sprinted out to close the angles.

Despite a balmy 15 degrees in mid-November, an icy breeze was blowing, equally unusually, towards the Clubhouse End.

It made the confident control of long balls in either direction tricky, and both defences favoured returning fire with safety-first headers.

It made for a scrappy first ten minutes, with little to trouble either goalkeeper.

A first Kidsgrove corner, after 12 minutes, from Louis Hayes' timely tackle on Kyle Stubbs in the penalty area, resulted in a Kieran Brown header and a Ryan Allcock shot, both blocked and then cleared.

Eden Gumbs was tackled in very similar fashion at the other end, giving Runcorn two corners from the left and another from the right, all within a minute. From the last of them, Short aimed a low shot inside the near post. It passed between two covering defenders, but Ryan Brown was right behind it.

Another burst of airborne balls up and down the pitch ended with Sean O'Mahony breaking out of the Runcorn third again, and launching a ball up to the edge of the Kidsgrove area. Ally Brown picked it up, turned to face his namesake in the away goal, and just as Sidi had in the first minute, shot at the 'keeper's legs.

The rebound ran loose for Louis Hayes, who shot powerfully from just outside the area. Ryan Brown made an excellent save, but couldn't hold on to the ball. Ally Brown had the goal at his mercy from inside the six-yard box, but went for power rather than place, and it flew over the right angle of post and bar.

The first 21 minutes had yielded a total of three chances, all golden ones, and all falling to the yellow and green. But the game was still goalless. It remained to be seen how much that might be regretted by 5 o'clock.

With a quarter of the game gone, Kidsgrove hadn't mustered a chance, save for a weak slap wide by Allcock, from Stubbs' cross. They did now win a free-kick from an unnecessary trip on Knapper, with the ball running into touch, but Lewis Doyle blocked that, and cleared.

Kidsgrove always have a vocal away support, and despite having little to cheer so far, their limited numbers among the crowd of 569 were providing most of the noise.

The Murdishaw Massive began to compete as the half-hour mark loomed, when a Sidi Sanogo pass set up a belting 22-yard shot by Ally Brown, that namesake Ryan parried superbly over, from just below the crossbar.

From the resulting corner, Sam Heathcote headed down at the far post, and the ball bounced up and over the top right angle.

The game became bogged down again, with balls from half to half swallowed up by both defences. The three-man Linnets backline might have become swamped, with Sam Heathcote more isolated in the middle, but Lewis Doyle and Louis Hayes were also there to provide timely tackles and pounce on loose balls.

Runcorn twice attacked again on the break, but Gumbs and Rainford were each flagged offside, when former Linnet Scott Lycett appeared to be playing them on both times.

O'Mahony continued to forge forwards and deliver balls up to Brown, and towards the area, but no breakthrough resulted.

Eight minutes before half-time, the first meaningful Kidsgrove attack for some time ended with a Stubbs shot towards the left post, but it didn't test Paul Cooper. The Linnets 'keeper, who had conceded and saved a penalty against 1874 Northwich, on the debut of his month-long loan from Barnsley, was not having the busiest of second appearances.

The first half petered out, with a Kidsgrove corner headed limply wide, and Louis Hayes being warned about his future conduct. after a late tackle and a scuffle in the centre circle.

Linnets had provided far more attacking threat in a fruitless first half, and Kidsgrove boss Scott Dundas aimed to shake things up with a change at the break, replacing Ryan Allcock with Ernest Ofosu.

It became impossible to argue with that decision, as Ofosu was the beating heart of The Grove's second half performance. It spoke volumes for Linnets' defensive efforts that his contribution wasn't match-winning.

A scruffy start to the second half saw no threats on goal for the best part of ten minutes, save for a loud but vain penalty shout for a shove on Sidi Sanogo in the penalty area, and a threatening Ally Brown ball through the area which passed the far post.

After a foul on O'Mahony just inside the Kidsgrove half, which earned Oliver Jepson the first yellow card of the day, Sean's looping header from the long free-kick landed on the roof of the net.

Attempts to set Eden Gumbs away up the right wing were thwarted by Lycett and Bromfield, and Dave Wild rang the first Runcorn change, withdrawing Eden for James Hooper. Five minutes later, he also introduced Zack Clarke in place of Sidi Sanogo Fofana.

The two new faces up front for Linnets disrupted a hard-working Kidsgrove defence, and as the Runcorn fans behind the clubhouse goal also warmed to their task, there was a sense that a home breakthrough might be on the cards.

It came in the 66th minute, in bizarre fashion.

Lewis Doyle picked up a loose ball in the middle and passed in front of Jamie Rainford. His curling shot was intended to evade Ryan Brown on its way inside the far post, but Scott Lycett intercepted it, and headed firmly into the opposite corner.

Lycett was a fans' favourite in his time at the APEC, but never more than now, when Bucket Hat Radio commentator and stadium MC Sam Phillips announced that Scott had given his former colleagues the lead.

From my elevated position directly behind the line of Jamie's shot, I could confirm that it had been heading for the target, and that meant it was his goal, and not Scott's. I thought the Kidsgrove No.3 would have been consoled by the adjusted statistic, but after the game, he expressed disappointment at being 'robbed' of his best ever headed goal. We like Scott Lycett.

With Linnets ahead, the noise behind the clubhouse goal mounted, but credit to the travelling Staffordshire faithful. Their voices never dropped.

Kieran Brown gave way to Jordan Cole for the last 20 minutes, and the sub added his weight to Kidsgrove efforts to get back on terms. But the reshaped Runcorn rearguard held firm, and while Paul Cooper had more to do for the remainder of the game, his role was limited mostly to sweeping up hopeful balls into the area, and loose balls from blocks by a determined back seven.

Cooper did have to make one sharp save to his left, after Kieran Knapper had beaten James Short to the goal line and pulled a snap shot towards the near post.

Into the final ten minutes, Runcorn applied more pressure than previously, mostly through O'Mahony, Brown and Clarke up the right-hand side.

But Zack was applying himself upfront across the width of the pitch, and was sorely testing increasingly tired Kidsgrove legs.

A Grove free-kick from 40 yards was headed away by Sam Heathcote, followed by a wild shot from distance, way over the bar.

The goal-kick set Zack Clarke away on a blistering run through the Kidsgrove half. He beat five opponents and cut inside across the area, but was too fast for his own good, as support didn't arrive in time to prevent a sixth challenge tipping the ball away from him.

Josh Thorpe saw yellow for a hefty challenge on Sean O'Mahony as he brought the ball away from the Runcorn third yet again. The consequent free-kick put James Hooper in possession up the left, from where he crossed towards Rainford. Jamie let it run on, in front of Ally Brown's charge forward, and his blistering shot cleared the top left angle by inches.

Four minutes of added time were announced, and as Kidsgrove sub Ernest Ofosu continued to win balls in the middle and fire them forward for attacking team-mates, the Linnets fans couldn't be sure they wouldn't witness a last-gasp equaliser, as they had from 1874 Northwich four days earlier.

The frantic remaining moments brought another yellow card for each side, for Sam Heathcote and Jordan Cole.

But the home defence held firm, and O'Mahony continued to be the instigator of the Linnets attacking threat. It was entirely fitting that it was Sean who played the long through ball over Jamie Rainford's head that enabled the Runcorn assistant manager to chip the advancing Ryan Brown and seal the three points that took Linnets to fourth place in the table.

An ovation from the Runcorn faithful saw Jamie give the remaining seconds to sub Macaulay Clifton, before another greeted the final whistle, and a 2-0 Runcorn victory.

It is never a big surprise to see tireless midfield dynamo Lewis Doyle being voted man of the match, which he was for the second time in five days, but I hope he will forgive me for thinking that Sean O'Mahony was the chief architect of the victory. He stopped as he always stops, but created as much as any defender could ever be expected to create.

Kidsgrove voted their 'keeper Ryan Brown as MVP, and while he did keep them in the hunt for more than an hour, for me it was a toss-up between supersub Ernest Ofosu, and the Kidsgrove fans behind the Forest End goal. They were noisily impressive, all afternoon, regardless of the scoreline.

Linnets will take a break from a satisfying run of league form with two cup games in the coming week.

Tuesday's visit of former Runcorn boss Calum McIntyre's Chester FC, in the Cheshire Senior Cup first round, will be followed by the epic odyssey to County Durham, to face National League North side Spennymoor Town in the FA Trophy. Runcorn Linnets: Paul Cooper, Ally Brown, James Short, Lewis Doyle, Sean O'Mahony, Tom Moore, Sam Heathcote, Louis Hayes, Jamie Rainford (Macauley Clifton 90), Sidi Sanogo Fofana (Zack Clarke 63), Eden Gumbs (James Hooper 57). Subs not used: Josh Roberts (GK), Dapo Olarewaju.

Attendance: 569

Footnote:Footage of Linnets' opening goal was subsequently reviewed by the NPL and officially recorded as a Scott Lycett own goal.

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