28^th January 2023, Runcorn Linnets FC v Leek Town : 0-1 Sponsored by Grangeside of Runcorn

With the entire Pitching In NPL West Division programme having been wiped out by winter weather seven days earlier, Linnets returned to action hoping to extend their status as Leek Town's bogey team.

Linnets had triumphed over the Staffordshire side no fewer than three times in the 2021-22 season, including a stunning 4-1 away win in the promotion play-off semi-finals, and they maintained that track record with a 2-0 win on 3rd December, which has been hailed as Runcorn's best performance of the season so far. 

But Linnets' fortunes had waned somewhat since then, and a 2-1 home victory over Trafford, just three days later, remained their most recent league win.

Leek, in contrast, had won five of their six league games since that 0-2 home reverse, and while they were still only two places ahead of their hosts, it was with a cushion of 11 points. 

The form guide pointed firmly to an away win, and so it transpired, but after probably their best performance since that win at Harrison Park, Linnets felt hard done by to come away empty- handed.

Leek must surely have ended the day feeling that their luck against Runcorn had finally turned. As Dave Wild justifiably observed after the game, his side could easily have been 3-0 up at half-time, while the home back five reduced their visitors to hardly any attempts on goal, and none on target which were really threatening.

The only goal of the game came after 62 minutes, when Marc Grocott's low ball into the six-yard area from a tight angle on the left, ricocheted off 'keeper Danny Taberner and into the net.  

Linnets were heavily depleted, with injury, illness and suspension combining to keep key players Ryan Brooke, Lewis Doyle, Louis Hayes and Dapo Olarewaju out of action. If it wasn't for bad luck, Dapo would have no luck at all, and a lateral ligament injury sustained in Thursday's training session will halt his lightning attacking threat for some time to come.

But a 'bare bones' line-up was no barrier to Linnets making an impressive start to the afternoon, with more pass-and-move groundwork on show than in recent games. 

Leek's determination to avoid yet another Runcorn reverse was demonstrated through rapid closing down and quick tackles, and for most of the first half they would have little or nothing to show for their few advances into the Linnets third of the pitch.

A second-minute Louis Keenan free-kick from the right was scooped up with ease by Danny Taberner, and the Linnets No.1 had very little else to do all day. 

A first Runcorn shot of the game, by Tom Moore from outside the area after four minutes, was deflected to safety. Not many shooting opportunities materilised, but Eden Gumbs was working hard with Ally Brown to open avenues from the right, and Sidi Sanogo and Matty Birchall looked threatening through the middle of the Leek half.

Scott Warra advanced as far as the edge of the Runcorn area, with a measure of good fortune as he kept possession from two blocking tackles, but an underpowered shot was held easily by Tabs.

Within the space of a minute, both sides were thwarted on the break by offside flags.

It was 15 minutes before the first corner, from the Runcorn right, and Sam Heathcote headed firmly on target, only to see his effort blocked on the line.

Sam's ball up the left for Malick Diakite, a couple of minutes later led to a second corner, but this was cleared from the middle of the area.

Heathcote continued to be instrumental in a strong Runcorn performance, and he headed just over the bar from a great curling James Short free-kick, after Jamie Rainford had been pulled back in the middle of the Leek half.

Sam was just as impressive in his primary role in defence, where he and Sean O'Mahony won everything Leek could throw forward in the air. There were no resulting loose balls for the visitors to capitalise upon.

The middle of the first half became scrappier, with longer, higher balls finding little joy against either defence.

Just past the half-hour mark, a dangerous cross from the right, aimed at Town centre-forward Tim Grice, was dealt with calmly by Sanogo and Heathcote.

Sidi turned provider, in tandem with Eden Gumbs, to set up Matty Birchall for a run on the Leek area. Matty was tripped, 30 yards out, and the free-kick was met by Jamie Rainford inside the six-yard box. His shot beat the 'keeper, but rebounded from the right post.

Jamie appeared to be offside, but there was no flag, and the follow-up dropped wide for a goal-kick.

A sense of injustice towards referee Elliot Bell surfaced among Linnets fans, when he warned Tom Moore for a foul on Billy Reeves, immediately after Reeves had gone unpunished for a two-footed lunge on Sidi Sanogo.

Sam Heathcote remained the most potent attacking threat for Linnets, when he headed wide from a Shorty free-kick from the centre circle.  

The last ten minutes of the first half became a grittier affair, with few chances, and still none from the visitors, as the home back line soaked up anything that came their way.

In the final minute of the first half, a great save by Daniel Roberts prevented Linnets from taking a lead into the break. Ally Brown's cross, and an excellent flick on by Eden Gumbs, set up a belter of a shot by Matty Birchall from the 18-yard line. A big deflection demanded lightning reflexes from Roberts, and he palmed the ball beyond the post for a corner.

Shorty's kick curled through the six-yard box and out beyond the far post.

Dave Wild later remarked that his side could have been three up at the break. There was no hyperbole in that, but a frustrating run of five league games without a win had suggested that deserving one might not be enough.

The early exchanges of the second half revealed a greater determination from Leek Town to see more of the ball and get forward with it, but the Linnets back five remained solid.

Five minutes into the half, though, Sean O'Mahony found the time to break away from defensive duties with a 40-yard ace midfielder's run through the centre of the pitch, and passed up to Malick Diakite on the right wing. His cross was blocked for a corner, which was cleared.

Malick was quickly on hand to challenge Lewis Billington for the ball inside the opposite touchline, and Billington went to ground in pain, concentrated on an intimate part of his anatomy. Neither Malick nor the ball had made contact in that region, suggesting that the problem might be a groin strain.

Lewis soldiered on for another three minutes, before giving way to Lucas Baker.

Billington's injury was therefore obviously genuine, but a pattern emerged throughout the second half, in which most 50/50 challenges resulted in blue shirts going to ground, accompanied by cries of anguish.

Referee Elliot Bell was prompted by most of those occurrences to award a free-kick to Leek Town, but he failed to deliver when Thomas Carr sprawled headlong, as Sean O'Mahony pursued his run towards the Linnets area.

Mr Bell signalled 'no foul', but if it wasn't (and it wasn't), then surely it was a case of simulation? But no card was forthcoming, and none would emerge from the referee's pocket for the duration of the game.

In the 58th minute, Leek put together their most concerted attacking sequence of the day, with half a dozen players vying for the opportunity of a shot on goal. Taberner parried a shot from outside the area, and Carr was surely in an offside position before following up with a header that flew just wide.

It was Leek's standout chance of the afternoon, and remained so even after they scored the only goal of the game, three minutes later.

Marc Grocott was the first Leek player to be given the time and space to complete a run of more than ten yards into the Linnets area, and he cut inside from the goal line on the left to play a ball across the six-yard box from a tight angle.

Tabs intervened inside the near post, and the ball deflected off him, into the net.

The goal prompted Leek's most sustained attacking spell of the game, but resistant service by the home defence was resumed.

Keenan's free-kick from wide was pounced upon by Tabs, and from his clearance, James Short and Malick Diakite mounted a number of two-man attacks up the left.

Leek's standout defensive performer, right-back Jessy Bavanganga, worked tirelessly to limit their opportunities to deliver telling balls into the area.

After minimal contact in an aerial duel with the diminutive Diakite, just outside the Leek area, Billy Reeves collapsed in agony for a prolonged, physio-assisted breather. 

Into the last 20 minutes, the game entered a spell of clumsy launches upfield in either direction, and frantic defending by both sides prevented any of them from producing a scoring threat.

With 15 minutes remaining, Dave Wild introduced Vaughn Green in place of Diakite. By the final whistle, Linnets fans were applying a measure of hindsight to wondering whether a longer spell for Vaughn might have changed the result.

He was a pacy thorn in Leek sides. 

Within a minute of coming on, Vaughn won a corner on the right. Sam Heathcote met Shorty's curler with a header that just missed the top left angle of the goal.

Urgency to get forward was affecting Runcorn composure on the ball, and challenges came quickly.

The remaining eight minutes, half of them added on, comprised continuous Runcorn pressure. Green, Rainford, Birchall and Brown all attempted shots and headers on goal, through a penalty area crammed with Leek bodies, but they couldn't find a way past Roberts.

In added time, Jamie Rainford struggled to extricate himself from a prolonged half-nelson by Scott Warra, just inside the area, to meet James Short's cross.

Jamie pulled his arm free from the wrestling hold, prompting Warra to fall to the ground in pain. 

Elliot Bell isn't afraid to award a late penalty, having done so when Linnets sealed a 2-0 win over Colne back in October, Rainford converting from the spot in added time after Dapo Olarewaju was sent flying.

But this time, he decided that yet another Leek Town free-kick was the appropriate verdict.

Vaughn Green made two more efforts to secure the point that was the least Linnets deserved. 

He made a blistering run from the left, in between Bavanganga and Davidson, and pulled back a cross for Ally Brown to head on goal, but Ally couldn't muster the power to test the 'keeper.

Then Vaughn was pushed from behind as he charged towards the penalty arc, but Mr Bell remained in no mood to award free-kicks to anybody in yellow and green.

Jubilation among the Leek players at the final whistle might have been a response to breaking the Runcorn Linnets hoodoo, or to remaining within six points of league leaders Macclesfield, with a game in hand. Or perhaps it was due to taking three points from a game where one was the very most they had deserved.

Linnets will have to take solace from the fact that, despite taking only two points from their last six league games, their opposition considered the result to be a real achievement. And they were right. 

A pleasing performance, with a disappointing result, sets Linnets up for an away trip to Colne in seven days' time, before a run of four home games in two weeks.

Ample opportunities for a belated first victory of 2023. 

Runcorn Linnets: Danny Taberner, Ally Brown, James Short, Tom Moore, Sean O'Mahony, Sam Heathcote, Malick Diakite (Vaughn Green, 75 mins), Sidi Sanogo Fofana, Jamie Rainford, Matty Birchall, Eden Gumbs.  Subs (not used): Josh Roberts, Macaulay Clifton, Isaac Turner. 

Attendance: 667.

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