4^th February 2023, Colne v Runcorn Linnets FC : 1-0

Linnets headed for the hills to face Colne, in search of a first victory in seven league games, but they came back down having never looked like achieving one. 

Colne's Holt House pitch is famous for its sheer gradient, and it was only declared fit on the morning of the match after the hosts had contemplated an inspection.

A spoiling wind also didn't help but playing conditions could provide no sound excuse for a Linnets performance in which passes found men in red shirts more frequently than those in yellow and green, and Runcorn attempts on goal could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

During a second half played downhill, with a tailwind, shots could be counted on one finger. 

Linnets started on the attack, Matty Birchall's cross being blocked for the game's first corner.

Colne 'keeper Hakan Burton had to catch Lewis Doyle's on-target in-swinger, and he did. 

Doyle had two more attempts on goal within a couple of minutes. Ryan Brooke passed sideways to him inside the area, and Lewis weaved between three defenders before shooting just wide. A more speculative effort from outside the area flew wide of the other post.

Early forays by Colne were based on long balls that careered downhill to be collected by Danny Taberner. In the 13th minute, though, Tabs had to get down quickly to parry Owen Watkinson's shot, for a corner. 

Colne pressure continued for a while, and Taberner had to backpedal to palm a 30-yard punt over the bar. Enock Lusiama headed the corner over the bar, under pressure from Sam Heathcote.

After 19 minutes, a clearance from the centre of the Runcorn area reached Thomas Hoyle, 35 yards from goal, and he volleyed it straight back on target, past Taberner's dive, to put the hosts ahead.

Hoyle had shown Linnets how to play downhill at Holt House. But by ten-to-five, they had signally failed to take the hint.

Runcorn responded to going behind by attacking. Eden Gumbs managed a cross from the left, despite a determined attempt by Ellis Wallbank to remove his arm from its socket, and Birchall won a corner from the other side. 

A promising through ball from Lewis Doyle reached Matty just inside the Colne area. He won an aerial duel with Glenn Steel, who went to ground from the challenge, despite being approximately double Matty's weight, and won a free-kick.

Ryan Brooke and Louis Hayes exchanged passes at the edge of the Colne area, but couldn't find a way through the defence, and then Brooky ran into the area and passed right for Sidi Sanogo, whose solid shot drew a good save from Burton.

Approaching the half-hour mark, Sam Heathcote's head met a corner from the left, but he was adjudged to have fouled. Whom and how remain a mystery.

That flurry of Runcorn half-chances was rare, as Linnets possession was too often terminated by stray passes. Each of those sparked a launch downfield by Colne, and several times more, Taberner was called upon to clear up.

Sean O'Mahony was next to be penalised for cleanly winning an aerial challenge in the Colne area, and he received the day's first yellow card for his protestations.

A one-two in the area between Ryan Brooke and Ally Brown allowed the latter a shot which was deflected at close quarters, and Eden Gumbs followed up with a fine snap header that demanded a great reflex save by Burton.

That was to prove Linnets' best chance of the whole game.

Sidi Sanogo did well to keep the ball when he was impeded in the penalty arc, and he found Eden Gumbs to his left. He pulled it back for James Short, who mishit his attempted ball into the area, enabling McDaniel Kyobe to break away downhill unopposed.

Linnets were fortunate that he miscontrolled, and the ball ran away and out of play.

As half-time beckoned, Linnets had been in possession of the ball in the Colne third all too rarely, and almost every Colne advance into away territory had come from the visitors' poor distribution.

At the break, Runcorn were a little lucky that Hoyle's 19th-minute strike on target had been the only one of note.

Turning the game around in the second half would surely depend on Linnets making the most of the hill and the wind. The lie of the land and the elements would make the Colne goal reachable from anywhere in their half.

The Runcorn way is to attack on the wings, with balls played ahead of quick wingers and wing-backs. But not at Holt House.

Usain Bolt in his prime couldn't have hoped to catch a ball played down either flank at Colne. But that was the tactic Linnets chose, and defeat was the inevitable outcome.

Colne started the second half on the uphill offensive, as Linnets had the first. A free-kick from the right in the 47th minute was scrambled awkwardly away.  Linnets' first chance of the half came from a free-kick, after Lewis Doyle had been upended, a tempting 35 yards from goal. Sean O'Mahony's header glanced wide left, and Matty Birchall had no chance of catching it for a follow-up shot.

On 53 minutes, a Colne free-kick, from an identical position to that six minutes earlier, was headed on to the bar unchallenged, in a lucky escape for Runcorn.

Several minutes of one-way traffic was all uphill, until Linnets were gifted a corner when the ball was already running out. Eden Gumbs' head met it beyond the far post, but he couldn't get it back into the box.

Just before the hour mark, Sidi Sanogo gave way to Linnets assistant manager Jamie Rainford. The travelling fans believed that Jamie might be just the man to focus the visitors' efforts on bringing ball and target together, but he was to see precious few chances to add to his season's tally of 19 goals.

Colne's defensive efforts were concentrated on smashing the ball out of play at every opportunity, and that made Runcorn's main chance the long throw-ins of James Short. The fact that few openings resulted was due in no small measure to Colne centre-half Glenn Steel getting his head to the ball first more often than not.

That made him my man of the match, although Colne gave the accolade to right-back Ellis Wallbank.

The ball took up residence in the Colne half for a solid ten minutes, but the fact that it resulted in no attempts on their goal spoke volumes.

A wave of substitutions came on 69 minutes. Luke Stowe gave way to Lucas Weaver for Colne, and Dave Wild replaced Eden Gumbs and Louis Hayes with Vaughn Green and Tom Moore.

Vaughn became the target for Runcorn's vain hopes of opening up the Colne defence with quick balls up the right wing. There's quick, and there's supersonic, and the hill and the wind conspired to gift the hosts a catalogue of goal-kicks.

One of those spurts down the Cresta Run did earn Linnets a corner, which was missed by Burton's attempted punch, and met by the head of Sean O'Mahony. It flew wide, but Sean was penalised anyway, for reasons unidentified.

Eleven minutes remained when Ally Brown was bodychecked by Lusiama as he leapt to head a James Short cross, a tempting 25 yards from goal. Ryan Brooke slammed the free-kick into the defensive wall.

Another Shorty long throw-in from the left found Lewis Doyle, whose shot was blocked at close range, and Sean O'Mahony followed up with a shot that cleared the bar by five yards.

It was the first Runcorn attempt on goal of the second half, with just ten minutes remaining, and it was also to be their last.

Ryan Brooke earned a yellow card for a ball-winning tackle on Hoyle inside the left touchline, before Colne sub Weaver limped off to be subbed himself, by Tom McCann.

A bad day was compounded by Lewis Doyle limping off late in the game with all permitted substitutes already in play.

A ray of hope came with Vaughn Green's sprint into the area ending with a trip that sent him sprawling, but referee Matt Archibald saw nothing resembling a foul.

The last two chances of the game came at the top of the hill. Danny Taberner dived full length to cover a low shot that ran wide while a corner on the left was taken short, and poorly defended, before a shot from outside the six-yard box was blocked by Sam Heathcote.

Linnets had one last assault in added time, James Short winning a corner on the left. He launched the kick into Burton's personal space, and he was always favourite to hold on to it.        Discussions among long-standing Linnets fans at the final whistle centred on the last time anyone had seen a worse display from their team. Not many suggestions were forthcoming. It was a dismal result from a dismal performance, in a dismal game.

The Runcorn slump moved on to a return of two points from the last 21 available.

The visit of Skelmersdale United on Tuesday 7th will be be the first of four home games in eleven days, three of them in the league. 

An immeasurable improvement on this showing will be required to keep Linnets in the play-off zone by the end of that run.

The fact that they are still in fifth place speaks volumes for a brilliant first four months of the season.

Runcorn Linnets:Danny Taberner, Ally Brown, James Short, Lewis Doyle, Sean O'Mahony, Sam Heathcote, Matty Birchall, Louis Hayes (Tom Moore 71), Ryan Brooke, Sidi Sanogo Fofana (Jamie Rainford 59), Eden Gumbs (Vaughn Green 67).  Subs (not used): Josh Roberts (GK), Isaac Turner. 

Attendance:281.

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