25^th February 2023, 1874 Northwich v Runcorn Linnets FC : 0-1

A run of six Linnets home fixtures was slightly interrupted by the short away hop to Barnton, to face 1874 Northwich. 

They were determined to improve on the outcome of their meeting with 1874 at the APEC in early November, when they twice took the lead, but were twice pegged back and had to settle for a point.

Improve on it they did, with a 1-0 victory in which they were always the better side.

The only goal was Matty Birchall's first for Linnets, finished with aplomb past the hard-to-beat Tony 'Big T' Aghayere, four minutes before half-time.

There were very few other clear chances in the game, and that said far less about the performance of either side than it did about that of the referee. 

He appeared determined to prevent a football match breaking out, by calling almost every challenge a foul.

Despite the absence of a tackle by either side to make you wince, there were more stoppages than in the average NFL Super Bowl. I would have offered to sing at half-time, but it was too cold.

Eden Gumbs had the first two attempts on goal of the game. He won a 50/50 challenge in the first minute, but shot wide of the right post, and three minutes later shot wide again, when he returned a clearance after Aghayere had punched vertically from a corner, won by Louis Hayes.

In the sixth minute, a promising diagonal cross through the area by Ally Brown was volleyed wide by Jamie Rainford from six yards out.

After Linnets had entirely dominated the first ten minutes, a nutmeg by Gumbs and a backheel by Rainford set up a Doyle first time shot from outside the area, which again flew wide.

The men in Runcorn's away orange looked creative, not least when Eden Gumbs was on the ball, and Jamie Rainford appeared to be in the mood to add to his season's haul of 20 goals in all competitions.

But Dave Wild had to reassess his team's attacking options after 15 minutes, when Jamie went down with an obviously bad calf injury.

It forced the introduction of eventual match winner Matty Birchall, but it also suggested that Jamie might well have to dedicate the rest of the season to fine tuning his role as assistant manager.

Ryan Brooke was named as a substitute, but his hamstring injury meant that he would not appear, and Linnets fans were left hoping even more fervently, that he would soon be match-fit.

Birchall immediately joined the Runcorn domination of possession and attacking intent, but the 1874 defence was not permitting much in the way of threats to Aghayere's goal.

Ally Brown closed in on the penalty area to meet James Short's long throw from the left, and was sent sprawling by Fenton's challenge. The referee was unimpressed by appeals for a penalty, and that was ultimately to prove the source of great frustration to Linnets fans, as it was one of very few tackles all day that Mr Critchlow deemed legal.  

With a quarter of the game gone, Danny Taberner, returning to the Linnets goal after missing the home defeat to Workington through injury, hadn't been called upon to make a save. In the 23rd minute, he won an aerial challenge which left Matthew Fenton prostrate for some time.

Tabs' next contribution was to catch a 27th-minute corner kick, conceded by James Short when he recovered after Isaac Noble had got away from him to reach the Runcorn area.

Northwich were seeing a bit more of the ball, but Tony Aghayere had been worked much harder than Tabs so far, albeit in clearing up failed Linnets attacks, rather than having to make any real saves.

'Big T' is famous for swallowing up anything aimed high into his area, and Runcorn success would depend on more balls played to feet.

That was how Linnets came to take the lead, but not without an ounce of good fortune.

Sam Heathcote, who was a tower of strength at the back all afternoon, picked up a loose ball inside his own half and advanced 40 yards through a barrage of attempted challenges, to reach the Northwich penalty area.

His pass to the left for Eden Gumbs deflected off a defensive heel, and fell to Matty Birchall. 'Big Tony' did his best to make himself bigger still, but Matty avoided the temptation to blast it, and placed a measured shot into the right corner of the net.

Chances had been few, but the Runcorn lead was as deserved as it was hard earned.

After a Northwich free-kick, from Sean O'Mahony's foul on Matthew Woolley, had been cleared, Tom Moore set off on a long run inside the left touchline which resulted in a throw and then a corner.

That was cleared from the area, but met by a Lewis Doyle shot which flew wide.

In added time at the end of the first half, Lewis was fouled inches outside the corner of the penalty area. He leaned back and fired the free-kick high.

A 1-0 half-time lead was the least Linnets deserved, but the spoils were still a long way from being theirs.  

Runcorn passing in the opening minutes after the break was a little scrappy but they continued to dominate possession, and it would only be after the introduction of Callum Gardner and Ben Collins, after the hour mark, that 1874 would demonstrate a real threat going forward.

Five minutes into the half, Eden Gumbs' flick over the home defence set up the terrifying prospect of a 50/50 challenge between Matty Birchall and Tony Aghayere.

It would have been physically more like 25/75, and while Matty wasn't going to hold back, it was perhaps fortunate for Linnets' depleted strikeforce that Tony got there first, and cleared.

Three minutes later, Jack Irlam did just enough to limit the accuracy of Birchall's header, when he met Tom Moore's ball into the area from a free-kick on the halfway line.

A great run and turn from the right touchline by Ollie McFadyen allowed him to cross through the 1874 area, and the home team were lucky that it found Jack Marrow just ahead of Eden Gumbs' charge.

A foul on Matty Birchall, which was as soft a decision as most of the free-kicks awarded by Mr Critchlow, set up a 22-yard curler by James Short which Aghayere did very well to keep out of the top left corner.

'Big Tony' had to be equally sharp to catch Lewis Doyle's in-swinging corner, just below the crossbar.

Tom Moore received an inexplicable yellow card for a 'nothing' challenge just outside the 1874 area, when the referee was 20 yards away and facing in the opposite direction.

A Northwich man was on the ground, and that was apparently evidence enough.

Linnets continued to dominate possession, and the ball was spending most of its time in the home half.

Any Northwich threat was going to come on the break, and Runcorn caution was required, as too many goals had been conceded in that way this season.

Two examples of it had earned 1874 a point at APEC Taxis Stadium back in November.

'74 did press forward down the hill a couple of times, but well-defended attacks left Tabs with no more to do than hold on to the ball with ease.

Gardner and Collins replaced Marrow and Noble, and the subs were to provide the greatest threat to Linnets' clean sheet.

A vital interception by Eden Gumbs ended Liam Buckley's sprint into the Linnets area from the left, conceding a corner.

Northwich executed a sequence of at least a dozen passes, from Aghayere all the way to the Runcorn penalty area, but patient defending ensured it ultimately came to nothing.

Ollie McFadyen tormented the Northwich defence with a mazy run up the right, Tom Moore taking over possession until he was adjudged to have fouled someone.

The assistant referee on that side had the better of me, and the referee, in knowing who Tom had fouled, or how. 

With 15 minutes remaining, there was more evidence that tackling is a dying art, when Linnets were awarded a free-kick for Harry Bower bouncing off Tom Moore inside the Runcorn half.

Quite how anyone was fouled remains a mystery.

Lewis Doyle was genuinely clattered on the left touchline, and he was then dispossessed just outside the area as he received James Short's free-kick.

Northwich advanced again through Gardner, Collins and Buckley, evading three attempted tackles, and winning a throw-in.

Once again, the ball ended up in the safe hands of Taberner.

Into the final ten minutes, 'Big Tony' made similarly easy work of smothering a Gumbs ball into the area before Birchall could connect with it.

Northwich replaced Matthew Woolley with Reece Daly before gaining another free-kick for a perfectly sound tackle on Jack Irlam, 35 yards from goal.

Sean O'Mahony blocked the ball into the area, and Tabs picked it up.

From Lewis Doyle's header, McFadyen beat Collins and Fenton on the right and crossed, but there was nobody in orange to meet the ball, which ran harmlessly beyond the far post.

Lewis then received the day's second yellow card, for another innocuous challenge which won the ball.

With three minutes remaining, a sub was subbed, when match winner Birchall gave Adam Moseley a brief opportunity. His impact was such that Northwich were probably glad he wasn't on the pitch for longer.

Gardner and Daly combined in a promising attack up the left, but Ally Brown took the sting out of the final cross to concede a corner, which Tabs held on to again.

All three Northwich subs advanced again, but this time Tom Moore took charge and cleared.

Moseley and Hayes swapped passes up the right to win a corner for Runcorn, which was cleared, and throughout added time, the Northwich defence had to concentrate their efforts on preventing Adam from crowning his late appearance with a second Runcorn goal.

The final whistle heralded three valuable points for Linnets, on a day when all others in the top six, apart from leaders Macclesfield, lost.

For Runcorn at least, that was ample consolation for the fact that two teams capable of playing good football had instead spent most of the afternoon taking needless free-kicks.

Nine league games remain, with Linnets lying in fifth place, on equal points with Clitheroe in fourth, and four points ahead of Mossley in sixth.

After hosting Macclesfield in a Cheshire Senior Cup quarter-final on Tuesday, the campaign for a second consecutive play-off place will resume with the visit to the APEC of Glossop North End, on Saturday, March 4th.

Runcorn Linnets: Danny Taberner, Ally Brown, James Short, Tom Moore, Sean O'Mahony, Sam Heathcote, Eden Gumbs, Louis Hayes, Jamie Rainford (Matty Birchall 15, Adam Moseley 87), Lewis Doyle, Ollie McFadyen.  Subs not used: Ryan Brooke, Josh Roberts (GK), Isaac Turner. 

Attendance:440.

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