11^th March 2023, Bootle v Runcorn Linnets FC : 2-3

Linnets made the short trip to long-standing rivals Bootle, knowing that all three points would provide an invaluable step towards securing a promotion play-off place. 

The array of recent new faces in the Runcorn squad continued to settle in nicely, in an overall team performance that was well worth its eventual victory.

But a sloppy first ten minutes of the second half turned what might have been a comfortable win into a roller coaster of a game.

Linnets battled back from 2-1 down to triumph, having led at half-time - a grand total of 19 players being on the pitch at the finish after three dismissals.

Ryan Brooke returned from a hamstring injury to put in a no-holds-barred performance, blending impressively with Jamal Crawford, Cameron Rooney and Raheem Hanley, who had all joined the club during Brooky's three-game absence.

He also bagged a brace of goals, to achieve another scoring milestone.

A scruffy opening 15 minutes yielded no chances for the visitors, while Bootle's efforts to get forward up the left through Arthur Lomax-Jones were thwarted at close quarters by Louis Hayes and versatile defensive efforts by back-tracking winger Crawford, who had been man of the match on his Runcorn debut against Glossop North End.

A cold and wintry Friday had put the fixture in doubt, and while the snow had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, rain like needles of ice made a display of silky skills a challenge.

Sixteen minutes had elapsed when a free-kick, from a foul on Ryan Brooke as he collected Cameron Rooney's pass, came to nothing. 

Two minutes later, Lomax-Jones cut in and shot to force an important save by Danny Taberner at his near post. From the resulting corner, he saved again, with an extended leg, as the unmarked Connor Millington shot from inside the area.

Tabs brought the flurry of Bootle attacks to an end with a low save of a free header. Linnets would have to tighten up at the back in order to get a foothold in the game.

A run up the left and cut inside by Raheem Hanley provided the first Runcorn attempt at goal, in the 21st minute. Cameroon Rooney's effort was held by Bootle 'keeper Josh Ollerenshaw, who was right behind it.

Crawford's cross from the right was blocked for a corner, from which Simon Wills' vertical header looped back towards goal, but Ollerenshaw held it. 

Linnets built their first spell of concerted pressure, which would continue for most of the second quarter of the game. 

Sean O'Mahony's ball to Hanley on the left was relayed to James Short, who played a great cross through the Bootle area, but a touch too far ahead of Brooke's run for him to make contact. It appeared that more consistent use of the wings could prove profitable.

After 33 minutes, it did pay dividends. Rooney's sprint past Ben Roberts allowed him a cross which was blocked for a corner by Jacques Welsh, who had begun the season at Linnets after being an integral part of their run to the 2021-22 play-off final.

Tom Moore beat Welsh and Wills to Shorty's corner kick, and directed a header towards goal, where Ryan Brooke made no mistake from three yards out, slamming Linnets into the lead. It was a justified result from 15 minutes of increasing Runcorn pressure.

Bootle responded with an attack which won a corner, setting up a Millington shot that was well off target.

Linnets were back on the attack, and Wills was fortunate to clear the bar with a header intercepting Jamal Crawford's cross through the area, after Rooney and Brooke had relayed the ball from left wing to right.

Five minutes before the break, Jacques Welsh bisected the Runcorn defence with a long through ball ahead of Sam Taylor, who was disarmed by a perfectly- timed Ally Brown tackle.

Danny Taberner was forced to concede a corner at his near post, and Sam Heathcote's clearance sent Linnets back upfield.

Rooney's through-ball ahead of Crawford up the right came to nothing when Jamal was flagged offside, though he had clearly passed James Cooper after the ball had been played. 

Linnets concluded the half on the attack. Rooney headed past McCarten and followed up with a powerful shot which drew a fine save by Ollerenshaw, another shot from the rebound being blocked by Owens to concede a corner.

Wills defended that as he had throughout the first half, by imposing an armlock on Ryan Brooke. Once again, the referee didn't consider it illegal, as he wouldn't all afternoon.

Linnets had been a touch fortunate to get away with giving too much space to their opponents on the break, being rescued by the interventions of Danny Taberner, but they were well worth their narrow lead at the break.

Defensive solidarity would be important if that lead was going to prove decisive. But through the first ten minutes of the second half, it was conspicuous by its absence. 

Within two minutes of the restart, the Runcorn defence was statuesque as Ben Rydel, who had replaced Jay McCarten at half-time, and Connor Millington delivered the ball to Nivaldo, and the Brazilian was unchallenged as he fired past Tabs to level at 1-1.    

After the hard work invested in taking the initiative, Linnets had sleepwalked into the second half. But it took another poorly-defended goal to wake them up.

Rooney had two stabs at the Bootle goal, the first blocked and the second snatched wide, and Tom Moore headed over the bar when he met a cross from Hanley, after he had shrugged off an unpunished attempt by Owens to wrestle him to the ground. 

Lomax-Jones advanced again up the left, until Ally Brown blocked to concede a corner, then Bootle were awarded a free-kick ten yards from the corner flag. The Linnets defence were rooted to the spot as Millington converted with even greater ease than that allowed to Nivaldo, nine minutes earlier. 

A still from Bootle's extensive photo coverage of the game showed Simon Wills handling the ball above shoulder height,  before it found its way past Tabs. Almost every other photo featuring Wills shows him with both arms clamped around a member of the opposition.

Runcorn at least responded quickly, apparently recognising that the first 57 minutes of the game should not have found them a goal behind.

Jacques Welsh chopped down Cameron Rooney, ten yards inside the Bootle half, and was booked. Owens resumed wrestling duties on Ryan Brooke in the penalty area, but the referee continued to believe that it was acceptable, and it was Bootle who were awarded a free-kick when Welsh went to ground under Brooky's attempt to head the ball.

Dave Wild made a first change of personnel, bringing on Ollie McFadyen in place of Louis Hayes.

Ryan Brooke collected a yellow card, for raising his studs in a challenge on Nivaldo, which won the ball but led to the Bootle player going over.

In the 66th minute, Cameron Rooney was barged into by three defenders as he came into the Bootle area from the right, but stayed on his feet to keep possession.

Wills was next to challenge him, and when he bounced off and went sprawling, the Bootle player was rewarded with a free-kick.

Shortly afterwards, Ryan Brooke was chopped down by a high tackle inside the Bootle half. The result was a rare Runcorn free-kick, but no more cards were forthcoming.

Brooky was grounded again, with 16 minutes remaining to turn the game around, and this time it was in the penalty area. Ubiquitous offender Nivaldo pulled Brooky's feet from behind him as he ran away from goal, after another corner had been defended by mass wrestling. There were populous yet futile protests at both the penalty and Nivaldo's yellow card. 

The noisy Linnets fans behind the goal expressed pleasant surprise at the penalty award, and rejoiced when Brooky dispatched it into the bottom left corner, for his 50th goal in a Runcorn shirt.

The Murdishaw Massive hoped that the equaliser would provide a platform to regain the lead, and they didn't have to wait for long.

Three minutes later, with Short and Hanley stretching the right side of the home defence, Shorty did brilliantly to outrun Nivaldo to the goal line and deliver a perfect cross into the penalty area. Cameron Rooney's blistering volley matched its perfection, and found the roof of the net almost before Ollerenshaw could see it.

It was the 18-year-old Morecambe loanee's first Runcorn goal, to crown a second superb display out of two.    

Barely a minute after Linnets had regained the lead, McFadyen almost replicated Shorty's cross for Rooney. This time, under defensive pressure, Ollie's effort squirted wide. 

Andy Owens' frequent warnings from the referee were finally augmented by a yellow card, as Bootle went robustly about another comeback in the final ten minutes. This time, the Linnets rearguard was looking less generous than in the first ten after the break, and the doors were kept shut.

Sean O'Mahony was getting the better of Nivaldo's attritional efforts to reach the Runcorn area from the right, when the Brazilian lost patience and took his legs away.

The referee brandished a yellow card at Nivaldo, followed by a statutory red.

Ollie McFadyen  was also cautioned as the niggles escalated, encouraged as they so often are by a surfeit of disciplinary tolerance early in a game.

Ten Bootle men would have four minutes to salvage a result, but by the final whistle it was nine against ten, as Andy Owens and Raheem Hanley also received their marching orders. After a coming together in the middle of the pitch, two-way recriminations were reported to the referee by his assistant, who had witnessed the event from the vicinity of the dugouts. 

Owens had wandered away with the air of an innocent man, but he was recalled to the scene of the crime to join Hanley in receiving a straight red card.

Someone who was far better placed than I to see the fracas in detail, reported that it was 'nothing more than handbags', which warranted a yellow each at most, although Owens had already been cautioned.

Jamal Crawford sat out added time, to make way for a brief Northern Premier League debut for under-21 graduate Josh Elverstone, following on from his cameo in the Cheshire Senior Cup quarter-final.

Centre-back Josh made his considerable physical presence known up front, combining with Ollie McFadyen to retain possession at the left corner flag, both before and after winning a corner.

Ally Brown also moved up from full back on the right to keep the ball in the Bootle half, until the final whistle confirmed that three precious points had resulted from a gripping to-and-fro encounter.  

The contest had been feisty rather than dirty, but the referee's failure to nip bad beaviour in the bud contributed to the late escalation in sanctions.

The two sides reconvene at the same place on Tuesday March 21st, in a Liverpool Senior Cup semi-final.

The first of seven remaining league games for Linnets is at league leaders Macclesfield this Saturday.

A play-off place remains in Runcorn's own hands, Clitheroe's defeat at Trafford leaving the Lancastrians in fifth place. They are four points behind Runcorn, as are Witton Albion.

Runcorn Linnets:Danny Taberner, Ally Brown, James Short, Tom Moore, Sean O'Mahony, Sam Heathcote, Jamal Crawford (Josh Elverstone, 90 mins), Louis Hayes (Ollie McFadyen, 63 mins), Ryan Brooke, Cameron Rooney, Raheem Hanley.  Subs not used: Isaac Turner, Matty Birchall, Kevin Spinelli. 

Attendance:502.

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