25^th March 2023, Runcorn Linnets FC v Clitheroe : 1-2 Sponsored by CSS - Frodsham

Appropriately on an international break 'Non-League Day', Linnets came into the biggest game of the Pitching In NPL West season so far, with the morale boost of having advanced to their first Liverpool Senior Cup final, four days earlier. With ten men for the last half-hour of the semi-final, they went on to convert a 0-0 draw into a penalty shoot-out win at Bootle.

Linnets started the afternoon in fourth place in the table, three points ahead of visitors Clitheroe. Witton Albion lay a further point behind, just outside the play-off promotion places. If 'six-pointers' do exist, this was one of them.

But the crucial nature of the fixture did not prove productive, and one of the poorest Linnets performances of the season, in a dismal game more worthy of two teams with not much to play for, left play-off qualification very much up in the air.  

Witton's 1-0 win at second placed Leek Town will have left them rubbing their hands in anticipation, lying just one point behind both Clitheroe and Runcorn. If Albion had watched this game, their confidence would have been boosted still further.

The visitors attacked from the kick-off, demanding timely interventions from James Short and Sean O'Mahony, who was playing in a support mask after sustaining a facial injury at Bootle.

Runcorn settled a little, with Ally Brown and Jamal Crawford seeking to cause problems up the right wing, and when a long Tom Moore ball up to Crawford led to a cross that was headed clear, a vital defensive intervention prevented Ally from connecting with a shot from 18 yards.

That came in the sixth minute, and it was to prove an extremely rare threat from the home side.

Not for the first time this season, Linnets failed to get the best of a strong first-half tailwind, playing long diagonal balls that were frequently uncatchable by Crawford or McFadyen on either wing. When they did manage to take possession, the speed of the ball on the wind meant that there was insufficient time for Rooney or Brooke in the middle to reach space from which they could receive a pass or a cross.

Runcorn were a touch fortunate that John McGrath's cross was too long for the advancing Reece Webb-Foster's run, after the Clitheroe No.7 had been given far too much time and space to deliver it. 

The referee had words with Sefton Gonzales after an altercation with Sean O'Mahony in the centre circle. Those two met again straight afterwards in the Runcorn area, where Sean was the last man when he won a crucial tackle from the big No.9.

A scrappy quarter-hour in the middle of the first half was more reminiscent of two sides scrapping in the bottom five, rather than the play-off zone.  

The only moment in which the wind almost assisted Linnets was when Clitheroe 'keeper Chris Thompson had to concentrate hard to hold on to a soaring shot by McFadyen from the left wing, after Ollie had picked up a Cameron Rooney pass, relayed from Lewis Doyle.

At the clubhouse end, a free-kick resulting from James Short's unnecessary push on Ross Dent, having already won the ball, was ballooned over the bar by Webb-Foster.

Linnets already knew that Sefton Gonzales is a powerful presence who mustn't be allowed time or space in the penalty area, but not for the last time on the day, they forgot to act upon it. Only a great two-footed stop by Danny Taberner prevented Gonzales from putting the visitors ahead, after 29 minutes.

It was only four minutes later that it transpired that the lesson had not been learned.

It was Tabs to the rescue again, when he dived to parry Webb-Foster's diagonal shot across the six-yard box, and he had to recover quickly to block Holden's effort beyond the post, to concede a corner.

That was played long to Gonzales, and he was given far too much time to turn into the area past Short and O'Mahony, and pass inside to Webb-Foster, who was able to pick his spot through the crowd and into the bottom left corner.

Clitheroe kept coming against the wind, and Ally Brown did well to prevent Webb-Foster from quickly chalking up a brace.

Ally won the ball inside the six-yard box and chased it out wide. A cross came back in from Holden, but a weak Gonzales header dropped wide.

Occasional advances by Linnets continued to run away to nothing on the wind, and rare balls finding Rooney or Brooke in the middle were thwarted by the marshalling presence of centre-back Andrew Procter, on loan to Clitheroe from EFL League One side Accrington Stanley.

Brooky was receiving very little service, but he also looked out of sorts. He had missed the Liverpool Senior Cup semi-final and was signalling to the bench that he was struggling today. He was replaced for the second half by Kieran Nolan, a NWCFL Premier League winning Linnet making the first appearance of his return to the APEC, and when a tracksuited Brooky reappeared from the dressing room, he was wearing an ice pack on a calf.

The difference between the sides in the first half had been far more possession and passing into space by the visitors, but that had been accentuated by some pedestrian defending, which had given Webb-Foster and Gonzales in particular, too much freedom in the Linnets half.

It is always easier to play to feet against the wind than with it, however, and the Linnets fans dominating the 697 attendance were hoping to see much more football played in yellow and green after the break.

Linnets did see more of the ball in the second half, but were never given the room at the clubhouse end that they had allowed Clitheroe.

The Lancastrians played much more on the break with the wind behind them, but at critical moments they still found the Runcorn rearguard generous with time and space, when they achieved possession in the home third.

Kieran Nolan had taken up a role in the Linnets back line, with Tom Moore also sitting deeper, as Sam Heathcote moved up to provide a lofty presence up front.

Clitheroe increasingly responded to challenges by Nolan, Moore and  O'Mahony by going to ground and demanding free-kicks. 

Referee Elliot Bell was frequently keen to oblige, and he also showed a great deal of tolerance towards almost continuous moaning by Richard Baker and Ross Dent.

Dent went down from an O'Mahony tackle clutching his ankle, in a fashion which suggested a stretcher beckoned. But when he eventually rose to his feet, neither his right leg nor his voice betrayed any loss of function.  

The first 15 minutes of the second half had seen more attacking possession from Runcorn than in the whole of the first half, but the only chance yielded was a Sean O'Mahony header, from a 35-yard Lewis Doyle free-kick, which glanced narrowly wide.

Clitheroe were engaged in defensive work as never before, but it remained resolute. Dave Wild introduced Eden Gumbs in place of Jamal Crawford, to help find a way through.

Eden was immediately involved, winning a throw-in on the right from which Ally Brown found Ollie McFadyen. His cross was met by Cameron Rooney with his back to goal. He half turned and looped a high shot just over the top left angle, with 'keeper Thompson backpeddling. 

Linnets kept chipping away, but Clitheroe stood firm. They rang a change on the right wing, swapping McGrath for Abimbola Obasoto, with 23 minutes remaining.

Adding Obasoto's fresh legs to their attacks on the break, the change took another eight minutes to bear fruit, after more solid defending against Runcorn pushes up both wings, not least by McFadyen on the right.

Obasato picked up a clearance on the right, and crossed long towards Ganzales on the far side of the Linnets area. Ally Brown and Danny Taberner exchanged passes to defy the big No.9, but he gratefully accepted an example of that rare species: a Tabs clanger.

The Runcorn 'keeper badly underhit a return pass, and Gonzales pounced, sliding the ball across the box to provide the easiest of tap-ins for Obasato.

A Runcorn revival had never really appeared to be on the cards, but it certainly wasn't now.

If not for Tabs' earlier efforts, the points would surely have been lost already, and the slip didn't prevent him from being named Linnets man of the match for the second game in a row.

Matty Birchall replaced Lewis Doyle, in the hope of influencing an unlikely late comeback.

Clitheroe substituted goalscorer Webb-Foster with Callum Harris, and seven minutes later, former Linnet Sidi Sanogo Fofana returned to the APEC pitch, in place of Danny Wilkins. 

Wilkins' departure came a few minutes after he and Kieran Nolan had received yellow cards, presented by Mr Bell once he had finally curtailed a prolonged bout of mass pushing and shoving in the centre circle.

Procter was also cautioned two minutes later, for a something-or-nothing challenge.  

Ross Dent took time out from 83 minutes of perpetual complaining to go studs-up on Sean O'Mahony, after Sean had won the ball, but the referee's attention was already engaged elsewhere.

Only three normal minutes remained when a James Short throw-in from the left was headed backwards across the area by Tom Moore. Ollie McFadyen volleyed from beyond the far post, but his hooked shot crept over the bar. It was that kind of day.

As the game entered four minutes of stoppage time, Gonzales was once again in untroubled possession, just inside the Linnets six-yard box. With frantic defending, Runcorn were fortunate to scramble the ball past a post for a corner.

Clitheroe spent most of added time in all-out attack. Ally Brown headed Obasato's cross to safety over the bar, and Tom Moore cleared the resulting corner.

Linnets had never looked like a team in the box seat for a play-off place, but they did have the final say of the afternoon.

Shorty's throw-in from the left was headed on through the area by Ollie McFadyen, and Sam Heathcote prodded the ball goalward from close range.

The 'keeper and an unidentified defender conspired to bundle the ball off the line, but the assistant positioned at the right corner flag signalled that it had crossed the line.  

The goal was never going to be a lifeline, as everyone in the ground knew that the final whistle was seconds away, and so it proved.

The lack of jubilation among the home fans might have been partly due to that fact, but perhaps also because the final 1-2 scoreline flattered their heroes.

Clitheroe were as elated as you might expect to have taken all three points, and they had deserved to do so. But they had spent as much time falling over and complaining as they had entertaining, and like Linnets, they will have to play better than that to ensure play-off football by the end of April.

Runcorn will travel to Kidsgrove for the first of their five remaining league games.

A return to the kind of form and grit that was cruelly denied any points at Macclesfield, and which earned a cup final berth in midweek, is required.

A play-off place remains in their own hands, by the narrowest of margins.

Runcorn Linnets: Danny Taberner, Ally Brown, James Short, Tom Moore, Sean O'Mahony, Sam Heathcote, Jamal Crawford (Eden Gumbs 62), Lewis Doyle (Matty Birchall 75), Ryan Brooke (Kieran Nolan 45), Cameron Rooney, Ollie McFadyen.  Subs not used: Isaac Turner, Josh Elverstone. 

Attendance:697.

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