22^nd April 2023, Trafford v Runcorn Linnets FC : 0-0

On the face of it, there was nothing to play for at the top of the Pitching In NPL West Division, on the final day of the league season. Macclesfield were already crowned champions, and Runcorn Linnets had qualified for the play-offs for the second promotion place, along with Leek Town, Workington, and Clitheroe. 

But the day's results would determine whether Linnets would travel to Leek or Workington for Tuesday's semi-final, with Clitheroe making the journey to the other. The preference for a 'school night' trip to Staffordshire spoke for itself, but there was no opportunity to pursue a tactical result at Trafford to bring it about. 

Whatever the result at Shawe View, with a single point separating Leek and Workington for second place, we would learn our midweek fate at close to 5pm, and not before.

Linnets' second goalless draw of the week lacked the jeopardy of Tuesday's penalty shoot-out, which denied them the Liverpool Senior Cup, but there was to be a measure of twelfth-hour drama. The game had entered three minutes of added time when Danny Taberner was dismissed for handling the ball outside the penalty area.

In the context of the game it meant nothing, as it would have done if Trafford had grabbed a late winner, but the implications for Linnets were massive. Tabs, who is rightly acknowledged as the best goalkeeper in the NPL West, will play no part in the play-off semi-final.

Discussions of results elsewhere, and their consequences, loom large in this match report. That has something to do with their importance, but even more to do with the fact that precious little happened on the pitch. That was a shame, as Trafford's Shawe View boasts the best surface in the league.

None of the Runcorn faithful among the 683 attendance minded that too much. As the afternoon wore on, the increasingly likely 0-0 draw promised Linnets their preferred play-off semi-final at Leek Town. Never has a ponderous stalemate been more enthusiastically cheered on.

In the first minute of the game, Matty Birchall did provide a moment of novel entertainment. As Trafford left-back Kane Bradby shielded the ball, as it trickled interminably towards the corner flag, Birchy jumped on his back and hitched a ride.

As someone who hates this universally tolerated form of obstruction, I think Matty might be on to something. How about an amendment to the laws, saying you can shield the ball from an opponent for as long as you like, but you have to give him a piggy-back for the next five minutes?

Indulge me, it's the end of term.

It was seven minutes before anything resembling a chance emerged, when Birchall had a shot on target deflected by a defensive heel. Trafford 'keeper Matt Cooper, who had been given a guard of honour on to the pitch for his final appearance after five years at the club, salvaged the ball to prevent a corner being conceded.

A first Trafford assault, after nine minutes, was halted by a Tom Moore tackle, before a leisurely shot by Mike Burke was caught by Danny Taberner. A Lewis Doyle shot, sliced high and wide, was the only punctuation to 15 minutes of stroking the ball around by both sides, reminiscent of a pre-season friendly on a hot summer's day.

At the mid-point of the half, a neat one-two between Ally Brown and Matty Birchall led to a low cross by the former, which was smothered by Cooper, and a jinking run and shot by Ollie McFadyen was intercepted crucially by Glenn Matthews.

An injury to Kane Bradby saw him replaced by Aaron Fleming after 28 minutes.

Taberner caught Matty Barlow's looping header, from a free-kick just inside the Linnets half, but the Trafford No.7 was offside anyway.

Josh Elverstone saw a yellow card for handling the ball out for a non-threatening throw-in, and with less than five minutes to go to half-time, Linnets had the first clear scoring chance of the game.

Ollie McFadyen passed inside from the left wing for Lewis Doyle to relay the ball through the penalty area, in front of Cameron Rooney. He had only the goalkeeper in front of him, but from the right corner of the six-yard box, he shanked it out of bounds.

Behind the untroubled goal, we wondered if Cam had just heard, as we had, that Clitheroe had gone behind at home to Kidsgrove. And Leek had also gone 2-1 ahead against Skelmersdale. That game had stood at 1-1 after five minutes, with Leek's Oliver Harrison having scored at both ends.

As things stood, a semi-final against Leek would depend upon Linnets not winning.

Trafford had the last chance of the first half, when Burke ran on to collect a ball which glanced off Josh Elverstone's chest, but the home No.9 had already been flagged offside.

At half-time, Runcorn boss Billy Paynter exchanged Macauley Clifton for Ally Brown.

Trafford showed willing in the opening minutes of the second half, but Barlow's cross from the right flew high and long, and Tabs was called upon to catch a weak effort from Max Hazeldine's solo run into the area.

Matty Birchall's cross was blocked by Jack Sloan for a corner, which was headed away uncontested, by Harry Norris.

Eden Gumbs was a repeated threat up the left, and his cross towards Cam Rooney was intercepted by one Trafford head, and cleared by another.

Burke almost got the better of Danny Taberner in a 50/50 contest inside the Linnets area, but Josh Elverstone had the ball covered, as it looped wide of the left post.

Adam Moseley replaced Lewis Doyle for the last half an hour of the normal season, if this half-hearted affair could be described as normal.

A rare Trafford shot on target, after Tom Moore had blocked Jack Dorney's initial effort, was palmed over the bar by Taberner. Eden Gumbs headed away a shot resulting from the corner.

An Adam Moseley cross from the right was blocked by a boot and an accidental hand by Jack Sloan, conceding a corner that referee Mr Nolan decided should be a goal-kick. It was indicative of the occasion that neither Adam nor the Runcorn fans raised any objections. 

Linnets assistant manager Jamie Rainford fulfilled his pledge to return from long-term injury before the end of the season, replacing Matty Birchall for the final 23 minutes. 

With Clitheroe on level terms at home to Kidsgrove, Linnets fans urged Jamie not to score the four goals that would edge them into fourth place, and a Tuesday night trip to Workington.

Leek were now comfortably 3-1 up against Skelmersdale, and almost assured of second place.

Moments later, the news came through that Clitheroe were again trailing, 2-1. Runcorn's loudest urged their side to allow Matt Cooper to end his Trafford career in peace.

Linnets were content to play a slow possession game across the middle third, led by Kieran Nolan and Tom Moore. When it broke down, Trafford moved forward in leisurely fashion, and nobody in orange and black appeared keen to risk injury by challenging them with much vigour.

The Murdishaw Massive were enjoying a bore draw as few had ever done before, and their chants alternated between 'We've got the ball' and 'We've lost the ball'. When Gumbs and Moseley made threatening moves up either flank, they resorted to a slightly more urgent 'Trafford, Trafford!'

Sometimes, you have to make your own entertainment.

A concerned silence followed an injury to Tom Moore, who hurt his back in descending from an aerial challenge outside his own area, but a minute's physio had him back on his feet.

Inside the final five minutes, Barlow had two digs at the Linnets goal. The first dipped a yard over the bar, and the second was smothered on the ground by Danny Taberner. 

Hazeldine did find the net from a low shot from 15 yards, but he was offside by some distance.

As the season negotiated its last two or three minutes, it was clear that Leek and Workington were going to finish in second and third places, respectively. With Clitheroe 3-1 down to Kidsgrove, it only remained for Runcorn to ensure they didn't win, to ensure a repeat of last season's semi-final trip to the Moorlands, rather than a Tuesday night odyssey to Cumbria.

Eden Gumbs outsprinted Matty Morgan to a ball up the left touchline, but slowed visibly to allow the right-back to catch up, lest Eden deliver a cross from which Jamie Rainford might accidentally score.

Ending the season on a five-game unbeaten run was always going to be preferable to a last-day defeat, but a late winner for Trafford would not have made any material difference to the quest for promotion.

So the end of season party balloon was well and truly popped, when Danny Taberner raced out of his area into a one-on-one challenge, and made manual contact with the ball on the wrong side of the 18-yard line.

Fervent appeals for clemency could not prevent his dismissal.

Linnets had a goalkeeper on the bench, in Josh Roberts, but as all three substitutes had been used, Tom Moore took over the gloves and pink shirt, for the remaining two added minutes.

The free-kick for the handball was repelled by the defensive wall, and a follow-up shot, well over the bar, proved to be the last action of the normal season.    

It's a dumb rule, but it's a rule. Preventing a scoring opportunity by handling the ball outside the area earns a goalkeeper a red card. Unfortunately, the fact that any such scoring opportunity might be entirely inconsequential, is neither here nor there. Unlike a goal-preventing foul, intent and context are irrelevant, which makes no sense at all.

Put Tabs in the same situation another fifty times, and he would perhaps stand aside and applaud, as Trafford grabbed their last three points of the season.

But that isn't what goalkeepers do. They stop people from scoring goals, just as scorpions sting, and bears do in the woods what bears do in the woods.

Danny was inconsolable, but record-breaking numbers of Linnets fans, this season, know that they wouldn't be making plans for another promotion play-off, if they hadn't had Tabs between the sticks since last August. Nowhere near.

Come on, as they say, you Linnets.

Runcorn Linnets: Danny Taberner, Ally Brown (Macauley Clifton, 45 mins), Eden Gumbs, Tom Moore, Sean O'Mahony, Josh Elverstone, Ollie McFadyen, Kieran Nolan, Cameron Rooney, Lewis Doyle (Adam Moseley, 60 mins), Matty Birchall (Jamie Rainford, 67 mins). Subs not used: James Short, Josh Roberts.

Attendance: 683.

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