IT'S not often that a team from fifth tier of Non-League football has chance to play against a Premier League club - so a surprise midweek fixture against Liverpool FC was memorable for the management of players of Runcorn Linnets.

The Hallmark Security League Premier Division club accepted at short notice a welcome chance to take on a Reds' Under-23s side under floodlights at the LFC Academy in Kirkby on Tuesday and relished the experience.

The behind-closed-doors fixture was arranged at short notice after the Reds' scheduled opponents, TNS withdrew.

Liverpool had recently played an Under 16s fixture against Derby County at The Millbank Linnets Stadium and when the Anfield club's Academy secretary, Conor Barry asked if the Linnets could step in, Runcorn's manager, Michael Ellison didn't need a second invitation.

A talented LFC team that featured England Under 18s and U20s representative Cameron Brannagan, who has already played first-team football for the Reds, triumphed 2-0 thanks to a couple of early goals.

But Linnets boss Ellison felt it had been a thoroughly enjoyable and highly beneficial experience for his squad, particularly the younger players.

Ellison said: "The lads were buzzing about the game, to be fair. It was a great opportunity for them to test themselves against a real top side and one they thoroughly enjoyed, especially the Reds among them. "The fact that they (Liverpool) even considered us is a massive compliment to the club. Hopefully, we can do it again sometime in the future.

"The lads really enjoyed it and I would like to thank Liverpool for their hospitality - they really did make us feel welcome."

All available members of the Runcorn squad played a part in the game, highlights being down on LFCTV Go. Ellison added: "When you're playing against players of that stature and quality, it's obviously really tough but in can only be beneficial for lads and they certainly came away from the game with lots of positives.

"I thought the lads more than held their own against a really top-quality side it took us about 25 minutes to get used to the pace of the game which was frightening at times but once we settled down, I thought we did really well."