Runcorn Linnets FC
Millbank Linnets Stadium
Stockham Lane
Murdishaw
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 6GJ
Ground: 52
Date: Saturday 25th August 2018
Runcorn Linnets 1-2 Maltby Main
FA Cup Preliminary Round
Attendance: 256 (official)
Runcorn Linnets FC - History
Runcorn Linnets were founded in 2006 after the demise of Runcorn FC Halton, a club which unsuccessfully applied for election to the Football League in 1982. The club, run by The Linnets Independent Supporters' Trust, initially joined Division 2 of the North West Counties League. The club spent one season at this level, finishing 2nd in the league - and only missing out on the title on goal difference - to earn promotion to Division 1.
The club finished 12th in their first season at this level, before a restructure saw the club placed in the new Premier Division of the NWCL. Three mid-table finishes followed, before a 5th-place finish in the 2011/12 season began the club's battles for promotion to Step 4. After a 6th-place finish in the 2012/13 season, the club finished 2nd for three consecutive seasons, none of which were enough to earn promotion. The 2016/17 season saw the club drop to a 4th-place finish, but last season saw the club finally win the title to earn promotion to Step 4 for the first time, competing in Division 1 West of the Northern Premier League.
The club's best run in the FA Cup saw them reach the 3rd Qualifying Round in the 2013/14 season, beating Maine Road, Ossett Albion, Glossop North End and Cammell Laird before losing to North Ferriby United. In the FA Vase, the club progressed as far as the 3rd Round twice: in the 2008/09 season, the club beat Padiham, Bacup Borough, Maine Road and Alsager Town before losing to AFC Fylde; in the 2017/18 season, the club beat Team Northumbria and Sunderland Ryhope Community Association before losing to Marske United. With this being the club's first season at Step 4, they will be competing in the FA Trophy for the first time, starting with an away game at Atherton Collieries in this season's Extra Preliminary Round.
My Visit
As with the previous groundhop, my decision on where to go for this one was fairly easy, being made almost as soon as the FA Cup draw for the Extra Preliminary and Preliminary Rounds was made, with this being the easiest option in the FA Cup to visit while in Chester for the Bank Holiday weekend. However, this did rely on the club winning their Extra Preliminary Round tie at Hallam, which wasn't necessarily set in stone.
Fortunately for me, they did win and my choice was then finalised, with the only other obstacle in the two weeks between the two ties being a late weather scare last Friday, with a lot of rain on the day and forecast for the weekend. Had this not gone ahead, I would have likely had to cross the border for a game in Wales, unless I wanted to pay Football League or National League prices at Tranmere or Wrexham respectively. Fortunately, this concern proved to be unnecessary, and I was able to order my train tickets on the Saturday morning without any issues.
Other than some minor delays with the train on the way there (and a 20 or so minute delay on the way back), the journey to the ground was without incident, and I arrived with roughly 20 minutes until kick-off. I paid the student admission of £5, then £2 for a programme as I entered the ground. With kick-off approaching and the crowd steadily increasing, I went and did my usual circuit photos, only stopping for a brief conversation with a Runcorn supporter who identified me as a groundhopper as I went. I then settled on the near side by the far goal as kick-off approached.
With the home side having just been promoted from Step 5, and their opponents currently plying their trade at that level, I was expecting a tight game that the home side would just about edge, but that's not even close to how the match panned out, as I report below:
Initially, the Linnets started on the front foot, going straight on the attack and pressing Maltby rapidly and in numbers when necessary to do so. As such, it wasn't at all surprising when the home side scored after 12 minutes, a ball played down the wing to Paul Shanley, who was able to cut inside and place his shot right in the bottom corner. However, while they certainly were on top during this period, there were already some signs of the struggles that would afflict the rest of their performance: the Linnets wanted to patiently play out from the back and move forwards at their own pace, but this allowed Maltby to get back in numbers and limit the options Linnets had, which was also helped by the Linnets seeming highly indecisive in the final third and not really being able to properly break them down for the most part. Still, they were on top at first, and it took a while for Maltby to properly grow into the game.
The first signs of what was to come for Maltby came after around 25 minutes, a ball over the top setting Danny Frost through, but him not being able to capitalise. In fact, with Maltby still seeming a little wary of committing too many men forward, their chances were few and far between for most of the first half, but on a few occasions they came very close, with several efforts just missing the mark. However, as the end of the half approached and Linnets started to look more and more devoid of ideas, Maltby steadily grew in confidence and, with virtually the last kicks of the half, a ball was played over the top, well-controlled by Ross Duggan, who then dribbled past the Linnets defence to shoot and score. 1-1 at half-time.
For the first ten or so minutes of the second half, Linnets started with a lot more energy again, having obviously been given a slight bollocking at half-time. They created a few chances, but as before Maltby were more than happy to defend in numbers and wait for their chance to counter-attack. In this case, though, all they had to do was wait for Linnets to get frustrated and become sloppy with their passing, and once this happened Maltby began to dominate proceedings. They began carving Linnets open with ease, but once again profligate finishing saw several clear goalscoring chances wasted, and the concern at this point was that they would fail to take advantage and concede on the break, as Linnets were attempting - but not succeeding - to take advantage of Maltby pushing higher up the pitch. However, Maltby were finally able to make their domination count on 70 minutes, an excellent cross-field ball from Hill reaching Frost on the edge of the box, who volleyed from the edge of the box, his shot then hitting the cross-bar and bouncing in behind the keeper.
The remaining 20 minutes of the game started to ease down a little, Maltby creating and wasting a few more chances before steadily trying to slow the game down. At the same time, Linnets continued to frustrate with their inability to break Maltby down, but as the away side moved further backwards again and tried to run the clock down, they started to have more room to play and gradually started to push further forwards again. Even then, though, they didn't look too impressive until the game reached stoppage time, at which point they threw caution to the wind and went on an all-out attack. They started to bombard the Maltby goal, initially kept out by a good save, before another attempt was kept out by a goal-line clearance and another was put just inches wide. In the end, despite Linnets' last-ditch efforts to take the tie to a replay, Maltby were able to hold on for a well-deserved victory.
Overall, though this match wasn't exactly a spectacle, it was interesting to analyse from a tactical perspective, with it being clear that Linnets didn't really approach this game very well at all: their approach was slow and predictable and easy for Maltby to stop, especially with how poor their passing and decision-making was for large parts of the game. As for Maltby, they got their approach completely right, putting in a perfect performance to bridge the division gap and come out on top.
The first signs of what was to come for Maltby came after around 25 minutes, a ball over the top setting Danny Frost through, but him not being able to capitalise. In fact, with Maltby still seeming a little wary of committing too many men forward, their chances were few and far between for most of the first half, but on a few occasions they came very close, with several efforts just missing the mark. However, as the end of the half approached and Linnets started to look more and more devoid of ideas, Maltby steadily grew in confidence and, with virtually the last kicks of the half, a ball was played over the top, well-controlled by Ross Duggan, who then dribbled past the Linnets defence to shoot and score. 1-1 at half-time.
For the first ten or so minutes of the second half, Linnets started with a lot more energy again, having obviously been given a slight bollocking at half-time. They created a few chances, but as before Maltby were more than happy to defend in numbers and wait for their chance to counter-attack. In this case, though, all they had to do was wait for Linnets to get frustrated and become sloppy with their passing, and once this happened Maltby began to dominate proceedings. They began carving Linnets open with ease, but once again profligate finishing saw several clear goalscoring chances wasted, and the concern at this point was that they would fail to take advantage and concede on the break, as Linnets were attempting - but not succeeding - to take advantage of Maltby pushing higher up the pitch. However, Maltby were finally able to make their domination count on 70 minutes, an excellent cross-field ball from Hill reaching Frost on the edge of the box, who volleyed from the edge of the box, his shot then hitting the cross-bar and bouncing in behind the keeper.
The remaining 20 minutes of the game started to ease down a little, Maltby creating and wasting a few more chances before steadily trying to slow the game down. At the same time, Linnets continued to frustrate with their inability to break Maltby down, but as the away side moved further backwards again and tried to run the clock down, they started to have more room to play and gradually started to push further forwards again. Even then, though, they didn't look too impressive until the game reached stoppage time, at which point they threw caution to the wind and went on an all-out attack. They started to bombard the Maltby goal, initially kept out by a good save, before another attempt was kept out by a goal-line clearance and another was put just inches wide. In the end, despite Linnets' last-ditch efforts to take the tie to a replay, Maltby were able to hold on for a well-deserved victory.
Overall, though this match wasn't exactly a spectacle, it was interesting to analyse from a tactical perspective, with it being clear that Linnets didn't really approach this game very well at all: their approach was slow and predictable and easy for Maltby to stop, especially with how poor their passing and decision-making was for large parts of the game. As for Maltby, they got their approach completely right, putting in a perfect performance to bridge the division gap and come out on top.
On the whole, while I could have been watching Yaxley in the cup at Daventry had I not been on holiday (although, with us losing that game 7-5, I'm not sure how much I would actually want to have seen that unfold), this was still a pleasant day out in Cheshire: a decent game, decent ground and friendly locals all made this another enjoyable groundhop at a ground which would ordinarily be well outside my range of options.
Next up will be heading on the Yaxley supporters' coach to Thame United as we look to come back from three consecutive defeats in all competitions, but I'm not sure what I'll be doing after that. At the very least, I think I'll be back in Guildford by the time I come to the next groundhop after that, unless I do something on the 8th to celebrate my birthday the day before then (but I'd say that's quite unlikely to happen).
The Ground
The Millbanks Linnets Stadium is a new one at Step 4 level - and a fairly new build in general, having only opened in 2010 - and it shows. In terms of cover, there's the standard 100-seater Arena stand on one side, a standard Arena covered terrace behind the near goal, and two covered areas on the dugout side that seem to have once been bus shelters or something similar.
The rest of the ground is open hard standing, and in the case of this game the main entrance seemed to take you through the clubhouse, with another entrance apparently allowing you to bypass the clubhouse entirely. On the whole, this is currently a Step 5 ground at Step 4 level, but I'm sure improvement works will be underway to change that.
Photos
