FA Vase 2nd Round - Marske United 6 Runcorn Linnets 2
Tue 24th November 2015 | FA Challenge Vase | By Ian Templeman
A tough night up in Cleveland for Runcorn Linnets ended their hopes of progress in the FA Vase for another season.
A hat trick from Marske United's Jamie Owens was the highlight of the evening for the home side, on a night when Linnets started well, but eventually caved in under the home side's impressive firepower.
The opening period of the game began in promising fashion for Linnets, with Kurt Sherlock opening the scoring in the 19th minute with a cracking shot from just outside the area.
It was they held for 15 minutes until Jamie Owens opened his account for the evening, going past one defender before dinking the ball over the keeper from a tight angle.
Linnets then spurned a good opportunity before half time, before losing a crucial goal in first half stoppage time, when Owens exchanged passes with Glen Butterworth before finishing with a shot from 10 yards.
It had been end to end stuff on a heavy pitch with both teams trying to play football, but any hopes Linnets had of getting a good start after the break were pretty much ended within 11 minutes of the restart.
Two minutes into the second half, a mishit clearance fell to Marske's Craig Gott on the right, who adavnced forward and played in Adam Preston, who slotted home to make it 3-1.
On 56 minutes it was 4-1, when Nathan Mulligan blasted a shot high into the roof of the net from Luke Bythway's free kick, although Linnets pulled one back in the 65th minute, Jason Carey firing in an unstoppable shot from inside the area.
But within a minute, Owens completed his hat trick when he beat the keeper at his near post with a shot from the edge of the box to put Marske 5-2 ahead.
With eight minutes remaining Adam Preston rifled a shot into the top corner from 20 yards to make it 6-2, and it could have been worse for Linnets as Marske came close to grabbing a seventh late on, when Nathan Mulligan set up Luke Bythway for a shot that went just wide.
After the game Linnets Chairman Derek Greenwood issued the following statement:
On behalf of the board of Runcorn Linnets, I would like to publically put on record our sincere thanks and appreciation for the dedication shown by everyone connected to the club for last night's long journey to the North East.
A journey of 300 miles that started from Runcorn at 3.30pm and ended back in the town at 2.30am needs a huge level of commitment, and the players and management team showed a magnificent attitude throughout and great pride in representing the club at the home of the current Northern League champions.
The fans who made the long journey were truly excellent, and I can't thank my colleagues on the board enough for all their work behind the scenes in making sure everything ran as smoothly as possible.
We were made to feel most welcome at Marske and we thank them for that, and wish them well in the competition from here on.
This is Runcorn Linnets 10th anniversary year and for me personally just to say we were there and competed so well in the circumstances, is a matter of great pride.
The mutual support for each other behind the scenes with our friends from 1874 Northwich has only served to strengthen the bond of friendship, and we had many other messages of support for which we are grateful.
FA Vase 2nd Round - Marske United 6 Runcorn Linnets 2
Tue 24th November 2015 | FA Challenge Vase
By Ian Templeman
A tough night up in Cleveland for Runcorn Linnets ended their hopes of progress in the FA Vase for another season.
A hat trick from Marske United's Jamie Owens was the highlight of the evening for the home side, on a night when Linnets started well, but eventually caved in under the home side's impressive firepower.
The opening period of the game began in promising fashion for Linnets, with Kurt Sherlock opening the scoring in the 19th minute with a cracking shot from just outside the area.
It was they held for 15 minutes until Jamie Owens opened his account for the evening, going past one defender before dinking the ball over the keeper from a tight angle.
Linnets then spurned a good opportunity before half time, before losing a crucial goal in first half stoppage time, when Owens exchanged passes with Glen Butterworth before finishing with a shot from 10 yards.
It had been end to end stuff on a heavy pitch with both teams trying to play football, but any hopes Linnets had of getting a good start after the break were pretty much ended within 11 minutes of the restart.
Two minutes into the second half, a mishit clearance fell to Marske's Craig Gott on the right, who adavnced forward and played in Adam Preston, who slotted home to make it 3-1.
On 56 minutes it was 4-1, when Nathan Mulligan blasted a shot high into the roof of the net from Luke Bythway's free kick, although Linnets pulled one back in the 65th minute, Jason Carey firing in an unstoppable shot from inside the area.
But within a minute, Owens completed his hat trick when he beat the keeper at his near post with a shot from the edge of the box to put Marske 5-2 ahead.
With eight minutes remaining Adam Preston rifled a shot into the top corner from 20 yards to make it 6-2, and it could have been worse for Linnets as Marske came close to grabbing a seventh late on, when Nathan Mulligan set up Luke Bythway for a shot that went just wide.
After the game Linnets Chairman Derek Greenwood issued the following statement:
On behalf of the board of Runcorn Linnets, I would like to publically put on record our sincere thanks and appreciation for the dedication shown by everyone connected to the club for last night's long journey to the North East.
A journey of 300 miles that started from Runcorn at 3.30pm and ended back in the town at 2.30am needs a huge level of commitment, and the players and management team showed a magnificent attitude throughout and great pride in representing the club at the home of the current Northern League champions.
The fans who made the long journey were truly excellent, and I can't thank my colleagues on the board enough for all their work behind the scenes in making sure everything ran as smoothly as possible.
We were made to feel most welcome at Marske and we thank them for that, and wish them well in the competition from here on.
This is Runcorn Linnets 10th anniversary year and for me personally just to say we were there and competed so well in the circumstances, is a matter of great pride.
The mutual support for each other behind the scenes with our friends from 1874 Northwich has only served to strengthen the bond of friendship, and we had many other messages of support for which we are grateful.