Linnets suffer Harrogate horror - Harrogate Town 1 Runcorn FC Halton 0 (From Warrington Guardian)

Linnets suffer Harrogate horror - Harrogate Town 1 Runcorn FC Halton 0

ALVIN McDonald lost his unbeaten league run as Runcorn FC Halton boss with defeat at the hands of Yorkshire side, Harrogate Town.

Despite starting well, the Linnets fell behind on nine minutes after the defence fell asleep at a corner.

Lee Philpott whipped the ball in and the towering Marc Smith headed home at the near post.

This turned out to be the only chance of the first half, as a mixture of solid defending and poor passing from both sides resulted in a very quiet first half for both 'keepers.

Five minutes after the restart, Town could have doubled their lead but Dominic Krief's chip went just wide.

Runcorn came more into the game, Lee Parle had a shot blocked and Danny Byrne fired over.

Smith could have had a second but for a fine save by Tony McMillan while at the other end, a Ged Courtney volley was superbly saved by home 'keeper Paul Pettinger.

Despite their pressure, Runcorn lacked clinical finishing to suffer their first league defeat in seven games.

RUNCORN: McMillan, Carragher, McGinn, Moore, Robertson, Ness, Brown, Parle, Young, Byrne, Courtney, Subs: Durkan, Nolan, Wright, Lock, Fields