A PENALTY that shouldn't have been was enough to consign Runcorn to another defeat and leave them in the thick of the relegation struggle.

Although the decisive moment was the referee's decision to award a penalty when Graham Roberts ran across the unfortunate Peter Ellis - the Linnets' outstanding performer - Runcorn could blame themselves for failing to make use of the wealth of possession they enjoyed.

After the initial improvement in results following Carter's installation as manager, the team seem to have slipped back into their old lethargy again.

Despite having four games in hand over Chorley, who occupy the second automatic relegation place, if Runcorn continue to lose matches they have the possession to win then safety is not a foregone conclusion.

Colwyn Bay contributed nothing going forward in the first half, but still managed to turn around in front thanks to a dubious decision on 17 minutes.

Graham Roberts, chasing a hopeful throughball down the right channel, ran across the path of the turning Ellis.

It was difficult to see what Ellis could have done to avoid Roberts, but referee Denniff gave the spotkick.

Roberts drove it straight at Mark Morris but, typical of Runcorn's current luck, despatched the ball after it broke favourably for him.

The home side, playing three at the back, utterly dominated before and after this.

But the final ball was rarely precise enough to capitalise on positions created.

There were flashes of skill, notably one first-half backheel from Dave Nolan which opened up the field to Ellis.

Liam Watson also showed fine close control on a couple of occasions.

Mark Carter, who worked hard, headed a Paul McNally cross on to the bar on 25 minutes and had a shot blocked by a lunging defender. McNally also had chances to head an equaliser in each half.

But the longer the game went on, the less likely a Runcorn goal looked.

Their morale drained away and, for all their frantic attacking, it was Colwyn who came the closest to a goal - Deniol Graham's volley on the turn rebounding to safety off the crossbar.

The team really need to work on their crossing, as too often promising positions were lost for want of a decent pass.

Next up is a trip to Whitby Town, followed by a home game against Chorley on March 27.

This game will kick-off at 1pm to avoid clashing with the England International that day.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.