Runcorn Town 3 Silsden 1

SILSDEN suffered a seventh consecutive defeat at the hands of Runcorn Town as they dropped out of the top ten in the North West Counties Premier Division.

An early sortie by the Cobbydalers backfired as Aaron Hollindrake’s effort was saved and the home side broke away. Paul Shanley’s run into the visitors’ area was ended by a poor Ben Crabtree challenge and Danny Troone netted the resulting penalty.

A long afternoon stretched in front of the Cobbydalers from then on. Just after the half hour Mark Shanley was tripped in the area again, this time Kev Ryan was the culprit, but Shanley attempted to put his spot-kick in the same area and Silsden keeper Danny Thorpe was wise to it and made a fine save.

The Cobbydalers levelled after the break when a Joe Mitchell cross was headed goalwards by Chris Wademan. The home keeper fumbled it and Hollindrake pounced.

However, after battling to get back into the game Silsden contributed to their own downfall when a series of errors in the same attack allowed Shanley, who is third top scorer in the league, to put Runcorn back in front.

Shanley turned provider as the home side put the gloss on their win with a third goal deep into stoppage time. Shanley broke down the right flank, cut into the area and laid the ball back for substitute Sam Houghton to score.