Colne 1 Runcorn Linnets 6

Colne suffered the backlash from their victory at Runcorn two weeks ago as Linnets came out on top in the return fixture at the XLCR Stadium.

The Reds started brightly in the atrocious conditions after a lunchtime deluge and took the lead after 16 minutes when Mark Coyne fired them ahead. And for a time it looked as if Colne would stretch their lead as they created further chances.

But Linnets equalised after 27 minutes when Mark Houghton scored at the far post from a defence splitting diagonal pass from the left wing. And the visitors took the lead after 34 minutes when Kyle Hamid scored from close range to finish a cross from the bye-line. One minute later, Matthew Atherton scored Linnets’ third goal with the Colne defence under pressure.

Any hopes of a second half revival by Colne were dashed when Houghton forced home Linnets’ fourth goal in a goalmouth scramble just two minutes after the interval.

And Kevin Towey broke clear after 57 minutes to beat Chris Thompson for the visitors’ fifth goal. Hamid rounded off the scoring with a 25 yard shot into the top corner after 84 minutes as Linnets ran out comfortable winners.