Joe Ferguson strikes the first of his brace to put Runcorn 2-0 up in the first half. Picture by NEIL THORNTON Runcorn Linnets 4 Darlaston Town 1 Report by Dave Bettley Runcorn backed up their midweek victory at second-from-top Avro by defeating next-to-bottom Darlaston, their first-time visitors from the West Midlands. As victories go, this was very comfortable and it would have been even more convincing had Linnets taken full advantage of their chances. Joe Fergus

We are very saddened to learn of the death of former Runcorn AFC player Phil Crilly. Local lad Phil, who was 66, played a few first-team games for the Linnets in the late 1970s and also for the reserve team. He was later secretary at Mond Rangers, continuing in the role when they became Runcorn Town and was always very popular on the town's sporting scene. Phil, a big fan of Everton FC, had also played snooker for Pavilions. He passed away yesterday in Portugal, where he had

Players from Runcorn Linnes Under 11s Orange and Green didn't have to spell it out just how happy they are to have won a competition for junior sports teams in Halton. But that's exactly what they did in a series of photos making up the name of the organisers Merseyflow. Our team, managed by Phil Wilkinson and James Lawton-Hill, were among five successful entrants in the annual Team Spirit competition promoted by the toll company for the Mersey Gateway bridge linking Runcorn