Ladies made to wait for win needed to secure third spot

Warrington Town Women 2 Runcorn Linnets Ladies 1

Action from the Linnets Ladies game at Warrington Town. Pictures by Kelly Jones.

Linnets Ladies performed admirably against the odds after making the short journey to Great Sankey with just 10 players.

They fought hard but could not get the win needed to secure a third-placed finish.

Warrington's victory ensures another season of football in North West Women's Regional League Division One South, finally ending the threat of relegation.

While resilient in defence, Linnets had very few goal attempts other than their late first-half penalty, converted by Chelsea Gillies, in answer to two goals from the hosts.

Alex Bellfield made some fine saves to keep the scoresheet blank in the second half. Emma Smith also produced a couple of fine tackles to thwart Warrington’s wingers.

With two games remaining, Linnets still require two points to guarantee that third position, which would be an improvement on fifth last season.

They visit Wigan Athletic Women and Girls on Wednesday before winding up with another away game on Sunday against FC St Helens Women.