Report: Warrington Town Women 2-1 Runcorn Linnets

Warrington Town Women escaped relegation in their final game of the season with a 2-1 win over rivals Runcorn Linnets.

For the Yellows Women, it was a big challenge and all or nothing - in order to survive, they had to come away from the game with three points and no less.

Possession was quite even for the majority of the first half, with Warrington trying to create chances hitting long balls down to the forwards and Runcorn trying to pose a threat by playing through the midfield.

Both teams defended well to start off, the Yellows packing the midfield and shutting down the Runcorn players quickly, and the Linnets defence dealing with the long balls, most notably keeper Alex Bellfield who played sweeper keeper smothering pass after pass.

After some tactical changes and substitutions from Yellows manager Sophie McDonald, Town finally found the net through Jess Carberry. Rachel Dickenson drove a ball up to Sam Hassall, who played Nicola Chatterley through on goal.

The Yellows winger was presented with a two-on-one opportunity with Jess Carberry against Bellfield. Chatterley squared it to Carberry, who tapped it in for Town’s first goal.

Just four minutes later, Town doubled their lead through Sam Hassall. Keeping possession well at the back, they eventually did break out through Rachel Dickenson again, who hit a perfect ball up to Chatterley.

She drove into the box and let Hassall do the rest. Chatterley bagged her second assist of the game and the Yellows could see a faint glimpse of survival.

Panic again settled in for Warrington in stoppage time though as Chelsea Gillies was awarded a penalty. Town goalkeeper Katie Donohue didn’t have much action at all in the first half, except when the league’s top goalscorer Mollie Bennett fired from long range forcing the goalie to dive and get a strong hand to it.

Donohue was called to action again from the resulting corner as she had to parry away an in-swinging corner that was curling towards the far side of the net.

Despite saving seven penalties this season however, the Yellows goalkeeper was sent the wrong way by Gillies and the hosts’ advantage was narrowed.

The second half followed and Warrington dominated both possession and the number of chances.

Runcorn posed little threat thanks to the compactness of the Yellows’s defence.

Three big chances came for Town in the second half. Substitute and club veteran Danielle Burns set goalscorer Carberry through on goal against Bellfield, she drove into the box and shot, but Linnets full,back Emma Smith did well to recover and block the shot.

Sam Hassall dribbled through the Linnets’ defence and around Bellfield but couldn’t put the ball home into the empty net to re-establish the Yellows’ two goal advantage.

Rachel Dickenson again caused Runcorn trouble, this time with one of her corners that found Chloe Green’s head, but Bellfield made a great save to catch the ball on the goal line.

The Yellows appealed for a goal, but the referee shook his head and claimed the Linnets goalie had saved it.

Stoppage time came and six long minutes were added on.

The Yellows Women defended desperately and tried to kill as much of the clock as possible. The final whistle eventually did come and the Warrington players, staff, and fans roared in joy: they had survived.

Coaches came and went throughout the season, but the Yellows were at their best under McDonald, evidently shown by 13 points, twocup wins, and a place kept in the league.

Never before in the team’s history had they been relegated, and the resilience shown over the last stretch of the season ensured that they weren’t relegated this season either.

Litherland REMYCA and MSB Woolton were sent down, much to the disappointment of the Woolton players and coaches who attended the game at Sankey to see their fate in person.

The women will recover and regroup to be better next season.

The support from the fans all season has been inexpressible, and the women look forward to receiving that same support in the 2025/26 campaign.