Whittingham seals thriller in 90th minute
Matty Whittingham enjoys his clinching goal and, below, is mobbed by team-mates. Pictures by Peter Gallagher-Headley.
Runcorn Linnets 4 Stalybridge Celtic 2
Report by Dave Bettley
Runcorn wasted no time in posting their first victory of the season and yet this proved a long opening game.
After being 3-0 up and coasting, Linnets were in grave danger as last season's Play-Off rivals Stalybridge pulled two goals back.
But substitute Matty Whittingham signalled his arrival at the APEC by clinching the points with a sensational last-gasp strike.
Nick Rushton, another home player on debut, had scored twice with less than half an hour played and when Dec McLoughlin converted a penalty he had won himself seven minutes into the second half, Runcorn were in full control.
But injured Lewis Buckley's withdrawal ahead of the second half disrupted Runcorn's plans.
With Conor Harwood still nursing the hamstring injury he had sustained in the second match of pre-season, the hosts were without a recognised centre forward.
Linnets ultimately played the game out with two young wingers in attack.
Noah Roberts and newboy Lewis Bell almost inevitably found balll retention impossible against a strong and experienced Stalybridge defence.
But the difficulties Runcorn faced without a hold-up man were nothing compared to the strife caused by a tactical change, designed to protect their healthy lead.
The move to a central defensive three just before the hour left them in disarray and with elusive winger Ellis Horan - surprisingly a non-starter for the Celts - being thrown into the mix off the bench, it looked as if the points were slipping away.
Horan capitalised on defensive uncertainty by pulling one back in the 70th minute and when Jack Irlam was checked by Calvin Hare to earn the second spot-kick of the game, Runcorn fans began to feel very nervous.
Irlam got up to convert himself with Hare appearing non-plussed by rhe penalty decision afte trying to pull out of the challenge.
Runcorn still had 12 minutes to survive plus what would be a long period of stoppage time.
Fortunately, with 90 minutes up, Whittingham turned right on cue to unleash his stunning left-foot effort from 30 yards high into the top right corner.
Declan McLoughlin converts his penalty to make it 3-0 and is congratulated, below, by Elliot Morris. Pictures by Ben Jackson.
It was simply unstoppable and an early measure of the ability of the 21-year-old from St Helens, who is looking to relaunch his career.
He had seemed on the brink of great things as an Under 18s Premier Leagye champion with Manchester City and then an U21s regular at Wolverhampton Wanderers in Premier League 2.
One of only three Pitching In Northern Premier League West games to escape an Emirates FA Cup takeover as two competitions collided on opening day, this certainly lived up to its blockbuster billing.
Inside a minute, Linnets were ahead as two new signings combined.
Stalybridge failed to intercept Ollie Southern's through pass from the right-back position and Nick Rushton, operating behind frontman Buckley, raced on to it.
The experienced No.10's finish, inside the right post, was clinical.
A cross by McLoughlin from the left was a little too high for Elliot Morris to get anything more than a glancing header and, as Runcorn maintained a very positive start, Rushton found the net again.
He had followed in a rebound but Elliot Morris, responsible for the initial shot, was flagged offside.
Experienced former Wrexham frontman Rushton found further reward in the 29th minute, however by heading home as a measured 22-yard attempt by man-of-the-match Jay Harris came back off the woodwork.
Harris, a 39-year-old former League Two midfielder, was a warrior in his first competitive Runcorn outing.
He ran and tackled relentlessly, regained balls which appeared lost and, even in the last minute, was throwing himself in the line of fire inside Linnets' area.
The visitors hardly laid a glove on Runcorn before finding themselves two goals adrift.
However, Hare (another of the seven Linnets first-timers in their starting line-up) pulled off two outstanding saves late in the first half.
He spectacularly tipped over a header from a free-kick by centre back Josh Granite and got down brilliantly to save Ruben Jerome's shot at point-blank range.
The cross had come in from Celtic skipper Liam Tongue, who had to desert the midfield battleground to cover for right-back casualty Mike Koral.
Even ahead of Koral's ninth-minute exit, Matty Rain had found a lot of space pushing forward on the left and the full back was instrumental in Runcorn's 52nd-minute third.
A couple of one-twos on the flank, the second with 17-year-old half-time replacement Noah Roberts, saw Rain advance again.
Although forced inside onto his right foot, he found McLoughlin supporting on the inside.
A quick dart into the area forced a challenge by ex-Bury man Cam Fogerty that sent McLoughlin tumbling.
Charlie Monks guessed the right way yet still had no answer to a firm shot low into the left corner.
Game over? Far from it.
The Greater Manchester side launched a counter offensive which had Linnets scrambling desperately.
After a triple substitution, the visitors thought they had opened their account.
Granite forced the ball home from a right-wing corner but Hare had been impeded in the process and the score was cancelled out.
Even so, Runcorn were pushed to the limit by the visiting onslaught which followed.
They were relieved as much as grateful to get across the line for what in nine nonths' time could prove a highly-significant win.
Runcorn Linnets: Calvin Hare, Ollie Southern, Matty Rain, Peter Wylie, Scott Holding, Jay Harris, Elliot Morris (Lewis Bell, 67 mins), Jacques Welsh, Lewis Buckley (Noah Roberts, 46 mins), Nick Rushton (Matty Whittingham, 84 mins), Dec McLoughlin (Toby Jones, 58 mins). Sub (not used): Frank Denison.
Attendance: 725.
Nick Rushton, after scoring Runcorn's final goal of pre-season at Leek, opens his league account inside a minute and heads a second for good measure before running away in celebration. Pictures by Peter Gallagher-Headley.
