On Tuesday, weather permitting (please check the website or Twitter for any postponements due to Storm Franklin), Celtic face Runcorn Linnets at Bower Fold in the Cheshire Senior Cup. Linnets are currently fifth in the Northern Premier League Division One West on 56 points after 29 games. Kick-off is 7:45pm, tickets are available on the gate and online.

Runcorn’s last match was a 2-0 away win over our Tameside neighbours, Mossley, with a goal either side of half time. This returned them to their good form, coming after an away win over Market Drayton, a home draw to Marine and an away loss to Trafford.

They are currently looking likely to make the play-offs, sitting a few points clear of sixth placed Bootle.

Runcorn had a great start to the season, though they lost their opening away match to Glossop, from the end of August to the end of the year they recorded only two defeats, to Marine and Mossley.

They started 2022 with a pair of wins including beating Kendal 7-0, but since then have stumbled somewhat. Liverpool and Workington both beat them in January, whilst Trafford beat them 2-0 at the start of February.

In Ryan Brooke, Linnets have the league’s top scorer, with nineteen goals this season, four coming in the 7-0 win over Kendal. His nearest rival for the Runcorn Golden Boot is Iwan Murray who has twelve. Both players scored in their last match. They score on average two goals per game, whilst they concede 1.2 goals per game. They have kept eleven clean sheets, with three of them on the road, whilst they have failed to score in three matches with two of them on the road.

We have only ever met Runcorn Linnets competitively in the Cheshire Senior Cup twice. The last time saw former Celtic striker, Kurt Sherlock snatch a goal deep into stoppage time to force the game into penalties, which they won 5-4 after Glenn Rule’s penalty was saved. The other meeting saw Celtic go through 2-1 with Corey Gregory opening the scoring for Celtic and Mitchel Austin netting the winner.

In Runcorn’s last match, the 2-0 away win over Mossley, Linnets lined up as:
1. Owen Mooney
2. Ally Brown
3. James Short
4. Jaques Welsh
5. Alex Downes
6. Sean O’Mahony
7. Lloyd Marsh-Hughes
8. Louis Hayes
9. Ryan Brooke
10. Iwan Murray
11. Lewis Doyle

In Celtic’s last match, the 2-1 away defeat at Ashton, Celtic lined up as:
1. Liam Hughes
2. Matthew Liptrott
3. Ashley Smith-Brown
4. Sam Wedgbury
5. Connor O’Grady
6. Keenan Quansah
7. Jay Fitzmartin
8. Callum Harris
9. Raul Correia
10. Sam McLintock
11. Justin Johnson

Linnets are playing well and have recently extended the loan of Chester teenage striker Lloyd Marsh Hughes. However, a place in the semi-final awaits, with Vauxhall awaiting the winners. Stockport and Crewe are already setup for the other semi-final. Stephen Brogan will be back for Celtic after his suspension.