Runcorn 0 Liverpool Res 3 - Liverpool Senior Cup (Dec 20 2005)

[TLW]

Runcorn 0 LIVERPOOL RES 3

Report by Steve Horton at Valerie Park

Scorer(s) - Paul Anderson, Ramon Calliste, Neil Mellor Half Time - 0-2 Venue - Valerie Park, Prescot Date - Tue 20 Dec 2005 Star Man - Ramon Calliste

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool eased their way into the semi finals of the Liverpool Senior Cup with a comfortable victory over Runcorn, with Neil Mellor making a goalscoring return to action after a long lay off.

Valerie Park in Prescot is quite a come down from Vicarage Road where Mellor made his last start in a game in the semi finals of the Carling Cup in January. But after a recurring injury nightmare he must have been glad of any game to get back on track. The Reds fielded quite a strong side compared to recent seasons in this competition, with David Raven and Antonio Barragan also in the line up. In effect, the best eleven players that didn’t go to Japan were included.

In front of just 237 fans Runcorn started off the better side, with the Reds happy to stick back and avoid getting drawn into any of the challenges that can sometimes fly around at Unibond League level. The first opportunity for either side came in the fifth minute when keeper Paul Willis handled outside his area but the resultant free kick was wasted.

However after weathering the early storm the Reds asserted their authority and took a deserved lead in the 23rd minute when Paul Anderson latched onto Godwin Antwi’s long pass before bursting through the defence to calmly slot the ball home.

Four minutes later Liverpool doubled their lead after a horrendous mix up in the defence, which involved ex Reds reserve keeper Rob Holcroft colliding with a defender and Ramon Calliste turning the ball into an empty net.

Mellor came through the first half well, showing some nice touches and not rising to some abuse from the home crowd who had singled him out as the big name to try and wind up. Most of the fans then retreated into the bar to catch up on the Birmingham-United score and get a pint in, with more than a few remaining there for the second half where there was a great view of the pitch.

Runcorn came out all guns blazing when the game restarted, with one of their strikers blasting over the bar when clean through. But the Reds defence stayed resolute with Antwi easily handling everything thrown at him, leaving Barragan confident enough to make regular forays down the right and trot back at a leisurely pace.

As the game wore on it seemed inevitable that Liverpool would add a third and the only surprise was that it didn’t come till the 88th minute. After some good work by Barragan down the right, Mellor drilled the ball into the net from the edge of the box for a deserved goal. It was far better than his previous effort, a volley from thirty yards that ended up going out for a throw in. All things considered though, I’m sure Mellor is just happy to have got through the ninety minuets unscathed.


Team: Willis; Barragan, Antwi, O'Donnell, Raven; Anderson, Peltier, Hobbs (Guthrie), Mannix; Calliste, Mellor: