A BUMPER crowd of around 1,000 is expected at Canal Street next month as the Linnets take on local rivals Northwich Victoria in the FA Umbro Cup.

The weekend's victory at Solihull Borough put Runcorn into the hat for the second round of non-league football's biggest knockout competition which was drawn at Goodison Park on Monday.

The tie against the Nationwide Conference club will take place on Saturday, November 27.

A club spokesman said: "We're delighted with the draw. Northwich will bring a few hundred spectators with them which should give us a great derby atmosphere."

Runcorn showed great character to get a result at Solihull after falling a goal behind.

In was the second time in a week they showed their fighting spirit by clawing their way back to victory. On Tuesday night Paul McNally scored two goals in as many minutes to defeat Witton Albion in the Unibond League Cup first group stage after going a goal down.

It was McNally again on Saturday and a tremendous strike from Lee Griffiths in the last minute which saw Runcorn through.

Both teams took time to settle in a scrappy first-half with Runcorn having the better on the chances.

A Colin Rose free-kick from the edge of the area just cleared the bar and just before half-time Liam Watson was unlucky not to open the scoring. Having been put through by Carl Ruffer, Watson did well to get his shot in despite the attention of two defenders and the goal keeper. As the ball headed goalwards Solihull's Nigel Brown cleared off the line.

The Runcorn defence, well marshalled by captain Ruffer, dealt confidently with the Solihull attack with John Sharpe looking a threat on the left.

Goalkeeper Richard Acton did well to tip over Joey Dowling's header from a Solihull corner.

Runcorn started the second-half much more brightly and Watson was a constant menace down the right-hand side putting over a number of dangerous crosses which caused problems for the Solihull defence.

In the 49th minute McNally nearly opened the scoring from a corner. His well-struck shot was only parried by the Solihull keeper, Tony Rowe, but the ball was cleared for another corner.

But during one of their forays upfield Solihull opened the scoring in the 76th minute. Brown threaded the ball through to Robin Judd who placed the ball past Acton.

Runcorn fought back immediately and another good cross by Watson was headed goalwards by McNally, only for the ball to hit Solihull's Andy Penny and rebound into the keeper's hands.

Griffiths came on as substitute in the 80 minute for the hard-working Mike Moseley and had an immediate impact on the game.

He provided the cross for Runcorn's equaliser from McNally on 84 minutes and then in the last minute produced a powerful strike from the edge of the area to score Runcorn's winner after good work from Iain Brunskill and Dave Nolan.

Runcorn's fighting spirit will be tested again next week at Marine in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Mike Smith and Dave Robinson both came through another reserve match on Saturday as they recover from injury. Unfortunately, the Reserve team lost 2-0 to Southport Reserves. Tony Ward limped off in Saturday's clash with Solihull Borough but the injury does not seem to be too serious.

Meanwhile, the Linnets still have a few home games left this season that have not yet been sponsored. Any local businesses who would like to sponsor a match can contact Ian Brady at the club on 01928-560076.

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