RUNCORN Linnets Ladies bounced back at the first time of asking from their opening day Cheshire Women's League defeat to West Kirby with a 4-1 home win against a plucky young Glossop North End Ladies & Juniors team.

The Linnets, while still not at their fluent best this season, were particularly effective in the early stages through Kim Roberts and Chelsea Gillies.

As much as the Linnets tried, they couldn't find an early way to beat the Glossop 'keeper and when they did, the woodwork came to the rescue as a Roberts drive crashed against the bar in the 18th minute.

North End conceded an unnecessary free-kick on the edge of their penalty box seven minutes later for a foul on striker Lile Ashley.

Ashley stepped up to dispatch it past the 'keeper. The hosts were in the ascendancy now but failed to further capitalise on their pressure as they missed a 28th- minute penalty, which surely would have calmed a few nerves, especially on the Runcorn bench.

Ashley flashed a cross-cum-shot across the Glossop area but no-one in a Runcorn shirt could get that vital touch. North End themselves had probably their best (and only real) chance of the half in the 32nd minute. A slip in the Linnets' defence allowed a Glossop forward through on goal but Alicia Mason narrowed the angle to turn the resulting effort away for a corner.

The Linnets were thwarted just before half-time by exceptionally brave goalkeeping and went in only 1-0 to the good.

Runcorn increased the lead soon into the second half, Gabby Evans finding Roberts down the right. The latter in turn picked out Ashley whose cross was hammered home at the far post by unmarked Tempany Carlson.

Mandy Kennedy, Gillies and Becky Barker began to dominate in the centre of the park although Glossop were still a threat on the counter.

Manager John Pickering made the bold move of replacing three players all at once, bringing on Nichola Hyland, Lucy Wieland and Ellie Isherwood for Mary Rossiter-Gurrell, Roberts, and Ashley, respectively in the 57th minute.

Almost immediately, it paid dividends as a powerful Gillies header from a Carlson corner made it 3-0.

GNE enjoyed a bit of a purple patch themselves forcing a couple of corners before pulling a goal back from a free kick which evaded the Linnets' defence at the near post.

With 10 minutes to go, Runcorn rounded off the scoring from another corner, Carlson being adjudged to have got a touch to the ball, although it may have gone in off a North End defender.

Glossop struggled to cope with the pace of Wieland on the right in the latter stages but the Linnets failed to convert the winger's crosses. As the game drew to a close, Runcorn made several more substitutions to see things out.

Chelsea Gillies was given the Player of the Match award and manager Pickering will be pleased with the some aspects of the team performance.

But he will be waiting eagerly for the next scheduled match and the return of absent trio Katy McNamara, Caitlin Gibbons and Kayleigh Catterall-Rowe to hot up the competition for starting places.

Runcorn Linnets Ladies: Alicia Mason, Mary Rossiter-Gurrell, (Nichola Hyland 57), Megan Pickering, Jo Finnegan, Gabby Evans (Mary Rossiter-Gurrell 85,) Becky Barker, (Kim Roberts 82), Mandy Kennedy, Chelsea Gillies, Tempany Carlson (Lile Ashley 87) Lile Ashley (Ellie Isherwood 57), Kim Roberts (Lucy Wieland 57).