TADCASTER Albion fell to a third straight defeat after being beaten 4-2 at Runcorn Linnets.

With just a point separating the sides before the game in the Pitching In Northern Premier League north/west division, a close game was expected. But Tadcaster came away from Cheshire empty-handed, having won just one of their first five league games.

The Brewers made a good start with an early opportunist effort from Jack Crook from beyond the area while, on 10 minutes, Ifi Ofoegbu could only watch his close-range shot cleared in the six-yard box.

Erico Sousa was in a lively mode and he opened the scoring for Albion soon after as he cut in from the left and launched an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net.

Late on in the first-half, the Linnets were starting to look dangerous; Craig Lindfield almost put Iwan Murray through down the right flank, Stuart Crilly’s pass to Murray deserved better than the final poor shot while Tadcaster had to thank Ioan Evans for heading away the danger as Ryan Brooke's dangerous cross threatened.

The resumption of play could not have been much worse. Runcorn were awarded a penalty on 49 minutes and captain Lindfield gave Will Appleyard no chance from the spot-kick.

Albion almost rallied when Santos’s shot from a patient build up from Sousa and Simon Russell was wide.

Dan Hartley put a defence splitting cross through to Bailey Thompson but the tall striker could not bring the ball under control when well placed.

On 66 minutes, the influential Crilly charged down the right flank, switched the ball from right to left foot and swung in a dangerous cross which Lindfield was happy to convert at the far post.

Taddy came straight back. Junayd Pandor opted to go it alone in the box to no avail and Andy Milne got on the end of a Russell corner but was way off target.

None of that mattered a minute later when Thompson turned quickly on the edge of the box before unleashing a drive to beat keeper Nik Bulmer.

Parity was regrettably short lived as Runcorn were soon back in front. Crilly intercepted a cross and acrobatically produced an overhead shot beyond Appleyard.

Substitute Omar Sanyang was quickly in the thick of things, his first shot cleared by James Short for a corner from which Russell curled the ball in but the substitute headed wide.

Hartley continued to put searching crosses into the box as Tadcaster looked for the equaliser but could not find a way through.

Then in added time, Runcorn put their lead beyond doubt as Murray collected a screw back into the area and lashed the ball home from the edge of the box.