The Blues gave themselves a mountain to climb by conceding two first half goals and, although they created good chances in a second half recovery, they failed to find the target with some erratic finishing. 

Nelson looked good in the opening stages but after 12 minutes keeper Chris Thompson failed to hold on to a low cross at his near post and, when the ball bobbled from his grasp, Paul Crewe pounced to score from close range and give Runcorn the lead. 

As Nelson looked to hit back, Chris Ogunyode provided a good through ball for Ashley Higgins but the Nelson striker pulled his shot wide of the goal. 

After 18 minutes, Paul Crewe might have doubled the visitors’ lead but chipped the ball just over the Nelson crossbar as Thompson came out to narrow the angle.  Phil Prescott made a vital clearance from the goalmouth as the ball arrived at Steve Cunningham’s feet minutes later.

Nelson pressed for an equaliser just before half time but Luke Hargreaves’ usually lethal free kicks were repeatedly blocked by the defensive wall.  And the Blues were caught on the counterattack after 41 minutes when Steve Cunningham flicked the ball over John Luker as he turned inside the Nelson defender before volleying it into the net to double Runcorn’s lead. 

Early in the second half, Thompson made a good save to turn David Sherlock’s angled shot for a corner but Nelson soon gained the upper hand and pushed forward and always looked capable of scoring goals.   

After 66 minutes, Clarkson and Higgins combined on the right before laying the ball across to Ogunyode who blasted his shot wide from the edge of the area with a clear sight of goal.  Two minutes later, an even better chance came after Luke Hargreaves cleverly brought the ball out of defence and provided a superb through ball for Chris Clarkson who shot wide with the goal at his mercy.    

More good attacks by the Blues failed to produce a quality finish and, after 82 minutes, Chris Clarkson saw his close range shot blocked by a defender on the six yard line as he tried to convert Marvin Bonny’s low cross. 

Chris Thompson made up for his earlier error when he dived at the feet of Michael Howarth in the closing minutes to deny Runcorn a third goal.