Announcements

Holker Old Boys 1, St. Helens Town 2 (First Division Cup)

St. Helens Town 2, AFC Blackpool 3

St. Helens Town endured a remarkable three days at the end of last week, which began with the cancellation on Wednesday of their First Division First Round Cup tie away to Holker Old Boys at Barrow.

Not only was the pitch waterlogged, but several of the local roads were under water as torrential rain fell all day long in the area.

League rules required the game to go ahead the following night and with several first-choice players unavailable at short notice, including no recognised goalkeeper, Town travelled up more in hope than expectation, but turned in a wonderful performance on a very heavy pitch.

After a dry day on the Thursday, the heavens opened again as the players stepped on to the pitch and the heavy rain, backed by a stiff wind, fell throughout the first half, threatening to bring an early end to proceedings.

Mis-timed tackles were very much the order of the day as players found it difficult to keep their feet, Dom Whelan conceding a free kick in such circumstances after 10 minutes on the edge of his penalty area, from which Bradley Hubbold fired Holker into the lead, giving stand-in stopper Jake Young no chance just inside his far post.

Town equalised after 20 minutes, following good work from Alex Ashby on the right, his quick pass found Hal McHugh on the left post and he blasted in from close range. How the score remained at 1-1 was remarkable, as it was a fast-moving, end-to-end affair, which defied the conditions.

The second half saw the rain desist and chances dry up. Ben Bolton had a couple of long runs, but his finishing was wayward on the heavy surface and as deciding penalty kicks loomed, St. Helens launched a hopeful ball upfield, which Holker defender Josh Tweddle only needed to watch over the by-line.

However, he jumped and headed the ball sideways, right into the path of the on-rushing Liam Dodd, who buried the ball into the back of the Holker net for the winning goal and there was only just enough time to re-start the game before the final whistle sounded.

Town now move into the last 16, where they entertain Daisy Hill, surprise winners over Litherland Remyca, on Thursday, 2nd November.

Less than 48 hours later, St. Helens took on AFC Blackpool at Ruskin Drive in a league game, looking for a fourth consecutive win.

However, their cup exploits had obviously taken their toll and they were always chasing the game against the fresher, bigger opponents, who were riding high in the First Division table.

Conah Bishop fired Blackpool ahead after 10 minutes, with a wonderful drive from 20 yards out.

Town took a while to get a foothold in the game, but they fought back well to level on 33 minutes, when Ashby scored from a well-struck free kick after Shaun Brady had been fouled.

Just when St. Helens appeared to be in the ascendency, Blackpool went ahead again in controversial circumstances. T

wo opposing players clashed, with obvious head injuries, then another Town player fell injured, but the referee allowed play to go on.

By the time Ben Duffield had carved out his scoring opportunity, Town had two men prostate on the surface and Blackpool were 2-1 up.

Brady fired Town level 2-2 immediately on the resumption after the half-time interval, but Blackpool went ahead again on 57 minutes, when Stephen Betteridge deflected Duffield’s shot past Adam Fairchild, but St. Helens were awarded a penalty shortly afterwards, when Bolton was brought down by Callum Kirkland in the visitors’ goal.

However, Bolton hit the post with his spot-kick and soon afterwards had to leave the field in obvious pain after tearing a hamstring.

After that, St. Helens had only two chances to try to salvage a point, Ashby going close with a long-range effort and substitute Beck Murray having a great shot tipped over the bar by Kirkland in the closing stages, before Blackpool held out for a 3-2 win.

Town visit Stockport Town on Saturday, who currently lie a place below AFC Blackpool in eighth position, before taking on Litherland Remyca at home on Thursday evening in the Liverpool Senior Cup. Kick-off against Litherland will be 7.30pm, not the usual 7.45, to allow for penalties to decide the tie, should the scores be level at the end.