TOWN suffered their heaviest defeat of the season and they could, in reality, have no complaints. St Helens never gained a foothold in the game after finding themselves 2-0 down inside the opening 12 minutes.

Good work on the Colne left side and two identical crosses found the Town defence all at sea and Berwick was on hand to hit home on 4 and 12 minutes.

The remainder of the first period saw Town have a fair share of possession but they failed to make the most of a couple of great chances with Tom Lightbody hitting the Colne woodwork with ‘keeper Chris Thompson beaten after a bursting run.

Defender Marc Young was forced to clear over his own crossbar and from the resultant corner kick Town captain Lee Crompton had a fierce short cleared off the line. Town were made to pay for their defensive frailties as the home side scored a third as Hart prodded past Gibson in first half stoppage time.

The second half started with some purpose from Town and they dominated the opening 15 minutes with Lightbody, Mason Ryan and Nathan Parish all going close to reducing the arrears. However, Colne hit a double salvo in just six minutes with Coyne opening his account and Berwick completing his hat-trick. With the game well and truly over the home side hit further goals which saw Coyne complete his hat-trick.

Town welcome Abbey Hey to Brocstedes Park on Saturday, with a 3pm kick off, before ‘visiting’ landlords Ashton Athletic the following Tuesday evening, 11th March kick off 7.45pm.