ST HELENS Town turned in a tremendous defensive effort at Manchester Regional Arena on Saturday, to gain a precious 1-0 victory over a lively Northwich Manchester Villa side in the first ever meeting between the sides.

Not only was this Town’s first win since October, but it was their first clean sheet since the FA Vase win at Winterton Rangers in September and it also represented their first shut-out in league games this season.

On a slick, wet pitch, Town began under pressure from the home side, who launched several attacks before the visitors’ first raid, which saw Ste Rigby sprint 30 yards with the ball, only to fail to get sufficient power in his shot as the NMV defenders closed in after 12 minutes.

A further 12 minutes on, Villa had a series of shots on goal in quick succession, which the Town defence did well to keep out and a few minutes later, a free-kick from Nalatche Lassana was passed to Gavin Salmon and Matt Hodge in the Town goal pulled off a fine save from point-blank range.

Town had to wait until the half hour mark before they got in their second shot on goal, Todd Blayney hitting a few feet over the crossbar from 20 yards.

As the action switched to the other end of the pitch, Hodge again saved from close range from Callum McGlynn.

Nine minutes from half-time, St Helens went ahead.

A snap shot from Daniel Greene was blocked by a Villa defender and Ed Pegler hit the rebound in from 20 yards in spectacular fashion.

The second half followed much the same pattern as the first, as the NMV forwards launched wave after wave of attacks in the pouring rain, but the Town defence turned in a tremendous shift to keep the home side out, on virtually every occasion getting in crucial tackles to deny the equaliser.

Only once did Hodge make a mistake, slicing a clearance on 65 minutes, but there was Adam Lawrence on the far post to clear the ball off his line.

In a rare attack, Town lost possession on the half-way line with 12 minutes remaining, but Hodge once again pulled off a fine save to deny Dominic McHale when he looked almost certain to score.

It was a marvellous performance in deplorable conditions, but Town shone through and fully deserved their victory, which lifts the team into tenth place, with games in hand on most teams above them.

Indeed, another win this Saturday against Stockport Town at Brocstedes Park, could elevate them into seventh place, hot on the heels of the promotion play-off contenders.

St Helens still have 18 games remaining in the First Division programme.

Only seven of these are at home, but with this sort of improvement and, hopefully, the prospect of drier grounds on the horizon, prospects are looking good for a second half surge up the table.