THE Easter fixtures were a little disappointing for St Helens Town, with a one-goal defeat at Holker on Wednesday, followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Cammell Laird on Saturday, then a wash-out at Alsager on Monday.

The scoreline in the weekend game at Ruskin Sports Village belied a performance full of character, as Town lost four players to injury, including two substitutes, playing most of the second half with only ten men. Historically, it was the first time the club had ever avoided defeat against the Birkenhead side.

Cammell Laird had all the early pressure in Saturday’s match, but Danny Greene fired St Helens ahead with a shot from 20 yards.

Greene then went off injured, to be replaced by Alex Ashby. At the other end, Lairds attacked and Walsh conceded a penalty, but pulled off a magnificent save to redeem himself and preserve Town’s lead, but just before the interval, the Wirral side equalised through Hayden Cooper, who squeezed his shot just inside the Australian keeper’s near post. Town used their third substitute right on half-time as Edwards had to leave the field.

Town were reduced to ten men when Ashby became the second substitute to leave the fray and it was very much a backs-to-the-wall effort for the final 35 minutes, with few chances to try to score at the other end, but stick to their task they did and it was a remarkable team effort that held on for a 1-1 draw that keeps them ahead of Bacup in 19th place.

Next up is a home match again this Saturday (3pm) against Atherton L.R, closely followed by a trip to leaders Silsden on Tuesday evening, kick off 7.45pm.