ST HELENS Town staged their now customary late Thursday night comeback against in-form Chadderton at Volair Park, but this time they had given themselves far too much to do and the visitors from Oldham ran out comfortable 3-1 winners, writes Glyn Jones.

The sides had already met at Prescot back in September when Chadderton fought back from 2-0 down to dump Town out of the FA Vase by 5 goals to 3 in a game which was best remembered for a series of defensive blunders by the home side, but this Chadderton side arrived on the back of a run of 7 wins from the last 10 games and lost no time setting about showing their attacking prowess, establishing a two-goal lead with two great strikes in the first half hour, which caught Town cold.

The first goal came after 15 minutes, Sam Gibson giving Adam Fairchild no chance in the Town goal after a quickfire move which left the St. Helens defence flat-footed.

The second Chadderton strike was even better, Luke Heron finding back-spin on a ball which everyone appeared to think looked bound to cross the by-line for a harmless goal-kick, then blasting the spinning ball past Fairchild to double his side’s lead. Almost immediately from the re-start, Joel Douglas, who had toiled hard throughout the half without any success, was unfortunate to see his shot land on the top of the Chadderton net with keeper Michael Smith beaten.

Town did regain some ground in the remaining 15 minutes of the first-half, but the visitors’ defence looked virtually impregnable until, right on the whistle, Luke Edwards unleashed a spectacular drive which rattled the left- hand post.

The second period was a really good contest and, as time wore on, developed into an absorbing end-to-end game. There was an intriguing individual duel between Ste Rigby, who has been on fire recently and Chadderton full-back Gareth Hill, who was solid for the first hour or so. Rigby then began to get the better of him up the left flank and launched a series of raids, one of which very nearly produced a goal, Smith acrobatically tipping over a well-placed shot.

Three substitutes were introduced by Alan Gillespie to try to inject some pace, just as Chadderton were seemingly beginning to exhibit a few cracks: Andy Webster, fresh from becoming a father, replaced Dom Whelan, Anthony Dunleavy took over from Adam Donohue and Warren Twist came on for Edwards and the big push was on. Rigby and Douglas began to find gaps and surely it was just a matter of time…

Then, calamity. A stray pass found Leon Iluobe, Town’s nemesis from last season – he who, single-handedly, put St. Helens out of the First Division Trophy in extra-time at Andrew Street. He slipped the ball to Vincent Howell who rounded Fairchild and netted easily to put the visitors home and dry with nine minutes left.

Town did rally. After all, it was Thursday. Rigby went very close, then Eddie Pegler was twice denied then, when all hope seemed lost, in the 90th minute, Douglas slammed the ball home to make it 1-3. There was still time for the same player to be held down by the shoulders in the penalty box, but the referee waved away the Town players’ claims and soon afterwards, the final whistle blew. It was just about the right result, but with a little more application in the first half and without that horrible mistake in the 81st minute, things might have turned out so differently.

The teams have still to meet again at Andrew Street but before then, Town face Atherton L.R. this Saturday at Prescot, then Whitchurch Alport, at home again, on Thursday, 6th April.

Promotion may be a step (or three) too far for this season, but there are yet many enjoyable games to come and the higher up the table Town finish, the better are their chances of taking part in next season’s FA Cup Qualifying rounds, so there is still much to play for.