St Helens Town 1 Kidsgrove A 2

IT was a mixed week for St Helens Town with a mid-week Liverpool Senior cup win at Prescot Cables followed by a bad slump at Knowsley Road on Saturday which produced their second league defeat of the campaign.

The senior cup tie was a modest affair with both Cables and Town resting key players and it was a 70th minute penalty by Town's Lee Cooper which earned his side the right to entertain Conference outfit Southport in the next round.

Kidsgrove came to St Helens on Saturday with title aspirations of their own and did their cause a world of good by collecting the three points but it has to be said they were aided and abetted by the poorest St Helens show for some time. Nonetheless they could have conceivably gone in at the interval two goals up but for an alarming miss from only three yards by Langley in the 20th minute. As it was they did reach the break a goal to the good through skipper Chris Quirks tenacity and sweet 42nd minute strike from 20 yards.

It was however a false dawn as frankly Kidsgrove could have had three or four goals themselves as on a handful of occasions they sprang Town's disorganised off-side trap leaving keeper Wood totally exposed but who did very well in saving from Wilson-Cunningham (14 minutes).

Dickes (27 minutes) and doing enough on other occasions to force wayward finishing from Holecroft and Twigg.

Town resumed after the break attacking the Dunriding Lane end but apart from a smart swoop at Coopers feet on the hour, visiting keeper Statham had a quiet time. His counterpart, Phil Wood in the St Helens goal however was in the thick of things and he deserved better support from his colleagues when conceding two goals in ten minutes.

Firstly on 52 minutes he made a fine point blank stop from Twigg but none reacted quickly enough and it allowed Wilson-Cunningham to convert the rebound and level the scores. On 62 minutes Farrell's untidy lunge brought down the Kidsgrove scorer and a penalty kick was awarded which Twigg stuck firmly but Wood made a splendid save only to see Kidsgroves Walker fire the loose ball home as he followed up.

It had been apparent throughout that Town were out of sorts and even the introduction of Heavey and Dunn failed to inspire anything beyond the mundane. Even the 67th minute dismissal of Kidsgroves Holecroft for a second bookable offence failed to spark any St Helens inspiration and the Potteries side coped easily aided by Town's lack of invention and flair.

They did create two reasonable chances when Cooper latched onto Wood's route one kick before driving wide from 20 yards but the closest to pinching a point came with two minutes remaining when a good save from Statham kept Wildes grubber out of the bottom corner.

Town must get back on track quickly as they face two more title rivals on away soil in quick succession. Firstly on Saturday they travel to Ramsbottom United (3pm) then on Tuesday, October 16, Seel Park is the venue when Town take on current leaders Mossley (7.45pm). Tonight (Thursday) in the Knowsley Road cabaret lounge, Town stage a race night commencing at 8pm. All welcome.