Vauxhall GM 1 St Helens Town 2 (aet)

(aggregate 3-3)

Vauxhall won on penalties 3-1 A FINE St Helens effort ended in bitter disappointment following the lottery of a penalty shoot-out which sends Vauxhall into their second successive league cup final at Gigg Lane, Bury.

From looking well second best in the first leg at Hoghton Road the previous week, Town turned the tables with a spirited showing which won the hearts of the neutrals in a good sized crowd boosted by the decimation of fixtures elsewhere.

Vauxhall owe their passage to three stunning saves from top young prospect Steve Hilton whose giant frame twice broke St Helens hearts in the 'shoot out' while one effort in normal time would have done justice to the Premier League.

Two one down from the first leg ,Town had little margin of error and kept a tight ship in a tense first half until suffering another body blow in the 35th minute when a clearance spiralled out to the right and Vauxhall's Nicky Young sent a miscued volley in off the post when in an alarming amount of space. Earlier Town had gone close through Pennington whose effort was deflected wide by Lacy with Jones unable to get enough contact on a header from the resultant corner kick.

Town served notice of what was to follow when Quirk hit the bar from Dooner's free-kick but Vauxhall reached the break 1-0 ahead.

With 45 minutes to go, three down on aggregate and without an away goal it looked black indeed but the town can be proud of the spirited battle Jimmy McBride's men put up and on 49 minutes it began with the equaliser on the day as Steve Pennington instinctively poked home Laird's attempted cross shot.

Two minutes later Vauxhall's Williams almost deceived Allison when hitting the side of the post from a tight angle but generally it was Town asking the questions. Home keeper Hilton got down well to Bickerstaffe's back header before producing the aforementioned brilliance to parry out Quirk's volley. On 67 minutes two incidents in 10 seconds had the Town following in raptures as firstly Mike Allison made a great swoop at the feet of Blundell before clearing for Steve Pennington to race clear into a flick on and slot home as Hilton advanced.

Vauxhall's away goals cushion had been erased and they were rocking as Pennington again went clear onto Bickerstaffe's flick but blasted rashly wide at top speed. Bickerstaffe himself then made a mazy 40-yard run before firing wide and as the whistle sounded to end the 90 minute. Town were pounding away with a series of corner kicks.

The extra time was very even with Vauxhall despite having Williams sent off, looking more effective with 10 men than with a full complement and Young had their best chances. Town's closest attempts were a Bickerstaffe header which Spellman cleared off the line from a Hill corner kick and a powerful Walmesley header which flashed narrowly wide.

Walker and Laird also threatened but thanks to the defensive efforts of Lacy and Antorbus, Vauxhall reached the penalty shoot out which was to be their salvation.

There was little wrong with the quality of spot kicks by Town's Quirk and Bickerstaffe but keeper Hilton's anticipation and reflexes were outstanding and although Mike Allison also produced a fine save, Vauxhall reached an unassailable position at 3-1 after only four spot kicks apiece Dooners effort hit the post.

It spoke volumes that there were no home celebrations at the end only a resolve that they had had a mighty escape and Town can be very proud of their efforts against the odds.

So Town now have to get back to a backlog of league fixtures due to their cup exploits and this week they meet Nantwich Town twice in four days. The first encounter is at Hoghton Road on Saturday 3pm before the return at Witton Albion's ground (where Nantwich are currently ground sharing) on Tuesday night 7.30pm.

Numbers drawn in Town's lottery were 4, 6, 9, 12, 13 and 15. There were no winnners and a new draw for £930 on numbers 1-16 takes place this weekend.

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