Colne 4 St Helens Town 0

Colne discovered their goalscoring touch as they saw off the challenge of an enterprising St Helens Town side at the XLCR Stadium on Saturday. The Reds ultimately ran out comfortable winners but only after a closely fought first half when the visitors competed strongly in an evenly balanced game.

After several near misses, Colne finally made the break through just before the break when, following series of corners, Jason Hart’s inswinger was perfectly placed for Jonathan Hodgkinson to out-jump the keeper and defenders and head home to give the Reds the lead.

Colne dominated the second half but had to wait until the 70th minute to grab their second when Tom Berwick blasted a 40 yard pile-driver into the net.

Colne brought on Joe Garvin from the subs bench and within a minute, he found the net with a rocket of a shot on the turn from the edge of the penalty area to put the Reds three goals up on 75 minutes.

Danny Boyle’s tireless running throughout the game earned him just reward after 83 minutes when he was brought down in the penalty area and fired home the spot kick himself for Colne’s fourth goal. The Reds might have added further goals as they dominated the closing stages but will look back with satisfaction on a classy performance.