Match report | FC St Helens Reserves 3-5 Golborne Sports: The Stripes marginally beaten in thriller

Report and images by Liam McDermott

Golborne Sports got the better of FC St Helens, in a high-scoring match at Windleshaw.

An enthralling and often heated encounter saw Golborne Sports cruise into a two-goal lead inside eight minutes, with a couple of goals in quick succession.

Rob Newcombe, who was in the thick of the action, managed to dispossess Cameron Duffy – which resulted in the simple task of slotting into an unguarded FC St Helens net.

That was quickly followed by a tidy finish from Josh Taffe, giving the home side the seemingly insurmountable task of reducing the deficit.

However, shortly after Joe Doyle’s goal-bound shot was blocked, there was some divine intervention – thanks to Chris Hill’s sublime pass being met by an equally great Tom Scarborough finish.

But where The Stripes had made a step forward, they were almost immediately hit with a setback – through Jordan Rimmer’s bullet header restoring the visitors’ two-goal lead and making it 3-1, inside 30 minutes.

FC St Helens weren’t disheartened by the performance of their opponents, though, with Elliot Bradshaw scoring a rare goal – an unmarked header in a five-goal first-half.

Where there were goals aplenty, there were scuffles in equal measure, but FC St Helens were determined to pick up in the second-half from where they had left off in the first – with veteran, Paul Sweeney, seeing an opportunity blocked on the line.

But the hosts, previously unbeaten in 17 matches before today, wouldn’t have to wait for much longer to finally get back on level terms.

Scarborough was once again on hand to meet a header and slot into the back of the net for an equaliser that was awarded, following some deliberation from the referee.

With that, they weren’t resting on their laurels and looked to throw caution to the wind, in their attempt to complete a commendable comeback.

However, after Tony Davenport’s venomous strike and Jack Ball’s sweet attempt both went marginally wide, Golborne were able to capitalise.

Where Bradshaw managed to find the right net, earlier in the match, he was unfortunate in his attempts to cut out a counter-attack – sliding into the wrong net.

And where Newcombe opened the scoring, he was the one to wrap the encounter up with an excellent, last-gasp finish to keep Golborne’s title aspirations alive.

FC St Helens will have to recover swiftly, with their Lancashire Amateur Cup Final against Winstanley St Aidans being played on Thursday.