Prescot Cables 0 St Helens Town 2

TOWN got the better of this imporant local derby in a game that was far from a classic.

Both sides have realistic designs on the championship this season and on this performance St Helens look to have all the battling qualities required, while Prescot need to reproduce their form of earlier in the season before it was disrupted by the weather.

Cables' interest in the title is by no means over though, for although they have fallen five points behind St Helens, they still have two games in hand.

This game took a little time to settle down as the players tested the pitch and each other out. The first goalmouth inciden came in the 11th minute when Town's Cooper created an opening and fired a shot that Prescot keeper Dahl could only parry. The ball rebounded to Fearns but Dahl was quick to his feet to block the second shot and the ball fell to Nestor who scooped the ball onto the crossbar.

Prescot could have been ahead four minutes later when former St Helens star O'Neill battled through the defence to create a one-on-one with Town keeper Blasbery who saved low down to his left.

St Helens took control of the game after that but found it difficult to create any clear-cut chances until Nestor seized upon a defensive mistake to race clear and shoot past Dahl from 15 yards to make it 1-0 after 23 minutes.

Prescot struggled to get out of their own half as St Helens pressed but goalmouth action was at premium.

On the half-hour mark Cooper produced some neat footwork to set up Fearns, who missed a glorious opportunity by blasting the ball against the bar from only eight yards out.

But the same player made amends three minutes before the interval when he was on hand to take advantage of a Cables blunder to nip in behind the defence and slide the ball past Dahl to increase Town's lead.

The second half started with Prescot looking much more determined but solid midfield and defensive play from St Helens kept them at bay.

On the hour good work by Jensen and O'Neill nearly carved an opening for the home side but three defenders quickly converged on the latter and the striker had to settle for a corner, from which Hayes fired over the bar.

Then a cross from Warder was too high for Heavey but he managed to just get a touch with his head and the ball reached Hayes at the back post but he blasted the ball high over the bar.

Hayes also had Prescot's final effort of the game but his 25-yard drive was saved comfortably by Blasbery.

Despite bringing on three substitutes for the last 20 minutes, Prescot failed to create another noteworthy chance, while Town settled for protecting their two-goal lead, an aim which they achieved with the minimum of fuss.