Silsden 2 St Helens Town 1

SILSDEN broke through the 40-point barrier in the North West Counties League Premier Division with a nervy and narrow victory.

The Cobbydalers rode their luck against a lively St Helens Town outfit at the Angel Telecom Stadium and needed a brace from Craig Nicholls to put a 17-point gap between them and their 18th-placed visitors.

Town had much the better of the first half and took a deserved lead in the 18th minute when their lively forward pairing of Andy Gillespie and Marcus Perry combined for the latter to score.

The home side levelled on 32 minutes when Nicholls controlled an Aaron Hollindrake flick-on before turning to score.

Even then the visitors were creating chances to leave the Cobbydalers hanging on.

Just three minutes into the second half, Nicholls bagged the winner and his brace after Hollindrake had headed on Chris Wademan’s chip into the area.