St Helens Town 2 Atherton Collieries 2 TONIGHT (Thursday 7.30pm) these two sides meet in the return fixture at Alder House and Town will have to show more zest than on Saturday if they are to repeat their earlier league challenge cup success at the same venue.

Five games in 10 days to wrap up the season is not ideal scheduling and after four successive victories it was perhaps inevitable there would be a dip in fortunes somewhere along the line.

And on Saturday at sun-drenched Hoghton Road it occurred. Despite having only 10 men for the last half-hour following the dismissal of their skipper Paul Griffin, Atherton Collieries deserved the unlikely point they got simply because they were the hungrier fighter of the two.

Town started very sluggishly and added to the already absent Dooner was midfielder Bickerstaffe who had had a 'blinder' when the two sides previously met in the cup and whose influence was sadly missed on Saturday.

Both Phoenix and Kirwen were booked early on as Town were indebted to Allison for two saves from Arnold and Hardman but having settled they got well on top and Pennington went close with a 35-yard first-timer after Laird had forced keeper Edwards into a hasty clearance. On 18 minutes Laird wasted a gift opportunity when he trod on the ball in executing a tap in from five yards but he atoned in playing his part in Town's 32nd minute opener when linking with Franny Hill who raced 40 yards before lobbing home from the left.

Atherton had two tricky customers up front whose close skill was a real threat and Reilly had to make a vital tackle to thwart Jones' wizadry.

But the Town defence could do nothing about an exquisite piece of skill by Chris Arnold who made the space on the edge of the area to beat Allison with the perfect ground shot for the 43rd minute equaliser. Steve Pennington could have instantly restored Town's lead but Edwards made a good parry in the one-on-one leaving 'Pellet' still bogged down on 34 goals as the division's top scorer. Apart from a Laird effort into the side netting Town were second best in the early stages of the second half and on the hour they fell behind when Paul Griffin fired home at the far post following a left-wing corner.

This was the final contribution for the Collieries skipper who 30 seconds later lunged into the back of Pennington's knees and was sent off.

Now facing 10 men Town should have made hay but their one-dimensional approach was cut out by Atherton's back line until Laird did well to dispossess Whittle before crossing low where Pennington intelligently let it bye pass him enabling the better placed Bryan Griffiths to rifle home the 64th minute equaliser.

Town would have gone on to take the points had the crossbar not denied Hill before a remarkable clearance off the line by Owen robbed sub O'Neill of late glory but frankly Atherton deserved their bit of luck to end a string of defeats at Towns hands.

Towns Lanes Trophies man of the match was Chris Quirk.

This weekend Town close the season with two big games. First on Saturday its a 9.30am start for the trek to high flying title contenders Workington (kick off 3pm) then on holiday Monday, Prescots visit to Hoghton Road ends another marathon season for both clubs bidding for a top six place (kick off 3pm).

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.