Ironically the Blues should have taken the lead in the first two minutes when Martin Payne had a glorious chance as Luke Hargreaves’ cross found him unmarked in the home penalty area.  But as he chested the ball down, Saints’ keeper Graeme McCall blocked his shot and scrambled the ball to safety.

Nelson were punished after six minutes when they lost the ball in midfield and Iain Dyson slipped through to score with a low shot from inside the Nelson penalty area. 

Nelson tried to hit back but Heap’s through ball was too strong for Ogunyode and then McCall came out quickly to boot the ball clear as Sam Heap chased Marc Berry’s long ball forward.  A Luke Hargreaves free kick gave Nelson cause for optimism but was blocked by the defensive wall. 

At the other end, the Nelson defence was frequently stretched by some good attacks and Daniel Finch made a great tackle to rob Marc Stephens as he broke clear. Chris Thompson made a spectacular save to hold Phil Mitchell’s shot from 20 yards and Thompson was soon in action again to knock Graeme Mitchell’s free kick round the post after a foul on the edge of the Nelson penalty area. 

The Blues stayed in contention until three minutes before half time when their midfield again lost possession and a well directed pass into their penalty area allowed Graeme Mitchell to toe-poke the ball past Chris Thompson to double St Helens’ lead. 

Seven minutes after the interval, Lance Ogunyode burst through on the right but saw his shot palmed away by Saints’ keeper McCall. Nelson’s sporadic attacks rarely looked like reducing the deficit although Andy Smith and John Luker had shots blocked in the home penalty area. Sam Heap pushed the ball too far and allowed the keeper to block for a corner when put through on the right after 65 minutes. 

After 74 minutes, Phil Mitchell forced his way past the heart of Nelson’s defence and tucked the ball into the net to put the Saints three goals ahead.  The Nelson defence came under further pressure and had a let off on 80 minutes when Chris Thompson blocked Robert Hanley’s shot and Graeme Mitchell blasted the rebound against the crossbar from eight yards. 

One minute from full time, a ball through the middle caused the Blues defence more problems and Graeme Mitchell squared the ball from the bye-line for Iain Dyson to score an easy tap in to complete Nelson’s miserable afternoon. 

Nelson will hope to return to winning ways when they entertain Formby at Victoria Park on Saturday.