GOALKEEPER Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook was in the wrong half of the field when his St Helens Town XI side conceded the winning goal from Matty Smith’s Saints XI on Friday night.

The exhibition game rounded off the St Helens Festival of Football at the Totally Wicked Stadium as part of Mark Percival's testimonial year.

Recently retired Saints stars McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Smith headed up teams carrying a sprinkling of local celebrities and ageing local football talent.

Town started the better and Andy Gillespie, who was awarded with Town's player of the decade award (2010-2019) prior to kick off, caused all sorts of problems early on for the Saints XI defence before laying on both assists for Town under 18s manager Paul Hilton to bag an early brace and put the team in blue 2-0 up.

Brad Coy responded for the Saints XI, firing past LMS in the Town goal, before another ex-Town player-of-the-decade award winner Iain Dyson put the Town XI 3-1 up.

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Some ageing legs on both sides kept the substitutions rolling and early in the second half Town seemed to be in total control but a plethora of missed chances allowed Saints back into the game when Coy scored his second from close range.

LMS made some fine saves, notably from his ex-Saints teammate Smith, but could not stop a brace of penalties – the first from Smith and then Mark Evans.

Saints led 4-3 going into the last seconds when Gillespie, in space, squared across the Saints goal for Clone Roses frontman Gav Scott to equalise for Town - sparking wild celebrations.

However, pandemonium was about to ensue as the game inexplicably restarted with several Town players, including goalkeeper LMS, still celebrating in the Saints half.

This allowed Coy to launch a ‘Beckham-esque’ effort from the halfway line and into the empty Town goal as his hat-trick strike sealed the spoils 5-4.