It was a dreadful start from the Remy, with St Helens scoring twice within the early stages of the game. The first coming from a corner, where Remyca failed to clear their lines leaving an easy tap in for the St Helens forward.

The Remy found it extremely difficult in the first period to cope with St Helens' direct style of play, and although they seemed to muster up some sort of control they still conceded a second against the run of play.

St Helens stole possession in their opponents half and exploited the space in behind full back David Flynn, who stood no chance of catching the winger as he tucked home to double the defecit.

Remyca persisted to play their possession based style of football on an extremely uneven surface and managed chance after chance, particularly Colin Quirk and skipper Colin McDonald with several chances each going narrowly wide or being well saved by the St Helens stopper.

TURNING POINT

The turning points occurred when Stafford switched the shape to 3-5-2 early on, giving the Remy better control of the midfield.

McDonald contested fearlessly for a header, colliding with his opponent. Incensed and adamant he'd been caught with an elbow, the club captain burst into life and set the example to his team mates.

Eventually, Alex Ryan drilled the ball past the inform goalie after a lofted corner fell to him, which was soon followed by the equaliser in similar circumstances - this time Tom Foley tucked home on the stroke of half time.

CHANGING STYLES

St Helens seemed to ditch their direct football after the break in favour of a shorter game which was to their own detriment, with Remyca looking more solid throughout the final 45 minutes.

Quirk and McDonald got their rewards for their chances in the first half when the former assisted the latter when they gave Remyca the lead for the first time in the game at 3-2.

Michael Boyle's influence grew during the second half, with his superb wing play and rallying cry's and he got Remyca's final goal of 2016 when he drilled an effort across the keeper to make it 4-2.

GAFFER POST GAME

Phil Stafford told me after the game he was happy with the performance besides the early stages, and he was happy with his team bouncing back from being two goals down. He also gave praise to the substitutes who he felt made a difference to the outcome of the match.

FINAL THOUGHTS

A special mention for Shaun Harris who replaced Colin McDonald in the second half, making his return from injury in the process after several months out.

Great comeback after finding themselves in a difficult situation following St Helens clincal finishing, and hopefully 2017 starts in the same manner 2016 ends - with all three points.

Be sure to follow @remycautd on twitter, when on matchdays there will be live updates and videos, and also check out some excellent photographs from the clash at http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/sthelenstownafc/photos/st-helens-town-2-4-litherland-remyca-mon-26122016-713636.html.