A 27th minute goal from Tom Dawson secured a win for Holker Old Boys and sent Prestwich Heys to a first league defeat of the season in this rearranged fixture at Rakesmoor on Saturday.
Heys came into this one in confident mood of the back of a fine 5-2 win away at Daisy Hill the week before and after a tight opening exchange carried on where they left off as after only 7 minutes Heys were one up.
It was a well worked set piece from a corner on the right that played short to the edge of the box and found striker Jack Coop who confidently steered the ball past Holker keeper Samuel Stephens to put the visitors in front.
Undeterred by this Holker came flying back with pace and were getting a lot of joy down the left flank and warning signs were already there when a cross on 17 minutes found Holker striker Sean Patterson who's shot beat Heys keeper Russ Saunders into the bottom right hand corner.
The home side had pressed hard and just two minutes later caught Heys in possession and broke away with some neat passing play and again it was Sean Patterson making no mistake firing past Saunders to put the home side 2-1 up.
Heys were now trying to get a foothold in this game and Alfie Belcher turned and shot from the edge of the box on 23 minutes which smashed against the post giving the home side a reminder of the attacking threat.
Worse was to come for the visitors on 27 minutes when centre half Anthony Potts failed was dis possessed in the middle of the park enabling Tom Dawson to run through and steer in the bottom right past Saunders for 3-1.
Holker were in complete control at this exploiting Heys flanks while intelligently stopping the width of Jamie Hill and Nathan Strong thus containing the visitors attacking threat and seeing Heys vulnerable at the back were using it to advantage.
But despite these early struggles Heys deserved full credit for not letting heads drop and Jack Coop who was clearly in menacing mood this afternoon saw a shot go over the bar on 37 minutes but then gave the visitors a lifeline on the stroke of half time, when from another corner got the ball edge of the box and this time smashed past Stephens bottom left.
So this late goal made Manager Matt Barnes halftime team talk a little different as Heys were still in this one. Things continued to improve after the break with Jack Coop at the heart of it all firing over on 55 minutes and then shortly after a series of three fouls in quick succession committed by Holker.
The first two inside the box,one of which was a big penalty shout that saw Jack Coop sin binned for 10 munites after remonstrating to the officials, and the third a free kick which was given by the referee saw James Dwyer hit a rasping shot that brought a superb save out of keeper Samuel Stephens.
Heys fans were pleased to see the welcome return from injury of midfield maestro Brad Sixsmith who replaced Alfie Belcher in the midfield on the hour.
Heys continued to press for the equalizer and two more shots for Coop on 80 and 85 minutes both brought fine saves again from Stephens who was in fine form successfully keeping the visitors at bay to secure the three points for the home side.
So defeat for Heys here and the damage was very much done in the first half with defensive errors, taking nothing away though from this spirited Holker Old Boys side who on this form will do well in the North West Counties Division One North this season.
Heys showed much fighting spirit in an improved second half display that could easily have finished in at least a share of the spoils but it was indeed Holkers day.
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