A seventieth minute strike by defender Scott Cullen was enough to give Prestwich Heys an impressive win away at Northwich Victoria in the North West Counties Premier League at Wincham Park on Saturday.
Photo by Beth Lee Heys had to wait for three weeks for a fixture due to bad weather since losing 5-0 at Winsford back in early February and manager Matt Barnes stated a lot of hard work had been done on the training ground since to improve from last time out and included two new signings in the starting line-up, striker Oumar Camara and wing back Rhain Hellawell.
The visitors were first out of the blocks on seven minutes with James Dwyer heading a corner over the bar and Scott Cullen heading a Joe Rothwell corner on 15 minutes.
Both teams were going toe to toe as the half progressed but clear-cut chances were hard to come by and on 36 minutes it was Northwich's Bradley Lynch knocking a great ball over with Cullen intercepting the ball brilliantly with his head from the oncoming striker and averting the danger.
It was debutant Hellawell looking the most dangerous for Prestwich with some impressive runs down the left but struggling to find a Heys shirt when the balls were coming in and the opening period finished goal less but was a close one to call
Second half saw Heys increase the intensity with Jack Coop on 51 minutes bringing a save from Northwich keeper Christopher Cheetham and it was Coop again on 62 minutes hitting the top of the cross bar and over after great work from Hellawell down the left beating two defenders to get the cross in.
Back came Vics on 69 minutes with an interception of a header back to Heys keeper Russ Saunders but the striker could only find the side netting and this focused Prestwich as they continued to press and the deadlock was broken on 70 minutes when a free kick on the right from Joe Rothwell was met perfectly by Scott Cullen who drove his shot from 8 yards past Cheetham to put Heys in front.
Photo by Beth Lee Rhain Hellawell was replaced by Regan Jarrett on 76 minutes and left to a standing ovation from the Hets contingent in the crowd after an impressive debut.
Northwich rallied late on putting the pressure on the visiting defence firing over the bar on 87 minutes and Saunders made a great clearance from Lynch late on when advancing on goal but Heys held firm and after a surprising 5 minutes of injury the referee blew the whistle for a fully deserved hard fought win and a boost of confidence to help push them to mid table of the closing weeks of the season.