A 90th minute strike from Jordan Monthe was enough to give Burscough victory in a 3-1 against Prestwich Heys at New Victoria Park on Saturday.
Heys came into this one on the back of a 2-1 defeat at Longridge earlier in the week and managers Lee O'Brien and James Hampson freshened up the pack giving rare starts to Junior Dos Santos, Tyler James and recent signing Tremaine Eastmond.
In a tight opening twenty minutes Heys saw a couple of shots go over the bar from midfielders Vinny Howell and Brad Sixsmith but had to make an early substitution on twenty-one minutes when centre half Rudy Misambo limped of replaced by Omar Mbowe.
It was Mbowe in the action on twenty-seven minutes as he brought down Xenon Bahula inside the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and it was Thomas Ruffer who converted past Heys keeper Jordan Hadlow to put the home side a goal up.
Burscough battled hard for the remainder of the half defying the lowly league position as Heys struggled for possession, fluency and wasted several set pieces giving the ball back to the home side and as a result they made Prestwich pay with a second goal in first half stoppage time when a mix up at the back enabled David Pellegrini to blast a shot past Hadlow from 8 yards for 2-0 and the half time whistle could not come quick enough for the visitors.
Heys management team reacted at the break with three substitutions which saw Berry, Fitzgerald and Davies replace Haigh, Eastmond and Dos Santos in an attempt to get back into the game although it was Burscough who had the first chance on fifty-one minutes a shot from 12 yards saved easily by Hadlow.
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Prestwich started to make in roads to recovery on fifty-three minutes and it was Jacob Ngoy down the left who crossed in and just evaded the players running in and could not connect and five minutes later Tyler James missed a good chance seeing his shot saved by Burscough keeper Charles Monks after a great ball over from Connor Berry.
A further sub for Heys on the hour saw a debut given to winger Akim Samms signed from Wythenshawe Amateurs in the week who replaced Brad Sixsmith, the visitors continued to press and were rewarded on sixty-eight minutes when substitute Dylan Fitzgerald broke through to fire past Monks for 2-1 and at this point it was game on.
Just a minute later Heys had a brilliant chance to draw level when Tyler James was put clean through but hesitated as keeper Monks ran out to stand his ground and the chance was gone, and just as it was looking like a matter of time before they turned this around it was yet another sending off as Scott Cullen was alleged to have caught Burscough's Xenon Bahula and the referee waved the red card to the Heys defender who was still protesting that he got the ball as he walked off the pitch, it did look harsh.
Undeterred by this the visitors continued to press, on eighty minutes the ball was deep in the Burscough box and a goal mouth scramble saw home keeper Monks go down with the referee awarding them a free kick.
Shortly after a free kick from Berry brought a terrific save from Monks and this was to be a key moment for Burscough and with Heys piling forward for an equaliser gaps were inevitably left at the back and as the clock hit ninety minutes it was Jordan Monthe who latched on to a great through ball to slot the ball past Hadlow and seal the points for the hosts.
So, disappointment for Heys who's poor first half showing gave them to much to do here and despite a much improved second half missed chances cost them dear, an issue that has come back to haunt them as it has in earlier games this season.