A forty first minute strike from Tom Lawless was enough to secure a big win for Litherland REMYCA against Prestwich Heys and move them away from the relegation zone in a closely fought encounter given dreadful weather conditions at Litherland Sports Park on Saturday.
Heys having not played since Boxing Days win over Lower Breck came into this one with some key personnel missing through suspension and injury nether the less managers Lee O'Brien and James Hampson gave a debut to winger Max Bardsley-Rowe signed on loan from Macclesfield FC in the week.
Litherland started brightly in the first minute with striker Tom Lawless heading over, but back came Heys on six minutes having a shout for a penalty when Akim Samms was brought down in the box but the referee waved play on.
Callum Nicholas was next to show for the visitors on eleven minutes firing over the bar from twelve yards and shortly after it was Dylan Fitzgerald clean through but the linesman flagged for offside.
Lawless was back in the action again for REMYCA on twenty-six minutes running in on goal and his shot was well saved by Heys keeper Jordan Hadlow.
The turning point of the game was two minutes later as recent defensive signing Regan Brown appeared to lunge in at Litherlands Paul Foy as the ball was going out of play and the referee had no hesitation in showing a straight red and the visitors were down to ten men with still an hour to play.
Heys rallied though on thirty-seven minutes when a great ball over found Fitzgerald on the left but his shot just went the wrong side of the post to safety.
The home side broke the deadlock on forty-one minutes when the ball came into a crowded penalty box from the right and found Lawless who flicked the ball goalwards and crept over the line in the bottom left-hand corner of the goal past a despairing Hadlow.
So REMYCA one up at the break and the teams came back out for the second half to some adverse weather conditions including hailstone rain and wind as both sides struggled to adapt and chances were few and far between.
Nathan Corness brought a save from Heys Hadlow with a header on fifty-four minutes and back came Heys with new signing Bardsley-Rowe looking dangerous down the right hitting a terrific shot on sixty-five minutes that hit the top of the cross bar.
A break in play was need on sixty-six minutes for the referee to get some medical attention and Heys finished the stronger of the two sides as substitutes Matt Davies and Tyler James were introduced with Davies having a terrific chance on seventy-five minutes down the left but fired straight at Litherland keeper Jack Reynolds.
As conditions deteriorated further it was James looking dangerous as Prestwich piled forward to try and salvage a point and was unlucky down the left in the dying embers seeing a shot go agonisingly wide from eight yards.
That was to be the last of the action of the day as the referee blew for full time in a frustrating afternoon for Prestwich Heys in a contest they were always involved in, defended well but were missing that extra bit of quality in the final third something that the management team will be eager to improve in the weeks to come.