A late strike from Jack Price gave Padiham a deserved 4-1 win and completed another difficult day for a struggling Prestwich Heys at the Ruby Civil arena on Saturday.
Heys came into this one looking for a response after a 3-1 reversal at home to the Isle of Man the previous Tuesday while Padiham were looking to improve after a 4-1 defeat to Ramsbottom United and with both teams on seven points at this early stage of the season it was all to play for.
It was the hosts straight out of the blocks and were in the lead as early as the tenth minute, poor defending on the left from Prestwich meant the ball fell to David Sherlock who buried his shot bottom right past Heys keeper Louis Hood.
The visitors tried to respond just after with Adam Dahou down the left put in a deep cross but no one could connect and on sixteen minutes Heys were enjoying a good spell of play Dylan Fitzgerald was in on the action having a cross cleared and Ed Schryburt had a shot saved at the far post.
Padiham were looking dangerous on the break and ex Heys Man Kieran Malloy whipped in a couple of crosses down the right to no avail but Heys kept pressing Shay Stansfield firing wide and the visitors were very unlucky on twenty nine minutes when a Fitzgerald shot was deflected for a corner the ball was hit back in to find Kian Sharples who's shot rattled the underside of the cross bar and bounced out to safety, this was to be a key moment in the half.
Back came Padiham and it was Sharples in the action again at the other end making a vital clearance for a corner ,but as has become a regular occurrence this season Heys fail to clear lines and the in swinging corner finds Ben Hoskin who heads past Hood for 2-0.
Prestwich were not giving up though and pulled one back on thirty eight minutes the ball in from the left found Dahou who slotted home at the far post to get the visitors back in it.
The hosts should have been further in front before the break, Malloy firing over the bar from three yards to a bemused look from the sizeable home crowd.
So 2-1 at the break with Heys having every chance to turn this around and they came back out looking for that early goal to get level Schryburt firing wide on fifty two minutes and joint managers Russ Saunders and Matty Russell decided on a more attacking tactical change three minutes later bringing on Sonny Reeves and Jordan Southworth for Callum Graham and Richie Makelele.
It was Padiham looking more dangerous going forward though and were awarded a penalty on sixty three minutes, Sharples fouling inside the box and it was Hoskin who converted the penalty past Hood for his second of the day and Padiham's third.
From here on in it was the hosts who pushed on as Heys seemed to look lost with the change in formation and it was keeper Louis Hood who was a busy man making three key saves including a shot blocked with his legs and a terrific save tipping round at the far post on eighty two minutes to keep Prestwich alive and in turn getting the visitors man of the match award.
With a minute to go, Jack Price concluded Heys misery converting from close range after the visitors again failed to clear for 4-1 which was to be the final action of the afternoon as the referee blew for full time.
So it was to be another loss for Heys who had got themselves back into this game at half time and in fairness should have been level at this point, but a disappointing second half was the main reason for this defeat with another penalty conceded and heads seeming to drop after it was converted which will be a concern for the management team but on the positive side they are creating chances and with an extra bit of quality they are in a position to easily turn things around as the season progresses.
Commentaires