GOALS from Richard Steadman and Paul O’Donnell gave Prestwich a two-nil victory over Rochdale St Clements Reserves at Goshen on Saturday. With Hesketh Casuals not playing, the win increased the Heys Road side’s lead at the top of Division Two to five points.
Fourth placed Saints went in to this game in good form with four successive wins but found leaders Prestwich a tough nut to crack in a game where both sides cancelled each other out for large periods.
Stephen Foley’s 25th minute free-kick pinballed on the edge of the Rochdale six-yard box before defender Steadman reacted to poke the ball over the line to break the deadlock.
With little in the way of clear-cut chances, this was a much different performance than of late from the home side against a well organised and hard working Rochdale outfit.
In recent times, Lee Metcalfe’s side have carved out hat fulls of scoring opportunities for their strikers but found openings somewhat harder to come by this time out, knowing that they had to make it count when the chance arose.
Prestwich ‘keeper Mike Hudson was only called in to action once during the entire 90 minutes, scrambling across his line to punch a ball to safety, such was the dominance of the defences.
But with just 15 minutes remaining, the home side got the killer second goal as Haslam’s low cross was tipped in to the path of O’Donnell by the Saints ‘keeper, who made no mistake from 10 yards with a drive in to the roof of the net.
Rochdale’s late shot that whistled past an upright was the nearest the visitors came to pulling a goal back as Prestwich notched up another vital three points in their championship charge ahead of the visit of Old Boltonians Reserves next Saturday, kick-off 2:30pm.
PRESTWICH – Hudson, Hopkins (Tyldesley), Barnes, Lott, Steadman (1), Kosub, Howarth, Roberts, Haslam, Foley (O’Donnell (1)), McGovern (Turner)
• Prestwich Reserves game against Hesketh Casuals B in Division Six was called off on Friday due to unfit pitches at Drinkwater Park.
• Prestwich Sunday team enjoyed a 6-0 win over Radcliffe Wanderers at Goshen in the Bury Premier Division. Hat-tricks from Sean Haslam and Shaun Jackson sealed the three points in a game that could easily brought about a double-figure scoreline were it not for the heroics of the Wanderers ‘keeper.
