Prestwich welcomed back Steve Murty and Sean Haslam from injury and although Haslam only lasted 38 mins before limping off it proved to be enough time for him to bag a brace and have one disallowed whilst Murty ran riot all afternoon helping himself to a hat trick in the process.
Prestwich went ahead in the 2nd minute when Haslam swept home a Mike Neary corner from close range, soon after Haslam was again fed in by Neary this time him having dispossessed the left back, but the goal disallowed for a dubious off side the ball having actually been pulled back to him.
The second did come in the 27th minute again Neary was the provider with a long right to left ball picking out Murty in space who still had lots to do, Murty twisted out then in and planted a shot firmly into the right hand corner.
With Neary the provider yet again Haslam blasted a third with a smart turn and shot from 8 yards unfortunately aggravating an injury in the act which ended his afternoon.
The mood at half time was made less buoyant than it should have been courtesy of a late goal for the hosts when keeper Mike Hudson came out rashly to compete with the opposing forward and his own defenders for a high cross, the Castle Hill player jumped highest to nod into an empty net.
Having previously only kept one clean sheet all season it was a major blow as Prestwich had defended well enough to suggest one had been on the cards today.
With a 3-0 lead whilst still creating chances largely through the penetrating runs of Neary and Murty on the flanks Prestwich lost some of their edge, and a complacency set in during the second period which made the overall performance not quite as ideal as the score line ultimately suggested.
Castle started to enjoy far more possession in the Prestwich half and a turning point in the game came with the award of a penalty for a foul by Richard Steadman, the shot struck the post but had it gone in it may well have been a different story.
As it was the scare galvanized Prestwich and signaled the start of a four goal onslaught with Murty the main protagonist. Seeming to go past players at will he caused havoc every time he received the ball down the left flank, Castle’s main plan to deal with the situation seemed to be to attempt some form of GBH so it was no surprise when he won and converted a penalty on the hour mark.
Dave Thompson added a fifth with a tremendous turn and shot from an acute angle seeming to have been forced out too wide right to get any sort of effort on goal before Neary followed up with his own delightful chipped goal on 75 mins.
Murty who by now was drawing a raft of Castle players towards him like moths to a light bulb every time he received the ball delivered the coup de grace in the last few minutes to seal a good if not perfect all round performance.
