Having trailed 2-0, then 3-1 right up to the 75th minute a brilliant individual goal by David Prieto in the 89th minute sealed a dramatic come back for Prestwich to keep any potential promotion bid on the rails.
The ultimate outcome was testimony to the fitness levels and obduracy of the lads as prior to the late surge it had been a poor performance all round making any serious push for a top two place look extremely unlikely.
Whether it was due to the lengthy lay off or not, the initial poor performance was all the more baffling given that apart from the influential Darren Buckley, who’s anticipated return had stalled, him having aggravated a long standing injury on the training pitch midweek Prestwich had the rare luxury of a full strength squad to pick from.
From the onset there was a lack of cohesion in Prestwich’s play with them constantly conceding possession cheaply with poor accuracy passing out of defense and too much aimless running into trouble further up the pitch.
Roach were playing a far better game than their lowly league position suggested, defending deep denying space but braking with speed and purpose when the chance came.
Having survived a couple of scares it came as no surprise when Roach took the lead in the 6th minute when a break down the right resulted in a long cross to the far post which saw the big center forward leap above a static Sam Holden to plant it beyond Mike Hudson.
The pattern continued with sloppy passing from deep and the normally so effective wide men Steve Murty and Mike Neary running blindly at players in congested areas with Roach’s choking policy working well. There was the odd breakthrough though such as when debutante Matt Struminski played Sean Haslam in, still with much to do Haslam did really well to hold off a strong challenge to work his way through on goal but normally so clinical he squirmed his shot wide.
Roach continued to look very dangerous on the break and in their strong central strikers had the ideal foils for making long balls to stick and allow them to build from there, but they also had a tricky left winger that was giving right back Andy Davies lots of problems.
Mike Hudson made an excellent save turning a low drive from the left round the post before Roach did add a second on 40 mins, with a nice move down the left culminating a nicely struck 20 drive past Hudson.
Prestwich briefly rose from their slumber just before half time when Murty jinxed his way through on the left to coolly sweep the ball past the keeper to his left to make it 1-2 at the break.
Prestwich improved somewhat in the second period without ever quite reaching the levels of quick passing football they are capable off, Haslam gave further evidence that it just wasn’t going to be his day by having done the hard part to make the space missing two further guilt edged chances to score.
Having lost Richard Steadman in the first half and up against a couple of decent strikers, one dropping off deep the defense still looked very vulnerable to long ball counters and Roach made it 3-1 on 55 mins with a nicely taken lob over Hudson.
Buoyed by the goal Roach were rampant and there followed a period when the lads could easily have capitulated completely with only Hudson and some desperate defending to thank for not conceding any more.
Gradually though with the introduction of subs Dave Thompson and Quentin Jacob the lads started to claw their way back squad strength and good fitness levels of the side started to tell as Roach visibly tired.
With Prieto dropping deeper bringing more dynamism to the central areas constantly driving at the Roach defense and Thompson in particular offering more of a goal threat Prestwich were given a massive boost with a hotly contested penalty awarded for a foul on Thompson who clinically dispatched the kick.
The tide had really turned now, Neary and Murty were offering the more customary threat twisting and turning past players as ever but this time with real purpose and end product. On the 78th minute a run by Neary saw him slalom defenders powering his way into the box, blocked just before he could get his shot away the loose ball fell to Thompson who lashed it home from 20 yards for the equalizer.
Prestwich were now rampant and one sensed there would only be one winner, the goal when it came was an absolute peach by Prieto, fed by Jacob he picked the ball up near the left touchline, twisting and turning around a couple of players he somehow found the space for a shot smashing it high into the net from a most ridiculous angle.
Prestwich had to sweat for five minutes of injury time as Roach desperately tried to come back, but in truth it was Prestwich who came much closer to extending their lead on the break with Murty very unlucky not to add to his tally on several occasions.
Whilst ultimately all ended well there were lessons learned and the lads will certainly need to be more focused for the challenges ahead.
