Having struggled to kill the game off in the first half despite creating a raft of chances and dominating the game for all but a few very brief spells Prestwich finally got the all-important second goal early in the second half to calm any nerves and make the rest of the game largely a formality.
Prestwich started the game strongly with the usual suspects of Steve Murty, Mike Neary and Martin Hill always willing to take players on at pace running from deep and usually succeeding, the chances were coming thick and fast with Neary nearly getting on the end of a Murty cross at the back post and Sean Haslam coming close with a header from a Neary cross from the right.
As the half progressed without a goal the sense of urgency grew , the pressure to make the dominance tell increased somewhat by a pre match delay due to a frozen pitch forcing the ref to decide on a reduced playing time of 40 mins each way due to lack of light.
The breakthrough finally came in the 26th minute when Haslam did really well to beat a couple of players on the right and hold the ball up long enough to pick out David Prieto who made a run to edge of the box, his finish was emphatic.
Sam Holden who had a fine game dominating the central midfield was unlucky with a long range effort, and Murty having been brought down when about to score earned and missed a penalty but Prestwich frustratingly were unable to add to their tally before the break.
With the reduced playing time there was a real concern that the longer it stayed at 1-0 Chaddertonians would stage a late rally and nick something out of the game but the fears were dispelled early in the second half when good work on the right by Martin Hill saw the ball land at Nearys feet on the right hand edge of the area he took a touch and drove it hard into the Chadderton net.
The goal effectively killed of any hopes Chaddertonians had of getting anything out of the game and it became a matter of how many. Ten minutes later Neary added a third with a tremendous individual goal, picking the ball up wide right and running across the area jinking past several players before stroking it past the keeper.
With keeper Mike Hudson now largely a spectator and full back Pete Gallagher complaining he was ‘bored’ the reduced playing time will have been welcomed by the hosts. There was still just time however for Prieto to strike a post with a powerful shot and Holden to cap his performance by getting on the score sheet himself in similar style to Neary, this time using his strength to hold a couple of defenders off and dribble into the box from near the touchline before smashing home from an acute angle.
All in all it was a good day at the office with the clean sheet the icing on the cake, the defence of Hudson, Gallagher, Richard Steadman, Paul Taylor and Liam Burke were never particularly busy but when called upon they dealt with everything that came their way with great composure and authority.
