Jacob’s Cracker wins it for Heys

By Rick Barrett

After Saturday’s washout which saw many games in the North West Counties League postponed including Heys game at Daisy Hill, they returned to action on Wednesday away at Garstang in high spirits after two recent wins in cup competitions.

On a cold night at the Riverside ground Heys wasted no time pressing the home side from the kick-off and this pressure soon brought reward as on five minutes debutant Niall Sultan ran into the box and was shoved by the Garstang centre half from behind. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Danny White converted the penalty kick with ease.

With an early goal behind them Heys, for the next thirty-five minutes, played with a swagger and confidence that has seemed to be lacking in some previous games in this campaign. This was most notable down the left-hand side as in the 13th minute, Brad Sixsmith beat the full back, cut inside but his shot just skimmed over the bar.

Heys increased the pressure with Rio Wilson-Heyes having two chances in quick succession on 23 and 25 minutes, the latter saw a great passage of play, with a one two with Danny White but the Garstang Keeper Will Kitchen was alert to save both chances.

There was more joy down the left on 33 minutes, with great interaction between Wilson-Heyes and Anthony Hall who crossed over to Max White who smashed a shot in from 20 yards that saw Kitchen make a great save to his left.

Heys were now in 5th gear, playing flowing football and on 33 minutes came goal number two as Wilson-Heyes got the ball on the right edge of the box and rifled an impressive shot past the home keeper bottom right to double the visitors lead

On 40 minutes, Heys again threatened down the left when a ball to the edge of the 18-yard box found Jacob Holt, who cracked a fierce shot that just went over the bar.

Heys were on top but Garstang started to threaten in the closing moments of the half and deep into injury time they gave themselves a lifeline. A ball from the left skimmed across the box for Alan Coar to stab home from close range past Heys keeper Russell Saunders to make it 2-1 at the break

The late goal for Garstang at the end of the first half saw them revived after the interval and from the kick-off a goalmouth scramble in the Heys penalty area saw Saunders make a great save and the follow up cleared off the line.

It was to prove a scrappier second half with Garstang battling hard but without any real threat to the Heys goal.

Good chances still came for the visitors with some great one touch link up play again between Hall and Wilson Heyes resulting in the ball coming out to defender Jacob Wood who's shot just cleared the crossbar.

Just after the hour, Sultan, who had an impressive debut after recently signing from Barnoldswick, crossed a lovely low, ball over from the right but the outstretched Max White could not get a boot on it to steer it in.

The final 20 minutes found both teams trying to get the upper hand. Garstang were still more than in this game but without any real goal threat, that was until the 86th minute when Saunders in the Heys goal made a brilliant save from close range but the ball rebounded to Garstang’s Benjamin Roberts who hit the ball low into the net from close range.

So, the 21 Heys fans in attendance were fearing two points dropped or maybe worse but as proved in recent weeks this Heys side has a new guile and determination about them that has perhaps evaded them at times earlier in the season

This spirit saw it out and just a couple of minutes after the equaliser a corner from the left found Jacob Holt who made no mistake smashing it home from 20 yards to keeper Kitchens left post.
Cue scenes of jubilation as the whole team lead by the goal scorer ran to the away bench to celebrate with the joint management team of John Lyons and Matt Barnes with the Heys fans stood behind loving this dramatic finish.

And so, the referee blew for full time. Another late goal for Heys securing an important three points that pushed them up from 12th to 8th in the table.

With games coming thick and fast over the next couple of months and after an indifferent start Heys are now firmly in position to make a big impact for the rest of the season.

Team: Russell Saunders, Jacob Wood (Capt.), Jacob Holt, Max White, Adrian Bellamy, Mark Ayres, Brad Sixsmith, Danny White, Rio Wilson-Heyes, Niall Sultan, Anthony Hall Subs: Jamie Sinnott (for Sultan 75 mins), James Wolfenden (for Max White 83 mins), Daniel Lambert (for Danny White 61 mins), Jordan Pendlebury, Joe Rothwell