Report by Stephen Howard

Pictures courtesy of Bethany Lee

In front of a bumper Friday night crowd of 368, Heys endured a frustrating and ultimately disappointing evening as they slipped to defeat against Burscough at Adie Moran Park.

After the previous weekend’s FA Cup success, a warm summer evening had the turnstiles clicking amidst a huge sense of anticipation. However, although they enjoyed long periods of possession and had their moments, the home side ultimately came up short against a well organised Burscough side who made the most of their limited opportunities to take the points.

The game opened somewhat quietly as both sides took the opportunity to have a look at each other before in the 8th minute Burscough went ahead. There initially seemed little danger from a through ball that was heading towards Heys penalty area. However, indecisiveness and an awkward bounce saw Heys and their keeper Alex Brown all at sea on the edge of the box and Sam Turner reacted quickly to hook the ball over the keeper and into the unguarded net.

Heys looked to respond and did have the ball in the net three minutes later, following a scramble in the box, but the referee ruled it for a foul. The hosts took control of things from there on, playing some nice football with attacking flourishes from wide men Takura Sambizi and Mworina Doro but the final ball was often lacking as they found themselves up against some well drilled defence.

An 25th minute injury to Josh Tinker, whom with Rob Worrall, had dictated the play in the middle of the park prompted a reshuffle with Max Bardsley-Rowe coming on down the right and Luke Byron moving into the middle. The change did not change the pattern of the game with Heys pressing but with little reward until the 40th minute when they were awarded a penalty.

The spot kick came when Doro was unceremoniously stopped in his tracks as he broke into the box with the referee having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Heys penalty taker Bardsley-Rowe stepped up to take the kick against the huge presence of Ben Barnes and it was the latter who was to prevail as he dropped to the right to save.

As the half drew to a close there was more frustration for Heys when from a corner a James Badrock header came off the post before being cleared and the visitors went in a goal to the good, and having shown signs of being stretched towards the latter stages of the half, were doubtless pleased for the chance to freshen up and regroup.

The second half opened with Heys again enjoying the possession. Dre Taylor fired in a shot that was comfortably gathered by Barnes but overall, there were no real signs that a way through the visitors’ rearguard was going to be found.

A couple of changes around the hour mark saw Doro and Michael Burke replaced by Bryson Appleton and Connor Martin as Heys looked to up the ante and the latter was soon in the action with a close-range effort held by Barnes.

Heys looked to be gaining some momentum and in the 70th minute some great wing play by Appleton saw him send in a cross that picked out Martin, but the Heys striker’s header went agonisingly over the bar.

Unfortunately, two minutes later Heys night was to take another turn for the worse. As possession was lost a swift break down the left by the visitors saw Hamilton break into the box and he clinically slipped the ball past Brown to double Burscough’s advantage.

Having struggled to make much headway throughout the night, it now looked an uphill battle for Heys but to their credit they plugged away. Byron crossed into the box to find Martin whose near post shot was blocked by the ‘keeper before then seeing a shot of his own deflected wide.

Bardsley-Rowe then picked out Byron with a cross, but his shot was straight at the keeper.

In the closing moments the visitors almost added a third goal when substitute Christian Mukoko broke clear, but Brown came out to stand his ground and save.

A third goal would have been extremely harsh on Heys given the visitors limited openings but would equally have been illustrative of the lack of punch in the final third of the pitch, shown here. Although there is undoubted quality in this Heys side, with only one point from their first three games it will be something they will be looking to address quickly if they are to avoid a repeat of last season’s struggles.

TEAM: Alex Brown, Luke Byron, Louie Hutchinson, David Badrock, James Badrock, Joshua Tinker, Mworina Doro, Robert Worrall, Michael Burke, Nicholas Taylor, Takura Sambizi, Subs: Connor Martin (for Burke 60 mins), Jack Taylor (for Hutchinson 71 mins), Bryson Appleton (for Doro 56 mins) Max Bardsley-Rowe (for Tinker 25 mins), Owen Percival