PRESTWICH HEYS 2 WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 1
TUESDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER 2025 NW COUNTIES PREMIER DIVISION ATT:330

Report by Stephen Howard
Picture by Bethany Lee

On a dramatic night at Adie Moran Park a Connor Martin penalty strike deep into added time gave Prestwich Heys their first League victory of the season as they came from behind to beat West Didsbury.

It had looked like it wasn’t going to be Heys night. After falling behind in the first half, Prestwich laboured after the break as the visitors took control.

However, in the 70th minute the game took an unexpected twist as the referee reported feeling unwell. There was then a lengthy delay whilst one of the Assistants took the whistle and a linesman was sourced from the crowd.

The break in play served Heys well and when play resumed they were revitalised. Eight minutes from time they levelled through Takura Sambizi, setting up a frantic finish, culminating in Martin’s 95th minute winner.

Heys, looking to bounce back from Saturday’s cruel defeat at Irlam, started the game in lively fashion and Alfie Belcher had a good chance to give his side a 4th minute lead as he got in behind the defence but, his shot was straight at the keeper.

The home side continued to look the livelier but were rocked in the 11th minute when the visitors went ahead. It was a swift counter attack that proved Heys undoing as some crisp passing opened them up before Lewis Billingsley provided a fine finish to beat Heys debutant keeper Austyn Hall.

Heys continued to have the better of things and a Belcher free kick had Didsbury keeper Oliver Martin scurrying to save at the foot of the post before a trademark run from Bryson Appleton ended with his shot finding the side netting.

Didsbury were a threat on the counter and on the half hour a break found Victor Abadaki on the edge of the area, but Hall got down well to gather his shot.

The South Manchester side were to end the half the stronger and on the stroke of half time Billingsley brought a save at the foot of the post from Hall.

That momentum was carried into the second half as Didsbury set the pace. Abadaki should have scored in the 53rd minute when found unmarked at the far post but his feet got in a tangle, and he put the ball wide of the open goal.

The striker however got his technique right on the hour with an overhead kick which Heys were relieved to see clear the bar.

Heys were struggling to make any impression on the game but then came the break in play.

On the resumption the hosts look revitalised. There was suddenly an urgency and greater fluency to their play. The Heys management made changes injecting extra pace with the introduction of Mworina Doro, following that of Luke Byron just prior to the delay, providing a boost.

With the crowd sensing a shift in the balance of the game, the visitors began to look stretched and in the 82nd minute Heys were level.

Some great interplay around the box culminated in Rob Worrall picking out the run of Joe Camozzi. His low driven cross found Sambizi, twelve yards out, who took a touch before delivering a deft shot on the turn that found the bottom corner.

In a fevered atmosphere Heys sensed their chance. Three more substitutions were made for the final push. Didsbury did threaten on a couple of breaks, but Heys had the belief that victory could be theirs as the visitors defence looked increasingly stretched.

In the fifth minute of added time their moment came. A shot from Sambizi was blocked by the hand of a defender, a decent save as it happens, bringing an easy penalty call for the replacement ref.

You could have heard a pin drop as Connor Martin prepared to take the penalty but as he stepped up to drill his spot kick into the bottom corner the silence was replaced by an explosion of noise and Heys had that hitherto elusive first win.

Team: Austyn Hall, Joseph Camozzi, Luke Findlow, James Badrock, David Badrock, Nicholas Dre Taylor, Bryson Appleton, Robert Worrall, Connor Martin, Alfie Belcher, Takura Sambizi, Subs: Louie Hutchinson (for Findlow 88 mins), Luke Byron (for Belcher 62 mins), Mworina Doro (for Appleton 72 mins), Jack Taylor (for Camozzi 88 mins), Lucas Bancroft (for D. Taylor 81 mins)