LONGRIDGE TOWN 0 PRESTWICH HEYS 3

WEDNESDAY 11TH NOVEMBER 2026 NW COUNTIES PREMIER DIVISION ATT:167

Report by Rick Barrett

A double strike early in the second half from Bryson Appleton was enough to secure a 3-0 win for Prestwich Heys at Inglewhite Road, home of Longridge Town, on Wednesday night.

Heys came into this one looking for a fifth league win in a row after beating FC St. Helens 5-1 last Saturday, whilst the hosts were also in confident mood after beating Isle of Man by the same score line.

It was high drama from the start when as early as the second minute Longridge full back Tyler Forsyth was shown a straight red card by referee Sam Oldfield for a shove in the back on Heys Jamal Crawford. From the resulting free kick, twenty-five yards, out Louie Hutchinson brought a save from Town keeper Bradley Rose.

The hosts were quicker to settle though after this and a dipping shot on the left on nine minutes brought a save from Heys keeper Jack Buckley.

Heys slowly started to press forward with Longridge playing five at the back, despite being a man down, and the visitors had a big chance on twenty-seven minutes when Appleton's cross from the right found striker Louis Holt, unmarked six yards out, but his shot flew way over the bar.

This however sparked Heys into getting the ball forward quicker using the width of Takura Sambizi on the left and Appleton on the right, and the chances started to flow.

Liam Cuthbert shot from six yards which keeper Rose got down to, and on thirty-seven minutes an in-swinging corner saw both James Badrock and Appleton try to fire home from a scramble in the penalty area, but the ball was cleared to safety. Appleton was busy again, minutes later, with an eighteen-yard free kick, again saved by Rose.

The pressure finally told on forty-two minutes when a corner on the left was headed goalwards by Holt and guided past keeper Rose by James Badrock to put Prestwich in a deserved 1-0 lead with the half time whistle coming shortly after.

It completed a good half from Heys who just needed to stay focused in the second, having had the one-man advantage more or less from the start of this game.

Focus was exactly what they did and on fifty-one minutes they increased their lead. It was good work from Holt on the left, flicking the ball through to Appleton to fire the ball past Rose from six yards for 2-0.

Heys were now in full control, playing a great passing game, and ten minutes later they added a third goal. Great work by Crawford, winning possession in midfield, saw him then find Appleton, on the right, who shot bottom left past Rose to the delight of the travelling away support.

Longridge, though visibly tiring, did try to get back in it and had the ball in the net on sixty-eight minutes but the assistant referee flagged for offside.

Heys were knocking the ball around nicely without creating many further chances and manager Ryan Hutchinson made four substitutions to keep the squad fresh with the game seemingly won.

One of these substitutions, Lewis Ayres, fired wide on eighty-eight minutes then careless play by the Longridge back four shortly after gave fellow sub Ellis Richardson a shot from eight yards but it was deflected for a corner in the final action of the evening.

So, victory again in the league for Heys and its now five league wins in a row and one defeat in eight in all competitions, and on this form, this run could go on a while longer yet. They will however have a big test on Saturday when they visit third placed Nelson and a win there could be a big indicator of how this season will progress.

TEAM: Jack Buckley, David Badrock, Louie Hutchinson, James Badrock (Capt.), Matt Smyth, Nicholas Dre Taylor, Bryson Appleton, Liam Cuthbert, Louis Holt, Jamal Crawford, Takura Sambizi, Subs: Alistair Bracken (for Hutchinson 69 mins), Toby Green, Lucas Bancroft (for Cuthbert 74 mins), Lewis Ayres (for Crawford 74 mins), Ellis Richardson (for Holt 69 mins)