Ayres rises to head Heys into third

Prestwich Heys moved up to third in the North West Counties League Division One North as a 75th minute Mark Ayres goal saw them clinch victory over St. Helens Town.

On a day when Autumn truly arrived at Adie Moran Park, the centre half rose superbly to head home from an Anthony Hall corner to decide a hard-fought encounter played on a heavy pitch amidst persistent rain.

The win was Heys fourth in succession, a run that has seen progress in two competitions and a move from mid table into the promotion positions. A season that has largely failed to spark now seems full of promise. The joy with which Ayres and his teammates celebrated his goal was perhaps indicative of the new found purpose and joy in their overall play.

This was a victory that Heys had to dig out. In the difficult conditions it was never going to be easy, but much credit should also be given to St. Helens. They maybe third from the bottom of the table but their performance here belied their position. They have some young, talented players and they posed Heys plenty of questions, contributing to a tense and entertaining encounter for the fans who braved the elements.

Heys were quick out of the traps and took the lead in the 9th minute as the hero of the midweek win at Garstang Jacob Holt, showed he is developing taste for goal by opening the scoring in the 10th minute. Seizing possession just inside the visitors half the left back surged forward before rifling a low shot across the keeper from the edge of the area and into the bottom corner.

Although Heys remained in the ascendancy, Holt had to revert to his more regular duty in the 17th minute. A swift counter by the visitors saw Jordan Jones burst through the middle but Holt got across to save the day with a great cover tackle.

Jacob Wood fired over from 25 yards following some great link up play as Heys continued to move the ball impressively.

However, there was a growing confidence in the St. Helens ranks and Gedaeo Varela stretched the Heys defence with a nice run before pulling his shot wide.

Three of Heys recent acquisitions combined to great effect on the half hour. A sublime cross field pass by Joe Rothwell picked out Niall Sultan who swiftly pulled the ball back to Daniel Lambert whose shot from the edge of the area went just wide.

The game however was now a much more even affair and Saints twice tested Heys keeper Russell Saunders. A nice move ended with the impressive Neil Weaver’s shot being held low before a low angled shot from Moses Yoak forced saw the Heys stopper to drop low to save.

Having fought their way into the contest the visitors almost undid all their hard work on the stroke of half time as an attempted clearance was sliced to Sultan whose shot brought a great save from keeper Carl Williams, at full stretch to his left.

St. Helens carried their momentum into the second period, and they levelled in the 57th minute when the ball was smartly moved to Hal McHugh who struck a shot low that appeared to take a slight deflection on its way into the bottom corner.

Nonetheless, it was nothing more than the visitors deserved for their endeavours in coming back from a difficult start to the game.
The question now was how would Heys respond. It was one they answered in impressive fashion.

Stepping up the pace, Sultan almost restored their lead with an in-swinging corner that Williams did well to clear from under the bar.

Then, great work from Rio Wilson-Heyes ended with a low cross that was met by a deft back heeled flick from Danny White, which was held at the foot of the post by Williams.

The pressure was maintained as Wilson-Heyes played in the overlapping Jacob Wood whose shot was pushed round the post by Williams.
However, it was only a temporary reprieve for the visitors as from the resultant corner, came Ayres decisive header and although the visitors staged a spirited late rally, Heys had the resolve to see the game through.

TEAM: Russell Saunders, Jacob Wood (Capt), Jacob Holt, Daniel Lambert, Mark Ayres, Adrian Bellamy, Danny White, Joe Rothwell, Rio Wilson-Heyes, Niall Sultan, Anthony Hall Subs; Jamie Sinnott, Max White (for Rothwell 56 mins), Samuel Amankwaa (for Sultan 65 mins), Brad Sixsmith ( for Hall 80 mins), Jordan Pendlebury