Tyler James scored twice as Prestwich Heys pulled off a superb 3-1 victory over Bootle in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup at Adie Moran Park on Saturday.

The Heys wide man was in fine form and also named Man of the Match as his side caused a Cup upset against the Merseyside outfit who play one level higher in the Northern Premier League Division One. Having brought in David McNabb as Manager, who guided Warrington Rylands to FA Vase success three years ago and having undergone a major overhaul of their squad, hopes are high for a successful season for the Merseyside club.

And the early indications appeared to justify that expectation. Bootle set off at a terrific pace and swamped the home goal. Heys barely got a kick other than those to clear their lines. In the second minute John Hunt fired in a shot that looked to be heading for the bottom corner until the timely intervention of Darcy O’Connor then three minutes later a close-range glancing header by Tom Peterson went just wide of the far post.

However, in the 10th minute, with their first attack, Heys took the lead. A couple of passes ended with Matt Davies playing the ball in behind for James, he went clear of his marker and calmly drew ‘keeper Owen Mooney to finish with a shot into the far corner.

Suddenly, everything began to change. With O’Connor signalling for calmness from his teammates, Heys, with increase belief, began to piece together some passes. Meanwhile, the wind seemed to have been drawn from the visitors sails, the ease with which they had been opened up giving cause for uncertainty.

A battle for supremacy then followed. An initial stalemate ensued before Heys began to assert some control. Defensively, Heys had dimmed the early fire of the visitors whilst going forward their threat was increasing. With the midfield promptings of O’Connor and Vinny Howell, the front three of James, Davies and Jack Coop began to stretch the Bootle defence and in the 42nd minute Heys scored again.

Howell in the centre circle, found Coop who advanced forward, drawing men too him, before then picking out Davies to his right. The latter still had much to do but showed great composure, as he steadied himself, picked his spot and fired into the bottom corner.

Despite the loss of the injured Howell at the interval, replaced by Kyle Jacobs, Heys picked up where they had left off on the restart. An expected reaction for Bootle never materialised as the hosts continued to hold sway and in the 56th minute came a third goal.

And what a goal it was. Heys won possession in centre field and when the ball was fed to Coop, he sprayed a great cross field pass to find Davies on the right. The Heys man tied his marker in knots before sending in across to the near post where James, steamed in from nowhere to slam the ball home, bringing a huge roar and rapturous scenes amongst the home faithful.

Shortly after, James sensed a hat-trick as he found space on the edge of the box, but Mooney got down well to hold his shot.

The visitors rang the changes from the bench and for the first time since those early stages began to ask questions of the Heys rearguard and in the 67th minute they pulled a goal back. There was an element of good fortune as a ball into the box took a deflection into the path of Ben Hodkinson and with Heys defence wrongfooted he slotted home.

There then followed a couple of nervy moments for Heys but solid defence including great headed interventions from Nathan Bartram Conway and Arron Chalmers kept Bootle at bay.

Heys soon regained the initiative and in one darting raid were thwarted three times. Davies saw a shot cleared off the line with the ball falling to James whose shot was blocked before, on the follow up, Coop found the side netting.

Into added time, Bootle squandered a good opening, but Heys might have added to their tally. A revitalised Coop, showing he has more than goals to his bow, centred for James whose first-time header looked set to give him his hat-trick but drifted just wide.

Moments later the whistle sounded and Heys could bask in their victory, a great performance, a cup upset on a day when the great British weather couldn’t dampen the magic of the FA Cup.

TEAM: Jordan Hadlow, Brad Sixsmith, Nathan Emery, Darcy O’Connor, Nathan Bartram-Conway, Aaron Chalmers (Capt.), Isaac lee, Vinny Howell, Jack Coop, Matt Davies, Tyler James Subs: Saidkhon Khaimidov, Regan Brown, Akim Samms, Malachi Slaven (for O’Connor 69 mins), Rio Wilson-Heyes (for Lee 72 mins), Kyle Jacobs (for Howell 45 mins)