A seriously depleted squad ultimately overcame an obdurate Castle Hill side to grab a hard earned three points in an ‘ugly’ game that took the side to the top of the table although others have games in hand.
The high number of players missing for various reasons required new signings to be made in order to get a side out for the fixture, two of which Chris Hudson and Chris Adams made their debuts and neither disappointed, particularly Hudson who had a fine game at left back.
A sluggish start saw Prestwich come under pressure against an at times over physical Castle Hill outfit, keeper Mike Hudson had to be on his toes as Castle Hill forced a string of corners and crosses into the box but he and centre backs Paul Taylor and Liam Burke stood tall and strong to keep them out.
With Dave Thompson playing as a lone striker and getting little change out of the Castle Hill defenders Prestwich were largely pre-occupied with trying to stay solid and protect their own goal.
Had Prestwich conceded in this period one suspected that Castle Hill would press home the advantage and possibly go on to win the game quite comfortably, it’s testimony to the great spirit amongst the side that they dug in and defended collectively as a team in this crucial phase of play which ultimately dictated the eventual outcome.
As the half worn on Prestwich started to get more and more of a foothold in the game and create chances of their own, winger Mike Neary was unlucky with a typically powerful surge into the box just seeing his shot blocked and Sean Haslam came close on a couple of occasions. Nick Kosub caught the eye with some surges from midfield linking up well with Darren Buckley and Haslam as Prestwich came into the ascendency but it remained goalless at the interval.
A slight rejig saw the introduction of Adams as a defensive shield allowing Haslam to push up front and whilst the game remained tight Prestwich looked the more likely to break the deadlock.
Castle Hill were still seeing plenty of ball but Prestwich were defending resolutely with Taylor and Burke both putting in outstanding individual performances to limit them to half chances which Hudson dealt with confidently.
The deadlock was broken in the 77th minute when Haslam received the ball some 35 yards from goal with just one defender to beat, he did so brilliantly and using his strength to hold him off cracked a shot high into the Castle Hill net for a great individual goal.
The remaining minutes were tense as Castle Hill set about in search of an equaliser but Hudson was never seriously troubled and indeed it was Prestwich that looked much more likely of adding to the their tally.
Without ever seeing the free flowing football that we’ve come to expect from the side It was a terrific dogged performance by the lads in difficult circumstances and the three point that were ground out will prove just as vital at the end of the season as those earned in the 8-1 demolition of Thornleigh the previous week.
