Prestwich returned to Adie Moran Park for the first time since the 7th September and played out a hard fought encounter on a very soft pitch in which very few clear cut chances were created.
For the bulk of the game both defences were mostly on top and the forward players struggled to make any really serious impression. It was however not for the want of trying and both sides did knock the ball around well at times but the game was littered with wayward passing and poor decision making resulting in possession being given away too cheaply. Not all of which could be blames on the pitch which cut up as the game went on.
As the score line suggests the game overall was fairly even with both sides trying to gain a foothold. Mostonians had several earlier corners which came to nothing and despite some probing moves never created a clear chance and Michael Hudson was relatively untroubled.
The shuffled Prestwich back line of Matthew Brennan (standing in at full back), Steven Lorenzini, Barrie Campbell and Tom Gibson (playing his first game in 3 years) stood strong and repulsed every attack.
Going forward Prestwich were driven on by Michael Neary, Callum Pragnell and Tito Miguel in centre midfield all of whom looked capable of opening up the Mostonians defence. That is until Miguel was hacked down and had to be replaced by Pearse Connery on 24 minutes, not even getting a free kick for the foul.
Several half chances came and went, Neary had a good effort from the edge of the box but was straight at the keeper, Pragnell had a shot saved low down by the keeper which was spilled but Sean Haslam was unable to reach the loose ball and the defence cleared. From the wings Rafael Straszewski and James Barlow were giving Mostonians something to think about but were unable to carve out a clear chance. A couple of tame efforts cleared the bar, and with little happening at the other end to threaten a goal the half ended all square.
The second half was more or less a carbon copy of the first with most of the play in the midfield areas and attacks being thwarted by the defences. Prestwich had the better of the early chances and Haslam was a constant threat if given room to play but the 2 centre halves offered little scope for this.
From one of Haslam’s corners Campbell got a flicked header on target but the keeper clawed it away to safety from under the bar and later from one through ball Haslam got behind the defence but hit the near post with the keeper beaten.
The rest of the attacking threat fizzled out as a result of misplaced passes, good defensive work or poor ball control.
Prestwich brought on Dillan White after 58 minutes for Straszewski who ad injured a hand, which saw Brennan move to his more accustomed midfield role, joining Neary and Connery in the engine room. The pattern of the game continued in the same vein but in the last 10 minutes or so Mostonians had perhaps their best spell of the game as Prestwich tired a little on the heavy pitch.
Hudson had to punch away a dangerous free kick and several long range efforts were blocked by defenders. Hudson though kept his best until last when for the first time in the game Mostonians got in behind the Prestwich back line, Hudson raced from his goal and made an excellent block tackle save with his feet to preserve his clean sheet.
Little else occurred in the 2 minutes after and both teams had to be happy with a point, knowing that either of them could have nicked the win with a bit of luck or composure in front of goal.
Next up for Prestwich is an away game at Castle Hill Leisure Centre, Bolton BL2 2JW against Thornleigh FC with a 2.00pm KO.
[cws_gpp_images_by_albumid id=’AAK1dg8aE63rhLFxMQI0xeAQXZJ6bNvj9Wiuiu-l26Pduy4bYuAz-OfN0qFA4ogc_BP3m9bQDMqX’ theme=’projig’ show_details=’0′ row_height=’100′ num_results=’0′]
