After back-to-back wins on the road, Heys were brought back down to earth at Adie Moran Park by a good Wythenshawe Town team whose 2-0 victory, built on the foundations of a solid defensive display, sent them to the top of the North West Counties League Premier Division, writes Paul Thomason.

Prestwich started brightly and in the 7th minute could have gone in front as an error at the back from Louis Jeanne allowed Dylan Fitzgerald in on the keepers left but he shot over the bar.

Fitzgerald thought he was in again after being put through eight minutes later by Rio Wilson-Heyes, but unfortunately the assistants flag went up for offside.

However, it wasn’t long after that Wythenshawe took the lead when a free kick on the left, just outside the penalty area to the far post, was headed across the goal for Thomas Bentham to tap in.

The goal increased Wythenshawe's confidence as they grew more into the game, getting stronger as it went on, so the Heys fans might have feared the worse when a free kick in a similar spot was awarded from where they scored their goal. Luckily for Heys, this went into the wall.

Just before the half time whistle, Heys had a chance to equalise when a corner on the right somehow managed to find its way to the feet of Wilson-Heyes, however he was off balance and couldn’t get a strong enough foot on it and was cleared away.

As the half time whistle blew, the Prestwich players would have been frustrated with the rear guard defence and quick counter attacks from the visitors as they went in a goal behind.

Heys started as brightly in the second half as they had in the first. Firstly on 52 minutes, Matt Davies won the ball to the left of the penalty area, played it inside to Wilson-Heyes whose shot was blocked from 18 yards out. A few minutes later a cross from the right of the “D” just outside the box from Aaron Chalmers was headed across goal by Nathan Emery and ended up at the feet of Wilson-Heyes, 12 yards out, but he fired over. Three minutes after that, there was almost a major howler from the Town keeper Gregory Hall as Emery’s cross on the left was caught then dropped but he managed to collect it before any damage was done.

New signing Kieron Molloy came off the bench on the hour for Wilson-Heyes as Prestwich continued to look for the equaliser. However, just like in the first half, the side from Ericstan Park grew stronger and had the best chance of the second half so far when in the 69th minute a cross from the right met the free head of Bentham but it was too close to Russ Saunders who saved comfortably.

Three minutes after that chance, Town put the game beyond Heys reach as a swift counter saw Bentham play in substitute George Boyd who placed his shot to Saunders right, into the bottom corner. Even though the away side were overall the stronger team, before this goal, it had felt Prestwich could still get back into it. Now it was a huge mountain they had to climb.

Despite the deficit, Heys didn’t give up and a goal mouth scramble on 75 minutes, after a corner on the right, Gabriel Mooney-Munoz's shot came off the outside of the post. It just seemed like it was one of those days!

The day was summed up really in the 77th minute when Matt Davies free kick from around 25 yards went wrong, as it went harmlessly wide.

The home side’s best chance of the game came in the 83rd minute where debutant Kieron Molloy went through on the keepers left, hit a shot hard across the goal, but Hall saved it well to put it behind for a corner.

The final chance of the game for Heys was in the second minute of stoppage time when Pa Jenkins struck from 20 yards out, but it went over the bar. Heys kept knocking at the door, but Wythenshawe's tight defence kept the home side at bay through to the final whistle, much to their fans’ delight as they leapfrogged Bury to go to the summit of the league whilst Prestwich missed the chance to go back into the top five.

Team: Russell Saunders, Jacob Ngoy, Nathan Emery, Pa Jenkins, Jack McConnell, Aaron Chalmers, Sam Olawumi, Connor Brotherton, Rio Wilson-Heyes, Matt Davies, Dylan Fitzgerald Subs: Saidkhon Khamidov (for Olamuwi 78 mins), Gabriel Mooney-Munoz (for Fitzgerald 74 mins), Harvey Roberts (for Emery 78 mins), Kieron Molloy (for Wilson-Heyes 60 mins), Connor Martin (for Brotherton 74 mins)