AVRO shrug off defeat

Dale Cook (AVRO, left) battles for possession against Prestwich Heys.

AVRO 1, Prestwich Heys 3

AVRO’s bright start to the season in the Manchester League premier division may have been dimmed by defeat against Prestwich Heys at the Lancaster Club, but there was nothing gloomy about manager Rob Fuller’s post-match thoughts as he looked ahead to the coming months.

Fuller said: “Despite losing against Prestwich, we have still made a decent start to the season after winning promotion last time.

“I am fairly confident we can finish in the top five or six and we have silverware to chase as well.

“The important thing this season is for the club as a whole to become one unit instead of separate entities. We need to make sure that the reserve team and the first team are one and you can count the younger teams at the club into that whole.”

Although Heys are fancied to challenge strongly for the title, there was little between the two sides in a goalless first period.

If anything, AVRO shaded it in terms of goalscoring opportunities and could easily have led at the break.

Two goals in a four-minute spell shortly after the resumption put paid to AVRO hopes and, at that stage, Heys were justifying their end-of-season expectations.

Yet AVRO were right back in it just past the hour mark when Kyle White rifled home a free kick from the edge of the box.

The home side applied the pressure after White’s strike, but Heys showed their resilience before grabbing a match-clinching third goal with barely 15 minutes remaining.

AVRO: Whiston, Morris, White, Thornton, Gregson, Grimshaw, Malone, Fitzsimmons, Cooper, Barnes-Gott, Hampson. Subs: Cook, Woods.