ATHERTON TOWN 0, PRESTWICH HEYS 0: Atherton Town goalkeeper James Taylor put in a man-of-the-match performance on Saturday, against a Heys side that had ironically tried to sign him last season.

They also missed chances that could have won them this game and closed the gap on the top two in the Manchester League Premier Division table.

The pitch at Atherton was in excellent condition considering the amount of rain that had fallen, and Heys made one change to the side that beat East Manchester, with top goal-scorer Andy Sensale replacing the holidaying Mark Westhead.

And it was Sensale who nearly opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a superb strike that brought an excellent save out of Taylor.

Heys continued to take the game to Atherton and with the outstanding Lee Connell pulling the strings in the middle of the park, well supported by Damian Keegan, it looked only a matter of time before they would take the lead.

But chances for Howson, Sensale and Fielding were denied by a combination of good goalkeeping and poor decision making.

Atherton were not prepared to let Heys have it all their own way and it was James Morley who prevented Town from taking the lead, with a goal-saving tackle.

A 30-yard strike then had goal written all over it until it dipped away at the last minute, leaving the score 0-0 at half-time.

Heys began the second half with wave after wave of attacks on the Atherton goal, with Andy Sensale going closest on the hour, when his superb lob came back off the bar.

Connell forced another save out of Taylor before Dale Fielding hit the post with the keeper beaten, but Smith, the Atherton full back, made a tremendous block to keep the scores level.

Heys introduced Abbid Uddin, back after injury, and Rhys Hardie to try and break the deadlock and it was Uddin who nearly emerged the hero, but he flashed a header wide, and as hard as they tried Heys could not break Town down, and it was two points lost rather than one point gained.

HEYS: Caldwell, Hutchinson, Cunningham, Walters, Doran, Morley, Howson, Connell, Sensale, Fielding, Keegan. Subs: Uddin, Orrell, Hardie.