Red cards, sin bins and four goals as Shelley pick up point

MATTY WALLER extended his goalscoring streak to come to Shelley’s rescue at Prestwich Heys.

Now the 15-goal top scorer aims to notch for an eighth straight game when Garstang visit the Stafflex Arena tonight.

Shelley remain fourth the North West Counties First Division North after their 2-2 draw at sixth-placed Prestwich.

Waller netted 10 minutes from the end of an eventful game which featured two red cards for

Prestwich and two sin binnings for Shelley. Alex O’Keefe put the visitors ahead after 12 minutes when he sprinted clear down the left, cut inside and shot home.

But Prestwich levelled within seven minutes thanks to a deflected effort by Will Shawcross.

With Waller sin-binned, the home side stepped on the gas and had a spell of dominance despite the 33rd-minute dismissal of striker Francesco Frangillo after a clash with Antony Leech.

On the hour, Carlton Pownall became the second Shelley player to be sent to cool off for ten minutes, and while he was absent, Prestwich went in front through another deflected shot, this time from Jamie Hill. Shelley put their hosts under the cosh, and finally found a way through when Waller curled a shot home.

Prestwich had defender Oliver Hatfield-Banton sent off after a second bookable offence five minutes from time.

Shelley boss Ash Berry said: “It was a hard-fought draw. I thought the result was right, not a lot more to say. It was windy and a very heavy pitch made football difficult.”

Tonight’s opponents Garstang, who are 17th, didn’t play on Saturday due to the postponement of their scheduled home game against Cleator Moor Celtic.