Hednesford Town

Gibson (11), Doyle-Charles (72), Williams (90+4)

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Ashton United

​Spooner (24), Osei (33), (42)​​

(1) 3

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(3) 3

4,016

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Joe Doyle-Charles

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W W W D L W W W W D

 

Stockton Town (H) 28.4.26

The Pitmen miss out on the Northern Premier League title by two points as they have to be content with a high-scoring draw at home to Ashton United on the final day of the regular season

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Going into today's final round of matches, Kevlin Davis's side knew that anything other than a huge win over Ashton would not be enough to snatch the title from Hebburn Town, who themselves only needed a win over Rushall Olympic to clinch the crown. Davis elected to stick with the same XI that had won their last four matches to give them an outside shot of the title today, welcoming the fit-again Elliott Johnson to the squad as one of the substitutes

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Ashton's season had meandered to a halt many weeks previously, with Steve Cunningham's side marooned in the wasteland of mid-table since before Easter and with nothing left to play for for the final six games of the campaign.  Cunningham also decided to stick with an unchanged side, keeping faith in the same XI that played out a 1-1 draw against Guiseley last weekend

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The Hednesford public once again showed their strong backing for chairman Craig Gwilt and the club, with over 4,000 once again cramming into Keys Park for this final push towards the title. On an absolutely beautiful and warm late spring afternoon, the mammoth crowd were treated to a superbly choreographed and highly impressive pyro show before kick-off, akin to the sort of glamour you get in Premier League pre-games

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On the pitch, the hosts made a very strong start to proceedings as they looked to lay down an early marker to try and unnerve Hebburn early on; Jake Jervis was first to test the reflexes of goalkeeper Jordan Eastham in the second minute, latching onto a cross from Omari Sterling-James before striking a low shot at goal from six yards out that the stopper managed to parry away down to his left. The ball ran back to Jervis, whose rebound was blocked before he tried to bundle the ball home whilst on the floor with a scuffed effort that was cleared

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A quickly taken corner kick from Chris Hussey almost caught Ashton out in the fifth minute as he rolled it into the feet of Sterling-James, whose effort at goal was blocked by the outrushing Ashton defenders

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Jermaine Hylton had started the game well down the left, making several powerful runs down the wing. His run on seven minutes saw him take the ball past Spencer Knight and look to cross for Gibson, only for skipper Sean Newton to boot the ball behind for a Hednesford corner kick

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Skipper Joe Doyle-Charles was next to try his luck for the hosts in the tenth minute, striking a low shot at goal from the edge of the penalty area but saw his effort also blocked by some last-ditch defending from the visitors

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The Pitmen finally opened up the Ashton defence with a deserved opening goal of the afternoon a minute later, with Gibson grabbing his eleventh goal of the season from long range; seizing upon a loose pass from Darius Osei, Gibson was afforded time and space just outside the penalty area to line his shot up before firing low into the left-hand corner of Eastham's net with a powerful low strike along the floor. Advantage Hednesford

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Player of the year-elect Ollie Harrison was next to go close for the hosts on sixteen minutes after the Ptmen were handed a free-kick on halfway following a foul on Jervis from Knight; Hussey's deep ball into the box was met by the giant figure of Harrison, whose glancing effort skipped just wide of Eastham's right-hand post as he was put under pressure by Jason Gilchrist

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Ashton were struggling to keep up with the Pitmen's early play, allowing the home side to dictate the tempo of play with some quick one-touch passing in and around the Reds' box. The Pitmen were also proving to be the more tenacious of the two sides, with Ashton not winning any of the marginal battles as yet against the likes of Doyle-Charles and Liam Kinsella in midfield. Gibson looked to race in behind the Ashton defence on twenty minutes with a late run in behind Newton to reach a pass from Hylton, only to be pulled back by a late offside flag from the assistant on the Wimblebury side of the ground

 

Three minutes later, Jervis went within a whisker of putting the hosts two goals up as Sterling-James showed great footwork down the right to trick his way into space and drive a low cross into the six-yard box, where Jervis arrived late at the far post but just couldn't get a toe on the ball and turn it into the empty net from close range

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This was to prove a costly miss for the Pitmen as Ashton drew themselves level with a minute through Spooner; some unusually casual defending from the hosts saw Jamie Morgan and George Wllams stand off midfield man Callum Spooner, who picked the ball up on the left-hand corner of the penalty area from Osei and was given time and space to line up a shot and drill his effort across Tony Breeden and into the far corner of the net. A good strike, no doubt, but an entirely avoidable one from a Hednesford perspective

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This leveller gave Ashton a lift, with the men in grey seeing more of the ball as the half wore on as their confidence grew and the Pitmen's nervousness increased. Good play down the right from Al Byrne saw him send Jamie Hardy away down the flank on twenty-seven minutes, with a low cross into the box towards Gilchrist cut out by the covering Harrison for an Ashton corner

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Ashton defender Josh Doherty picked up the afternoon's first yellow card from referee Mr Karia on the half hour after he had brought Sterling-James down to the right of the visitors' penalty area. Hussey and Sterling-James stood over the resultant free-kick, with Hussey not getting enough air on his curling left-footed effort as he hit the Ashton wall and the danger could be cleared

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With news breaking of a goal for Hebburn in their game with Rushall, the Pitmen's confidence seemed to visibly drain both on and off the pitch as Ashton took full advantage with their second goal of the afternoon. More poor tracking back and a lack of being touch-tight on players from the hosts saw Hardy stand up a cross that Osei was allowed to nod past Breeden from close range and hand the visitors a shock lead

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The Pitmen's play had gone to pieces at the juncture, with even simple passes now not finding white shirts as Ashton were suddenly winning all of the marginal tussles around the pitch that they hadn't been winning earlier in the half and pressing the hosts higher up the pitch. As evidence of this, Jervis wasted a great chance to catch Ashton on the counter on thirty-five minutes as he clipped what should have been a simple pass out to Sterling-James high over the head of the playmaker and straight into touch on the right-hand side, incurring the wrath of the packed Wimblebury terrace

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Eastham was called upon once more to keep the Pitmen out on thirty-eight minutes, making a superb instinctive save to deny Morgan that long-overdue first Hednesford goal after Hussey stood up a cross from the left that Morgan headed goalwards from eight yards out at the far post

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Sterling-James's recent form in front of goal deserted him two minutes later as the forward showed excellent feet to turn past two challenges on the right-hand corner of the penalty area before he looked to curl a left-footed effort into the far corner of the net from twenty yards out, only to see his shot flash narrowly past the post, with Eastham desperately trying to get across his goal

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With only a couple of minutes left at the end of the first half, Ashton left the Pitmen with a mountain to climb as they grabbed a third goal of the afternoon, once again handed to them due to some uncharacteristically poor defending from the home side; Callum Rowe was allowed to make his way into the penalty area unchallenged, firing in a shot at goal from fifteen yards out was parried away by Breeden down to his right but only into the path of the incoming Osei, who had all the time in the world to turn the rebound into the empty net as Morgan desperately tried to block his effort

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The final action of the half saw Hylton make a driving run into the box from the right, drifting inside before striking an angled effort at goal that he lifted over Eastham's crossbar

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It had very much been a half of two halves, with the Pitmen playing some sensational stuff in the opening fifteen minutes before completely falling off the cliff in the final twenty minutes of the half, courtesy of some dreadfully scruffy and lacklustre defending. Davis elected to make two attacking substitutions at the break as he looked for a way back into the game as Jervis was replaced by Ahkeem Rose and the disappointing Hylton made way for Dom McHale on the left flank

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A good run from Knight down the right opened up the Hednesford defence on forty-nine minutes, clipping a cross into the box that was met by Osei at the far post, only for the goalscorer to glance his effort well wide of goal under pressure from Morgan

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Kinsella entered Mr Karia's notebook a minute later as the combative former Swindon Town midfielder was carded for bringing down Spooner in the centre circle to hand the Robins a free-kick

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With the sun blazing down on the Keys Park turf, the game was reduced to a more pedestrian pace than the first period; both sets of players were happy to keep the ball and manage their energy levels on the large Keys Park pitch, especially after such a long, hard season. The Pitmen's substitutions had failed to give them the lift that they were looking for going into then second half, with McHale lively on the ball but unable to create any openings against a well-drilled Ashton defence

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On fifty-six minutes, McHale made a marauding run right across the width of the pitch from left to right, gliding past four players before playing Morgan into space down the right flank - his low cross into the path of Rose at the near post was cut out by Newton for a corner kick to the hosts

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A period of pressure in and around the Ashton penalty area from the Pitmen on sixty-two saw them earn back-to-back corners, with Hussey's inswinging ball in from the right claimed by Eastham ahead of both Harrison and Rose

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Midway through the second half, and perhaps with one eye on a looming play-off semi-final on Tuesday night, the Pitmen made their third change of the afternoon as Sterling-James was taken off and replaced by Dan Trickett-Smith

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Knight was again a willing runner on the overlap down the right for Ashton, making a darting run in behind the stretched Hednesford defence on sixty-eight minutes as Hardy lifted the ball over the top and into space. However, his effort at goal lacked any power and was saved by Breeden at his near post

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A minute later, another Hussey corner from the right was headed downwards by Harrison towards goal, forcing Burke into a reactionary clearance out of his own six-yard box with Gibson lurking on the rebound

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The Pitmen finally lifted the deflated atmosphere within Keys Park on seventy-two minutes as Doyle-Charles grabbed himself a rare, rare goal to bring his side back into the game. Hussey's ball over the top sent Rose clear of the Ashton defence, only for Eastham to deny the Pitmen's top scorer a goal with a fine block with his legs; the ball ran kindly for the incoming Doyle-Charles, who took a touch before firing into the roof of the net from twelve yards out to reduce the arrears

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Gibson had struggled to keep in touch with the game after his early strike and was left frustrated once more on seventy-five minutes as he chested down a pass from Hussey and took the ball into the box, onyl to see his scuffed effort diverted behind by Knight for a corner kick

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Four minutes later, Gibson picked up a yellow card from Mr Karia for dissent after complaining about not getting a decision going his way by the match official after a coming-together with Newton just outside the Ashton box

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With eight minutes remaining, the Pitmen made another bold double change, with Johnson coming on for Kinsella and centre-back Ryan Wynter brought on in place of the recently-booked Gibson; Wynter was sent on with the instruction to play up front as the target man, reverting to a position he started his career in before being converted to a defender at Chasetown back in 2019

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A minute later, Ashton made their first change of the afternoon as they looked to hold on to their slim advantage, with goalscorer Osei replaced by Manasse Mampala

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McHale was the latest player in a white shirt to receive a caution from Mr Karia straight after the restart as the Magic Man was booked for tripping up Josh Doherty just inside the Hednesford half

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Eastham looked to protect his side's slender lead on eighty-six minutes, making a good save to deny Trickett-Smith as Ashton struggled to clear their lines from a Doyle-Charles cross, with the substitute striking a half-volley at goal from the edge of the box that was straight at the Ashton stopper

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The six minutes of added time were largely played inside the Ashton third of the pitch, with the Pitmen finally grabbing a barely-deserved equaliser four minutes into the extra time; Doyle-Charles swung in a fanciful cross from the right aimed towards Rose, who was beaten to the ball by Knight; however, the defender could only divert the ball straight into the path of Williams, who grabbed his first Hednesford goal as he swept a first-time shot beyond the reach of Easham and into the net from twelve yards out

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With the final action of an end-to-end afternoon, Ashton made a late double change as George Chmiel came on in midfield for Gilchrist and veteran target man Tom Denton - a thorn in plenty of Hednesford sides for North Ferriby United many moons ago - made his final ever appearance before retirement as he replaced Hardy

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An entertaining afternoon for the neutral, no doubt, with the Pitmen clawing back a draw in the latter stages of the game to end their season on seventy-seven points. It has been a successful return to step three for the Pitmen, finishing the campaign only two points adrift of champions Hebburn in the end, but with a feeling of 'what could have been' over the course of the nine months. Attention quickly turns to Tuesday night, with the Pitmen entertaining fifth-placed Stockton Town at Keys Park for a place in the final, where the winners will play either FC United of Manchester or Warrington Rylands

Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan Hussey, Kinsella ▆ (Johnson 82), Harrison, Williams, Hylton (McHale 45), Doyle-Charles ©, Gibson ▆ (Wynter 82), Sterling-James (Trickett-Smith 64), Jervis (Rose 45)      Subs unused: none

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Ashton United: Eastham, Spooner, Doherty ▆, Newton ©, Knight, Cogill, Byrne (Taylor 83), Rowe, Gilchrist (Chmiel 90+3), Osei (Mampala 74), Hardy (Denton 90+3)       Sub unused: Janneh

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