The Pitmen are almost put out of their misery this afternoon as Barwell inflict another heavy defeat on Danny Glover's men leaving it near-impossible for them to remain at step three with five games of the season remaining

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Having overseen an impressive run of recent form with only one defeat in the past five games, player/manager Glover elected to stick largely with the same side that had recorded the 1-0 win over Hitchin Town last weekend with Stanley Asomugha replacing Chay Tilt out wide as the only change of personnel for the visitors. New loan signing Fenton Heard - who had joined the club on transfer deadline day from West Bromwich Albion - had to be content with a place amongst the substitutes

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Barwell returned to Kirkby Road in the midst of an excellent recent run of form, although Ian King's men had seen their five-game unbeaten run ended by Alvechurch in midweek. King made three changes to his side for this afternoon's game as Ben Hart replaced ex-Pitman Kyle Rowley - who was unavailable as he was representing Arsenal in the FIFA esports Finals - whilst another ex-Hednesford man Shaquille Master came in for Jahvan Davidson-Miller and recent signing Layton Ndukwu was preferred to Sid Kerr

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The away side's recent mean streak in defence - three clean sheets in their past five games - was soon taken apart, however, as Barwell claimed the game's opening goal with the first goalmouth action of the afternoon in the fourth minute. Melis Bushaj and Master linked up well down the left wing as they doubled up on Lucas Yeomans, with Master's low cross into the penalty area stroked home by skipper Brady Hickey, who beat Ethan Patterson to the ball and fired past former Barwell loanee Oliver Basey from fifteen yards out

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Two minutes later, more neat play down the left from Master saw the winger turn inside of Yeomans and lay the ball off to Beck-Ray Enoru, who was deemed offside by the assistant on the far side of the pitch as he ran onto the pass

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The hosts had the ball in the net once more in the tenth minute as Josh Flanagan's ball was turned home by the free-running Hickey once more, only for another offside flag to deny the Barwell skipper his second goal of the afternoon

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Hickey sprayed a delightful ball out to Master on the left wing three minutes later, allowing the former Rushall winger to run at Yeomans once more. After checking onto his right foot, Master sent over a deep cross to the far post that evaded everyone in lime green who was making their way into the six-yard box

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On fifteen minutes, Steph Morley picked the ball up just to the left-hand side of the Barwell penalty area after a pass from Todd Parker but lifted his shot inches over Wycherley's crossbar

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An inswinging corner kick from Hickey three minutes later was aimed at Ndukwu at the near post, only for Basey to make a timely claim ahead of the former Leicester City man

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However, a poor error of judgement from Harvey Portman was to cost the Pitmen once more on twenty minutes as the youngster looked to head a long ball back to Basey, only for his attempted backward header to fall way short of the Birmingham City loanee and allow Enoru to race unchallenged in on goal before firing confidently past the young stopper to make it 2-0 to the hosts

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Midway through the first half, Hickey held off Agustien's challenge to play the ball into the path of Flanagan, who turned past Morley and drove his cross into the box where Master arrived late to fire high over the crossbar and into the netting behind Basey's goal

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On twenty-seven minutes, Graham came off worst in a clash with Hart and was left in a heap just outside the Barwell penalty area and required a lengthy spell of treatment before he could continue

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A minute later, Enoru showed veteran Morley a clean pair of heels down the right, getting to the byeline and pulling the ball back towards the incoming Hickey, only for Patterson to put the ball behind for a Barwell corner kick

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This was to prove to be Enoru's final involvement in the game as he was forced off a few moments later after picking up a knock and was replaced by Davidson-Miller

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Patterson picked up a pass from James McQuilkin from deep on thirty-seven minutes and was allowed time and space to take the ball fully thirty yards into the Barwell half before striking a firm low shot at goal that was blocked by Brown-Hill

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Despite offering very little as an attacking threat during the opening half of football, the Pitmen reduced the deficit on forty minutes as Asomugha won a free-kick out on the right as he was brought down by Bushaj in full flight. Agustien took the resultant free-kick and whipped the ball into the box, where Graham was on hand to head confidently past Wycherley from close range to make it 2-1

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The Pitmen finished the half strongly, buoyed by Graham's goal; Glover could have pulled his side level in the final minute of the half as he picked up a pass from Asomugha and drove into the penalty area before firing a low shot beyond the reach of Wycherley but also past the goalkeeper's right-hand post

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In the second minute of added time, Agustien looked to pick out Graham once more with another deep, inswinging free-kick from the right that was stabbed clear by Brown-Hill

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It had been an indifferent first forty-five minutes from the away side, who had once again looked shot-shy against a Barwell side who had seen more of the ball and had the better of the chances, but were still only a goal worse off despite this going into the second half

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The visitors made a strong start to the second half through a driving run from Graham two minutes after the restart, with the on-loan Kettering Town brought down by Ward in midfield. Agustien took the resultant free-kick but played his ball straight into the arms of Wycherley

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Two minutes later, McQuilkin's strong run into the Barwell third of the pitch was ended by a foul from Brown-Hill. Morley and Glover both took a look at the kick but it was skipper Morley who took a shot at goal twenty yards out, lifting his effort just over the crossbar

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Master was proving a tricky customer for the Pitmen against his former club, going close to adding to Barwell's tally on fifty-three minutes as he struck a rising shot at goal from thirty yards out that came back off the crossbar with Basey caught ball-watching

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Glover did well to win another flick-on against Brown-Hill on fifty-six minutes and play the ball into the path of Asomugha, only for the ball to bounce away from the former Alvechurch man on the 3G pitch and run through to Wycherley

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Barwell did put clear daylight between themselves and their visitors shortly before the hour mark as the Pitmen once again proved to be their own worst enemies at the back; a neat passage of play saw Enoru play Davidson-Miller through on goal with the Pitmen looking in vain for an offside flag against the forward. Basey came out of his goal to try and intercept the ball but only succeeded in tripping up the former Mickleover man. Rather than award a penalty kick for the foul, referee Mr Porter played an advantage that allowed Ndukwu to tuck home the rebound into the empty net

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The game was unravelling quickly for Glover's men, who conceded once more to Ndukwu within sixty seconds of the restart; picking the ball up just inside the Hednesford half, Ndukwu was given time and space to spot Basey way off his line and execute a fine lob over the head of the on-loan stopper and into the net from fully fifty yards out

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The shell-shocked Pitmen looked to minimise the damage inflicted by Ndukwu's brace as they made their first change of the game on sixty-two minutes with Heard being handed a debut in midfield in place of the ineffective Asomugha

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Davidson-Miller was handed another chance to add to Barwell's total a minute later as he was given time and space to drive a low shot in at goal from just outside the box but saw his effort whistle just past Basey's left-hand post

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Midway through the second half, Barwell made their second change of the game at left-back as Deen Master - the younger brother of Shaquille - came on in place of Bushaj

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More sloppy defending, this time from Yeomans, saw the full-back stroke a pass straight into the path of Shaquille Master on sixty-eight minutes, allowing the winger to fire narrowly over the crossbar with an angled drive from the left-hand corner of the penalty area

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Glover's race was run for the Pitmen on sixty-nine minutes, as the club's player/manager elected to remove himself from the field of play and was replaced by Tilt

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It was the substitute Master who went close to making it 5-1 on seventy-two minutes as he pulled his low shot from the left-hand side of the box inches wide of Basey's right-hand post as the stopper scrambled to get across his goal

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Right-back Micah Edwards was the first and only man to pick up a booking from Mr Porter on seventy-six minutes as the Barwell defender earned himself a yellow card for tripping up Graham on the edge of the penalty area. Morley took the free-kick but wasted his effort as he saw his shot blocked by the Barwell wall

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Barwell were not to be denied a fifth goal, however, as another quick break from the Master brothers on seventy-eight minutes saw Deen play Shaquille down the flank and beyond Yeomans, crossing low into the penalty area where Davidson-Miller applied the finish from close-range

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Veteran Agustien's indifferent afternoon was brought to an end before the game could restart as the 36-year-old was replaced by the younger legs of on-loan defender Ben Kaninda

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With nine minutes remaining, Barwell's final substitution of the game saw Shaquille Master afforded generous applause from the home supporters as he was replaced by Tiago Nassunculo

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Things threatened to get even worse for the Pitmen as Barwell were awarded a penalty kick three minutes later after Kaninda - who appeared to be fouled in the build-up - chased down Ndukwu before hauling the striker down just inside the penalty area. Despite the Pitmen's arguments about the previous foul on Kaninda, Mr Porter awarded the home side a penalty kick. Hickey stepped up and struck the bar with his spot-kick before turning the ball home on the rebound after it had dropped kindly to him. However, the goal was disallowed as Hickey had controlled the ball with his arm as he put the rebound away

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Basey partially atoned for his earlier error with a fine save on eighty-seven minutes, making a good save down to his right to push Nassunculo's goalbound effort around the post for a corner kick

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It had been a sobering afternoon for the away side, who had been punished for a variety of poor individual errors all afternoon long by the hosts and handed a defeat that leaves them technically relegated with only five games remaining. This will be confirmed next Saturday when they play host to Needham Market, with an impossible set of results now required in the final month of the season to save the Pitmen from the inevitable fate of step four in 2023-2024

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Barwell: Wycherley, Edwards ▆, Bushaj (D. Master 66), Brown-Hill, Hart, Ward, Enoru (Davidson-Miller 33), S. Master (Nassunculo 81), Ndukwu, Hickey ©, Flanagan       Subs Unused: Freeman, Warren

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Hednesford Town: Basey, Yeomans, Morley ©, Agustien (Kaninda 79), Patterson, Portman, McQuilkin, Parker, Glover (Tilt 69), Graham, Asomugha (Heard 62)    Sub Unused: Hartley, Williams

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