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Chris Hussey

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Billericay Town (A) 30.9.25

The two sides will have to go again at Billericay's The New Lodge ground on Tuesday night as they play out a fairly drab and uninspiring goalless draw in today's F.A. Cup third qualifying round at Keys Park

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With three wins in a row, eleven goals scored and none conceded, Hednesford manager Gavin Hurren elected to stick with the winning formula for a fifth game in succession with the same XI that had put together this mini run of form. Forward Niall Watson and club captain Joss Labadie both returned to the squad after a spell on the sidelines, taking their places amongst the seven substitutes

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Isthmian Premier League side Bilelricay were currently sitting in mid-table after a 3-0 defeat to Brentwood Town last weekend. New Blues manager Danny Scopes - appointed a couple of weeks ago following the departure of Gary McCann - made three changes to his side for today's long trip up to Staffordshire as Tommy Davis, Liam Nash and new loan signing from Colchester United Max Jolliffe, came in for Ryan Blackman, Femi Akinwande and Elliott Long

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Another hugely impressive crowd of just over 2,000 packed Keys Park for today's cup tie, with the winners only ninety minutes away from the potential for a plum first round tie against League One opposition. In keeping with many of their games this term so far, the Pitmen looked to get onto the front foot early on as Jonny Edwards struck a low, bobbling effort at goal from just inside the Billericay penalty area in the very first minutes that former Leiston keeper Sam Donkin easily fielded

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Billericay's first attack of the game saw them go close to an opener themselves in the second minute; an inswinging corner kick from Jack Evans was headed goalwards by Frankie Merrifield, who was allowed a free header at the back post. Fortunately for the hosts, Simeon Maye was on hand to head the danger away, heading it back over his own crossbar for another corner

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Chris Hussey was wasteful with the Pitmen's first corner kick of the afternoon in the seventh minute, getting a little too much on his ball in towards Ollie Harrison and playing his ball in from the right out of play on the opposite side of the ground

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Billericay had set up well, with two banks of four making space limited to the Hednesford attackers on the counter. The visitors' well-organised back line caught the Pitmen out on ten minutes, with the flag going up against Ahkeem Rose as he looked to get on the end of a pass from Hussey down the left

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Good play from Hussey five minutes later saw him take the ball into the Billericay half before playing it off to Edwards, who in turn played a slide-rule pass through to the in-form Ahkeem Rose, who made a strong run in behind the Blues defence but fired high and wide of goal from a tight angle

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On twenty minutes, Rose was brought down by skipper Matt Johnson, handing the Pitmen a free-kick on halfway. Tony Breeden played the ball out to Hussey on the left, who in turn quickly played Dan Turner into space behind Ike Orji. His low cross into the box was aimed at Edwards, but was cleared by the boot of Davis at his near post before Edwards could turn the ball home

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Harrison went close to adding to his goal at Leek Town ten days ago on twenty-four minutes, latching onto a loose ball and firing just over the crossbar from twelve yards out after Hussey's deep corner kick from the left had bobbled around the Billericay penalty area before finally dropping at the feet of the defender, whose swivel and shot cleared the upright

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Shortly before the half-hour mark, another corner ball in from Hussey from the right was headed back into the danger zone by Ryan Wynter, but before Rose could turn the ball goalwards he was pulled up by referee Mr Jones after a foul on Jay Porter in the build-up

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Bllericay had done well to soak up any Hednesford pressure in the first half hour of the game and went closest to opening the scoring on thirty-four minutes as Breeden was called upon for the first time in anger; Evans delivered another corner into the box from the right that was flicked on by Scott to Nash, whose turn and shot at the far post forced Breeden into an instinctive save down low, turning the ball away via a touch off the outside of the post

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The Pitmen broke quickly from the resultant corner kick, with Dom McHale and Edwards combining well to play Hussey into space down the left. The defender elected to take a touch rather than shoot first time, allowing Scott to get back and make a very timely block to turn the ball behind for a corner kick

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McHale looked to conjure up something special from another Hussey corner kick on thirty-seven minutes as he picked up Scott's headed clearance on the edge of the penalty area, twisting and turning the ball onto his left foot but seeing his low driven effort blocked by the onrushing Billericay defence

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There was a long hold-up in play on forty-two minutes as Donkin came off worst in a challenge with Wynter following a Hussey corner kick on the right, with the stopper requiring a lengthy spell of treatment before the game could restart

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Orji gave the Pitmen problems at the other end of the pitch with a couple of minutes remaining in the first half, getting the better of Hussey down the right and pulling the ball back from the byeline, which was put behind by Harrison for a corner kick under pressure from Jolliffe

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Billericay finished the half strongly in added time, forcing successive corner kicks out of the Pitmen on the right that had to be dealt with by Wynter's presence on both occasions. The second one was hacked clear by the centre-back at the far post under pressure from Scott, flinching in pain as he completed the clearance to deny the Billericay number six a free header at goal from Jolliffe's deep ball in

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It had been a largely uninspiring attacking display from the hosts thus far at the break, with the Pitmen's attacking four struggling to find much in the way of space in behind a well-drilled Billericay defence. Indeed, the Blues had probably shaded the first period on clear-cut chances, with Breeden denying Nash with the best opening of the half. The hosts were forced into a half-time change as Wynter was taken off with the knock picked up late in the half and replaced by Elliott Johnson; this forced the hosts into a reshuffle at the back as Harrison and Hussey moved across to cover

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The game had barely got going before there was a lengthy stoppage on forty-seven minutes as Orji spent a considerable amount of time on the ground receiving what appeared to be an excessive amount of treatment from the Billericay physio before climbing back to his feet a full five minutes after going down. Despite many expecting Orji to go off as Blackman was being prepared, the full-back came back onto the field of play and continued with the game

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Rose did well to force Scott into handing the Pitmen a corner kick on fifty-three minutes after chasing down Harrison's long-raking ball forward, with Hussey's ball in eventually cleared at the far post by the Billericay defence despite some dithering from Donkin in the build-up

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Edwards felt that he had a legitimate shout for a penalty kick for the hosts on fifty-seven minutes as the big striker took a tumble in the penalty area under pressure from Scott, only for Mr Jones to wave away the half-hearted protests from the men in white

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On the hour mark, Scott picked up the game's first yellow card for bringing Turner down midway inside the Billericay half, prompting ironic cheers from the home fans who had felt that Mr Jones had been a little too generous in his awards towards the visitors so far

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Two minutes later, Rose almost capitalised on an error from Donkin as he chased down the goalkeeper and managed to block Donkin's attempted clearance, only for the ball to ricochet back off Rose and out of play, rather than fall kindly at his feet

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A minute later, Donkin was called into action to make a save from Turner as Morgan stood up a cross to the far post from the right that was met by the head of Turner, whose looping effort was pushed away by Donkin as he clambered back across his goal to make the save

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Midway through the second half, the hosts made their second change of the game as Watson made his return to the side by replacing Edwards, who had once again flattered to deceive up front with another limp attacking display. This saw Watson move out to the left and Turner drift into the middle as the number nine

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Joe Doyle-Charles went close to opening the scoring on sixty-nine minutes, forcing Donkin into a fantastic save down to his right after McHale's deep cross was headed back into the midfielder's path by Watson, with Doyle-Charles striking a firm low shot at goal from fifteen yards out that was heading for the bottom corner of the net until Donkin's intervention

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McHale also went close for the Pitmen a minute later, stepping inside of a challenge from Matt Johnson before attempting a curling effort from the right-hand corner of the box that drifted just wide of the far post

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The Pitmen were having their best spell of the game so far at this point and you did feel that there may be a late winner in the offing. A quick counter from the Pitmen on seventy-five minutes saw McHale and Doyle-Charles link up well to send Turner away down the left, with the former Chester man jinking inside before laying the ball off to Rose, who was beaten to the punch by some alert defending from Davis as the defender cleared his lines

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Two minutes later, more good build-up play from the Pitmen saw Elliott Jonson stride forward and deliver a cross that was headed out by Scott as far as Turner, whose first-time effort was blocked. The ball ran kindly to McHale, whose fierce follow-up effort was deflected behind for a corner kick to the home side

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Wth ten minutes remaining, both sides made changes heading into the closing stages of the game; the Pitmen made a double substitution as Jake Jervis replaced Turner and Labadie came into midfield ahead of Maye. At the same time, Jolliffe's impressive debut came to an end as the youngster was brought off by Billericay and replaced by Blackman

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Jervis's first act was to win the Pitmen a free-kick in a dangerous position on eighty-three minutes after being fouled by Orji thirty yards from the Billericay goal. Hussey was again, strangely and uncharacteristically, off-target with his ball into the box as he got his laces underneath the free-kick and lifted it high over the heads of everyone in the penalty area and out of play on the far byeline

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A powerful run into the box from Rose on eighty-six minutes saw the burly striker take the ball past Evans before taking a tumble under Scott's strong challenge. The striker looked quizzically at Mr Jones, but the match official saw nothing wrong and Billericay could clear their lines 

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Donkin was forced into another good save sixty seconds later as he pushed Mchale's goalbound effort away from danger as he dived to his right to palm the Magic Man's low shot from just outside the box away from goal for a corner kick

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Hussey's corner into the box was headed away by Scott but only as far as McHale, who once again worked the ball onto his favoured left boot and struck another effort at goal that was deflected behind for yet another Hednesford corner kick

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With the game ticking into a mammoth eleven minutes of added time, Scopes took the opportunity to shore up his side as he brought on Rio Oudnie-Morgan for the remaining moments, bringing off Nash in midfield

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In the first of these added minutes, Donkin again came to his side's rescue with another fine save to deny Doyle-Charles, pushing the midfielder's shot away at a comfortable height to his right after a cross from Elliott Johnson was cleared as far as the midfielder

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Donkin's bid to run the clock down earned him a yellow card in the third minute of added time as the former St. Albans City stopper took far too long to take a goal kick and was booked by Mr Jones for doing so

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Despite the Pitmen's dominance in the final twenty minutes of the game, Billericay very nearly nicked the tie in the fourth added minute as Labadie's slip allowed Nash to take the ball on, striking a well-hit effort from twenty-five yards out that had Breeden scrambling across his box to palm away to his left

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The game continued to ebb and flow from end to end, with Rose getting on the end of a cross from Morgan in the sixth added minute but driving his rushed shot wide of goal from eighteen yards out

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The final action of the game saw Nash sent clean through of the Hednesford defence down the left, with McHale doing an unbelievable job to get himself back in front of the striker and make an absolutely crucial last-ditch challenge to stop him from firing past a completely exposed Breeden

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A frustrating and rather flat display from the Pitmen, who will now have to make the long return journey down to Essex on Tuesday night after failing to really make their mark in the game for most of the first seventy minutes. Monday's draw for the final qualifying round will give both sides an impetus to go on and complete the job in midweek, with the Pitmen then moving on to Saturday's F.A. Trophy tie at Southern Premier League Central table-toppers Harborough Town

Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Maye (Labadie 80), Hussey, Harrison, Wynter (E. Johnson 45), Rose, Doyle-Charles, Edwards (Watson 65), McHale ©, Turner  (Jervis 80)     Subs unused: Trickett-Smith, Freeman, Brown

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Billericay Town: Donkin ▆, Porter, M. Johnson ©, Davis, Scott ▆, Nash (Oudnie-Morgan 90), Merrifield (Cerulli 84), Orji, Evans, Miller-Rodney, Jolliffe (Blackman 80)      Subs unused: Abraham, Long, Panton, Okewoye

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