The Pitmen got Saturday's home defeat to North Ferriby well and truly out of their system with a well-earned victory at mid-table Boston this Wednesday evening. In the process, they moved back into second place in the UniBond Premier League and gave them a chance to hit top spot again if they beat Witton Albion at Keys Park this Saturday

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Manager Dean Edwards was very much down to the bare bones and was only able to name three substitutes ahead of the game as recent departures, loans out and injuries started to bite for the visitors. The only change to the starting XI was in defence, where Anthony Maguire and Scott Stamps changed places to allow Maguire to return to left-back

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Hosts Boston had suffered their third home defeat of the season against Bradford (Pake Avenue) at the weekend to leave the Pilgrims marooned in mid-table ahead of tonight's clash. Manager Tommy Taylor made two changes to the side that had started on Saturday as Wes Parker and Stewart Talbot came in ahead of Liam Parker and Liam Green, who both dropped to the bench

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In was nearly a perfect start for the away side, with top scorer Tyrone Barnett almost adding to his six-goal tally with a header from Sean Platt's cross that just dipped over the crossbar inside the opening sixty seconds

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Boston produced a rally in reply, and the Pilgrim's top scorer Ollie Ryan tested the reflexes of Stuart Brock with a header that the stopper held easily just sixty seconds later

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From the very next attack, Brock had to be alert again as he made a full-length save to deny Jon Rowan, who had got on the end of a deep cross from Parker with a downward header

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The Pitmen settled into a rhythm after the early Boston pressure and played some neat football around the park. Mark Briggs was involved in all that was positive for the Pitmen, with the play suiting his passing style

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However, despite playing the neater football, the Pitmen fell behind on fifteen minutes, with Ryan grabbing another goal to add to his season's tally. Kieran Leabon's lofted ball caused panic in the Hednesford defence, allowing Ryan to race onto the ball and score from close range

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Skipper Ross Draper was his usual swashbuckling self, and his foul in the middle of the park earned him a yellow card four minutes later, meaning that he has now chalked up five cautions for the season and misses the visit of Cammell Laird to Keys Park at the end of the month

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The Pitmen refused to sit back and accept defeat and were level again within seven minutes of Ryan's effort. Ross Dyer, in need of a goal after a recent dry period in front of goal, got back on the goal trail in spectacular circumstances. A free-kick out on the right was played in by Sean Platt, finding Dyer at the far post. He chested the ball down before hitting a brilliant first-time volley past a bemused Martyn Margarson in the Boston goal

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The away side had their tails up and pushed Boston back in search of a second goal. Dyer, clearly relieved at scoring, looked a different player, causing Boston the kind of problems he has caused UniBond defences regularly over the past two seasons. He almost scored a carbon copy of his opener on the half-hour, but this time saw his volley miss the target completely

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Elliott Durrell was enjoying a far better game than Saturday's tired showing against North Ferriby, and he almost added to his recent goal glut with a clever chip over Margarson that only just missed the target

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Dyer was very much back to his old self as the half drew to a close, beating two defenders with a clever pull-back to Platt. Platt's cross found the oncoming Barnett, who pulled his shot wide of goal

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Dyer himself had a great chance to put the Pitmen into the lead just before half time, latching onto a Briggs ball before firing just wide with a turn and shot. He also headed just wide from Maguire's teasing cross

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Spurred on by their first-half performance, the Pitmen emerged with great purpose in the second half, and their positive approach reaped its reward ten minutes after the restart. A long ball up from Tom Marshall caught out a hesitant Boston defence, allowing Barnett to race through and take advantage of their indecision to prod the ball towards goal. Despite the presence of a defender on the line, the ball still ended up in the net

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The Pitmen were playing some good stuff, and Durrell almost put them out of sight of Boston five minutes later with a trademark long-range effort that only just missed

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Hednesford's positive play started to get to the Boston players, and three of their personnel were booked in quick succession as they started to lose their discipline. This came to a head with fifteen minutes remaining when Ryan Clarke was rightly shown a straight red card for a terrible challenge on Durrell

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Barnett was eager to add to his tally for the night and the campaign and was presented with another chance with ten minutes to go when Maguire played a through ball for him to run on to. He got his shot away but saw Magarson save well

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Durrell had received intensive treatment following Clarke's rash tackle, but could struggle on no more, and was replaced late on by Chad Sheppard as the Pitmen looked to run the clock down

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Leabon could have snatched a point for the home side late on, collecting a punch from Brock on the edge of the area before firing just wide of goal with a glut of players in front of him

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As it was, the Pitmen's defence held out for a fine victory, which puts the team back on track ahead of the visit of Witton to South Staffordshire at the weekend which will also be a chance to claim their first double of the season

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Boston United: Margarson, Parker (Beeson 70), Clarke ▆ (76), Bloomer, Farrell (Matthews 30), Melton ▆, Talbot ▆, Rowan, Leabon, Ryan, Froggatt ▆       Subs Unused: Parker, Millson, Green

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Hednesford Town: Brock, Platt, Maguire ▆, Gomes, Harvey, Marshall ▆, Briggs, Durrell (Sheppard 83), Barnett, Dyer, Draper © ▆      Subs Unused: Hall, Stamps

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