The Pitmen ended their pre-season programme on a high this afternoon as they confidently defeat National League visitors Boston United with a goal in each half

​

With the new National League North season looming large next weekend, manager Kelvin Davis was keen to name his strongest available side for today's game, playing with a back three which allowed Dylan Mottley-Henry and Jay Fitzmartin to push up high on each flank. Up front, Jamie Cooke supported Aaron Jarvis, who returned to the starting XI ahead of Ahkeem Rose

​

Boston - also looking to finish their pre-season strongly ahead of next week's National League opener against Aldershot Town - named a strong side for their first visit to Keys Park since 2019, with manager Paul Hurst fielding new signings Jake Rooney, Jamie Grimes and Niall Canavan after the trio had recently put pen to paper at the Jakemans Community Stadium

​

Another pleasant afternoon and another excellent pre-season crowd of just shy of a thousand saw the hosts make a strong start to the game, with captain Dale Gorman playing a delightful ball through into the path of Cooke in the third minute, only for the in-form forward to delay his shot and allow goalkeeper Louis Chadwick to make a smothering save

​

Fitzmartin was straight into the action down the left flank, making one of his mazy runs inside in the sixth minute after he had dispossessed Sai Sachdev and taken the ball into the Boston penalty area, only for his attempted cross to be turned behind for a corner kick

​

It was Fitzmartin himself who tried his luck from range in the tenth minute, twisting and turning on the edge of the Boston penalty area as he stole a yard on Sachdev before striking a firm rising shot well over Chadwick's crossbar

​

Boston were neat and tidy in possession, looking to catch the Pitmen on the counter; in the thirteenth minute, Jack Holmes played a neat pass through to Terrell Agyemang, who took the ball into the penalty area down the right before drilling a low shot across goal and wide of Sam Hornby's far post

​

Jarvis was doing a sterling job in giving the Boston centre-backs problems in the air, regularly winning knock-downs for the likes of Omari Sterling-James and Cooke to run onto. On twenty minutes, Sterling-James made a flying run down the right and stood up a fine cross for the striker, who couldn't get enough power behind his flick header and headed tamely into the arms of Chadwick

​

More trickery from Fitzmartin three minutes later saw the winger leave Sachdev in his wake with another fine run down the left as he cut inside from the left and drove into the box, where he ran into the veteran defender Canavan's no-nonsense clearance before he could lay the ball off to Jarvis

​

Four minutes later, Canavan picked up that rarest of things in a pre-season friendly, as the former Barrow man was booked for a crude challenge on Jarvis just outside the Boston penalty area. Sterling-James took the resultant kick but lifted his right-footed effort over Chadwick's crossbar

​

The Pitmen were rewarded for their counter-attacking play with the game's opening goal on thirty-three minutes; Cooke played the ball out to Fitzmartin on the left, who took on Rooney before clipping an inch-perfect cross into the box, where the incoming Cooke headed confidently past Chadwick from twelve yards out with a well-placed effort beyond the stopper. It was Cooke's fifth goal of pre-season and his third in the last four games

​

Back came the visitors, with Rooney probing down the right on thirty-seven minutes and crossing for Agyemang, who was denied a chance by some excellent defending from the impressive Aaron Harper-Bailey at the near post to head the ball away from danger

​

Boston's best chance of the game so far came down the right once more just a minute before the break as Rooney played Sachdev through on goal, wth the Sheffield United loanee looking to fire past Hornby from an angle and forcing the stopper into a fine save to turn the ball away at his near post

​

The hosts could be fairly pleased with their efforts so far, having had the better of the chances and were good value for their half-time lead. The Pilgrims elected to make a double change at the break as triallist G replaced veteran striker Lennell John-Lewis and Ben Hammond came on in midfield ahead of Holmes

​

The Pitmen continued to have the better of the play early on in the second period, with Mottley-Henry making a ramaging run down the right on fifty minutes before pulling the ball back to Sterling-James on the edge of the box, who took too long to decide his next step and was dispossessed by Canavan

​

The Pitmen were handed a glorious chance to extend their lead on fifty-five minutes as they were awarded the first of what would be two penalties in the game. It was Fitzmartin causing all of the problems again down the left, and he once again left Sachdev in his wake with some more wing wizardry, leaving the right-back with little option but to pull down the former FC United man as he entered the penalty area. Jarvis stepped up to take the spot-kick and struck a well-hit penalty high to Chadwick's left, only for the stopper to make a superb flying save to push Jarvis's shot away from goal

​

Sachdev's hapless afternoon got even worse just after the hour mark as he joined team-mate Canavan in the referee's book for bringing Fitzmartin down in full flight as the winger shaped to shoot just outside the box. Sterling-James once again assumed responsibility for the free-kick and forced Chadwick into a flying save, with the goalkeeper diving full-length to his right to push the former Hereford man's shot away from goal

​

Midway through the second half, both sides elected to make changes to their personnel; Jai Curran-Nicholls, Sonny Sharples and Rose all came on for the hosts as they replaced Maher, Gorman and Cooke respectively. For Boston, Sachdev was taken off - presumably before he was sent off - and replaced by Connor Teale, whilst Kai Mauro came on for Lewis Shipley 

​

Rose's introduction was to prove an instant hit as last season's top scorer won the Pitmen their second penalty kick of the afternoon just three minutes after coming on. Jarvis's flick on to Rose saw the forward clattered to the floor by Rooney as the pair challenged for the high ball, with the referee incredibly awarding the home side a penalty kick when the contact seemed to have clearly taken place outside the box. Nevertheless, Rose stepped up and confidently fired straight down the centre of goal to double the Pitmen's lead and make it two in three for the ex-Boston striker 

​

With the security of a second goal, the Pitmen could afford to make more changes on seventy-three minutes as Dan Turner came on for the excellent Fitzmartin and former Southampton youngster Will Merry replaced Sterling-James

​

Boston's final two changes of the afternoon came on eighty-two minutes as George Ward came on for Rooney and Liam Clayton replaced Tom Cursons in midfield

​

Another one of the Pitmen's scholars was given a chance to impress late on in the game as Alfie Gibson came on up front in place of Jarvis with six minutes of play left

​

Boston went close to reducing the deficit on eighty-six minutes as Teale's deep free-kick from the right was met by the head of Ward, only for the ex-Buxton man to head just wide of the post from close-range

​

A minute later, Sharples delivered a fine cross into the box from the left that was met by the head of Harper-Bailey, only for Chadwick to make a regulation save at his far post

​

There was to be a late, and largely pointless change between the sticks for the Pitmen on eighty-seven minutes as Xander Parke came on for the last three minutes for Hornby

​

A satisfying afternoon for the Pitmen, both in terms of performance and result, as they confidently swept aside their higher-level opponents with relative ease. Only one defeat in six pre-season games sees Davis's side enter the world of step two in rude health, with the Pitmen confident of getting their season off to a flyer when they make the trip to South Wales to face Merthyr Town - the first league meeting between the two sides in over sixteen years

 
Hednesford Town: Hornby (Parke 88), Langston, Cooke (Rose 65), Gorman © ▆ (Sharples 65), Jarvis (Gibson 84), Sterling-James (Merry 73), Mottley-Henry, Harper-Bailey, Kinsella, Fitzmartin (Turner 73), Maher (Curran-Nicholls 65)    Subs unused: none

Boston United: Chadwick, Sachdev ▆ (Teale 66), Shipley (Mauro 66), Canavan ▆, Holmes (Hammond 45), Cursons (Clayton 82), John-Lewis (Triallist G 45), Rooney (Ward 82), Grimes ©, Agyemang, Pozo ▆      Subs unused: Faxon, Lankshear, Raikhy

​