The Pitmen labour to a point at a cold and misty PRG Stadium @ Keys Park this afternoon as Reece Flanagan's late penalty kick rescued a draw for the hosts against Bromsgrove Sporting

 

Following Tuesday night's late defeat at home to league leaders Banbury United, manager Keenen Meakin-Richards rang the changes as Martin Riley was handed his Hednesford debut in place of Ben Bailey, Shaquille Master returned to the side in place of Carter Lycett and top scorer Landell replaced Courtney Richards

​

Bromsgrove made the short trip up the M5 off the back of seven unbeaten games, lifting the Rouslers up the league table into twelfth place, just three points behind their hosts. Former Hednesford midfielder Gavin Hurren had recently taken the reins as manager of Bromsgrove and made four changes to his side from the one that had started the 1-1 draw against local rivals Redditch United in midweek as Tom Taylor, Jack Newell, Demetri Brown and Jordan Goddard replaced Charlie Wise, Joel Kettle, Connor Taylor and Callum Ebanks

​

It had been an overcast day throughout Saturday, with thick fog descending on the ground before kick-off to make visibility poor under the floodlights. Both sides appeared to struggle with the overcast conditions in the early part of the game as both midfields saw plenty of the ball. It took until the eighth minute of the game for either side to show their hand as Bromsgrove produced a neat passage of one-touch passing down the right through Jamie Molyneux and Josh Dugmore, with Dugmore's cross headed back into the path of Goddard by Will Shorrock - his weakly struck left-footed effort from twelve yards out was easily saved by Oliver Basey in the Hednesford goal

​

In the eleventh minute, an out-swinging corner kick from Parker was met by skipper for the day Lewis Ison, only for the Rouslers' defence to smuggle the ball away from goal before Landell could react to the rebound

​

Five minutes later, the diminutive figure of Shorrock found a pocket of space just outside the Hednesford penalty area and took the ball past Wes Atkinson, only to see his low shot blocked by new boy Riley

​

It had been a low-quality encounter so far, with neither side looking to have the inspiration or ability to break down the opposition defence. The healthy 584-strong crowd had to wait until midway through the half for a chance of note as ex-Hednesford man Demetri Brown got a brief glance at goal after picking up a pass from Goddard but pulled his effort well wide of goal from twenty yards out

​

The combative Landell picked up yet another yellow card to add to his total for the season in the twenty-eighth minute as he pulled Joe Willis down in midfield and was shown a yellow card by referee Mr Nolan

​

The Pitmen responded with a break from midfield through Todd Parker in the twenty-ninth minute, playing a neat pass into the feet of Riley O'Sullivan, whose shot on the run just on the edge of the Bromsgrove penalty area took a deflection off Dugmore before being held by goalkeeper Aaron Clayton

​

Left-back Tom Armitage did well to wriggle his way past Dugmore's challenge on the half-hour mark and look to cross for the unmarked O'Sullivan but found Newell in the way with a timely challenge to concede a corner kick to the Pitmen. The resultant flag-kick from Parker was aimed at Josh Endall at the far post, but Tom Taylor's awareness cleared the danger for the away side

​

Willis was booked for the Rouslers in thirty-five minutes as he incurred the wrath of the Hednesford players after a late challenge on Cater had angered the men in white

​

The luckless O'Sullivan - still looking for his first goal at Keys Park - saw Clayton make a good save to deny him his maiden home goal on thirty-nine minutes as his quick turn from Ison's pass saw the stopper push the ball away for a Hednesford corner kick

​

Dugmore should really have followed Willis into the book a minute later as he crudely took down Armitage in full flight down the left but somehow managed to avoid a caution for the foul

​

Patient build-up play from the Pitmen down the right on forty-one minutes saw George Cater, Atkinson and Landell all involved before Ison's neat lay-off to Landell saw the striker drive in a low shot that was spilt by Clayton. O'Sullivan reacted quickest but saw his follow-up deflected behind for a corner kick by the recovering goalkeeper

​

Three successive corner kicks followed for the Pitmen as they looked to force home a late goal at the end of the first period, but good defending from Taylor, Newell and Clayton saw Bromsgrove hold firm going into the half-time break

​

It had been a largely turgid first period from both sides, with the Pitmen arguably having the better of the few opportunities that had come around but had once again struggled to put the ball into the net with another largely pedestrian forty-five minutes

​

Bromsgrove defender Taylor pulled up just a few moments into the second half with a mystery problem that turned out to be a requirement for an insulin injection as the player struggled with his blood sugar levels. An unusual, but necessary, stoppage before the second half could really get going

​

Two minutes later, the hosts were handed a great chance to take the lead as Master made a great run down the left wing and sent over a teasing cross towards Landell that appeared to strike the arm of Josh Quanyor as he attempted to clear the ball. Mr Nolan had no hesitation in awarding the Pitmen a penalty kick, which skipper Ison assumed responsibility for. He struck his effort from twelve yards out cleanly and low down the centre, which Clayton appeared to dive over as the ball had too much power for him to hit the back of the net

​

Landell went close to doubling the Pitmen's advantage four minutes later as Clayton's hurried clearance dropped kindly into the path of the striker, whose opportunistic strike from thirty-five yard out bounced once and drifted inches wide of the upright

​

Four minutes later, Landell went even closer to getting his name on the team-sheet as Cater fed Atkinson down the right, with the full-back's low cross to the far post somehow evading Landell as he arrived late for what appeared to be a tap-in. Alas, the ball was just too far in front of the Pitmen's top scorer and the ball drifted away from goal

​

Sporting recovered well from this short period of Hednesford dominance and came back into the game as they searched for an equaliser. Willis broke quickly on the counter for the Rouslers on fifty-nine minutes but saw his low shot from eighteen yards out saved by Basey

​

The away side did find themselves level just three minutes later, however, as a rare error from Basey handed Bromsgrove an equaliser on sixty-two minutes; Quaynor did well to beat Cater and get to the byeline to send over a deep cross that Basey lost in the fog and dropped on his goal line, with Demetri Brown on hand to turn the ball over the line, despite Ison's best attempts to keep the ball out

​

Bromsgrove then turned the game on its head as more terrible defensive play from the Pitmen on sixty-seven minutes gifted the visitors a second goal in five minutes; skipper Nathan Hayward won a free kick thirty-five yards from goal and took it quickly, catching the Pitmen out as they looked to get themselves into position. Goddard got the better of a dawdling Endall and clipped the ball through to Shorrock, who took the ball around Basey and finished well from six yards out

​

This prompted a first change of the afternoon for the Pitmen before the game restarted as Chay Tilt was brought onto the field of play in place of Landell. Cater moved out to the left-wing and Master dropped into the central role vacated by Landell to allow Tilt to play on the right flank

​

Atkinson became the latest player to have his name taken by Mr Nolan in the seventieth minute as he clattered into Shorrock and was rightly booked for the foul out on the Bromsgrove left

​

The hosts made their second substitution of the afternoon two minutes later as Andre Brown returned to the side after four games out of the team due to concussion, coming on in place of Master to make it two up top with O'Sullivan

​

Young Walsall loanee Willis had a great chance to put the game beyond the Pitmen on seventy-eight minutes as Hayward's inswinging free-kick from the left flank was glanced just wide of the far post by the head of the midfielder

​

With the Rouslers looking to hang on to their narrow advantage, they started to take their time with set-pieces; Clayton's goal kicks were taking longer to return to play and throw-ins were laboured and being taken from the incorrect positions. Quaynor was punished for taking a little too long with one such throw on eighty-two minutes as he was booked for time-wasting

​

Cater stung the palms of Clayton on eighty-four minutes as he cut inside from the left flank after a typically mazy run, firing in a shot at goal from twenty-five yards out that the Rouslers number one tipped around the post for a corner kick to the hosts

​

The Pitmen, to their credit, continued to press as the minutes ticked away and were handed a vital lifeline in the eighty-ninth minute as they were awarded their second penalty kick of the afternoon; Patient play from the hosts saw them switch the ball from left to right, with Tilt's cross eventually falling to Flanagan, who was sent tumbling by a challenge from Taylor just inside the box, leaving Mr Nolan no other choice but to award the home side a spot-kick. Flanagan assumed responsibility for the kick and fired into the left-hand corner of the net, despite Clayton's best attempts to keep the ball out

​

Despite there being four minutes of added time, neither side really showed much adventure in the mist to push for a winner as they seemed content to share the spoils. This extends Bromsgrove's recent unbeaten run but leaves the Pitmen with only four wins in their last twenty games as their terribly inconsistent form continues. A week's break will see the Pitmen return to the PRG Stadium @ Keys Park for a third successive game on Monday 27th December as they face local rivals Rushall Olympic

​

Hednesford Town: Basey, Atkinson ▆, Armitage, Riley (Flanagan 76), Endall, Parker, Cater, Ison © ▆, O'Sullivan, Landell ▆ (Tilt 67), Master (A. Brown 72)      Sub Unused: Fini, Clarkson

​

Bromsgrove Sporting: Clayton, Dugmore, Quaynor ▆, Hayward ©, Taylor, Newell, Molyneux, Willis ▆, D. Brown, Goddard, Shorrock (Ebbutt 90)       Subs Unused: O. Taylor, Wilson, Fisher, Wise

​