Hednesford Town

Gwilt (16)

​

Chasetown

Nesbitt (34)

(1) 1

​

​

(1) 1

1,486

​

Max Dixon

​

D W L L L D

 

Stalybridge Celtic (A) 2.9.23

The Pitmen provide a good response to Saturday's horror show with a battling draw against local rivals Chasetown in today's Bank Holiday Monday clash in the Pithing In Northern Premier League West

​

The 5-1 defeat at Widnes forty-eight hours ago had prompted stinging criticism towards Danny Glover's side for the manner in which they had tamely rolled over in the second half at the DBCL Stadium. Glover made several changes to his side for their return to Keys Park as out went Lewis Wright, Harry Bower, Michael Williams and Ryan Andrews, replaced by Sam Paddock, Jack Sang, Jacob Gwilt and Wembanvuanda Star Mayemba. Glover was passed fit to allow him to take his place amongst the substitutes after missing the first four games of the season due to injury. Kaine Butler also made his first appearance of the season as a substitute after also missing out on the matchday squad so far this term

​

Chaestown - unbeaten so far in the league this term - had beaten Vauxhall Motors 1-0 at their temporary home of Boldmere St. Michaels at the weekend, cementing second place in the league table going into today's derby. Manager Mark Swann made five changes of his own for the short hop across town as former Hednesford trio Bradley Clarkson, Alex Melbourne and Sam Wilding came in for Matt Sargeant, Oli Hayward and Tom Turton respectively whilst Danny O'Callgahn replaced ex-Pitman Ryan Shaw in midfield and Jayden Campbell was preferred to Ben Lund. The large ex-Hednesford contingent in the Scholars squad was further swelled with veteran utility man Kris Taylor in defence and Ryan Nesbitt up front

​

It had been an overcast day in South Staffordshire with very unseasonably grey conditions for a summer Bank Holiday Monday game. The weather failed to put the crowd off, however, as Keys Park saw its largest crowd for a league game since, ironically, their last meeting with the Scholars on Boxing Day 2011, with nearly 1,500 packed into the ground. Looking to have something to prove, the hosts started very brightly, playing on the front foot and with purpose in the opening exchanges. A fourth-minute corner kick from Jack Kelly was swung into the Chasetown penalty area and played back to the left-back by Wilging's clearance, with Kelly's recycled ball into the six-yard box headed narrowly over by Mayemba at the far post

​

Chasetown's first chance fell to the long-serving Jack Langston two minutes later as the former Stafford Rangers schemer got on the end of a good move down the right and drilled in a low shot at goal from the edge of the penalty area, taking a nick off Callam Mendez-Jones and going behind for a corner kick to the Scholars. Taylor's resultant corner kick found Langston unmarked once more fifteen yards from goal but on this occasion, Langston could only lash his shot high over the crossbar

​

A minute later, a bustling run from the excellent Desean Martin saw the midfielder burst forward to receive the ball from Sang down the left, getting to the byeline before standing up a cross up into the box that dropped onto the roof of the net as Clarkson frantically stretched across his goal

​

Max Dixon was putting himself about for the hosts, giving fellow former Lichfield City man Jordan Evans a tough time out on the right flank. In the tenth minute, a bustling run from the forward saw him take a Mendez-Jones pass down the flank and cross into the penalty area, where Tom Unwin cut the ball out ahead of Mayemba

​

Rivel Mardenborough should have done better when presented with a good opening in the thirteenth minute as neat build-up play down the left saw Sang play the ball into the feet of the striker, who took a touch to open up the play in front of him but elected to take an extra touch as insurance; Chasetown managed to get bodies in front of the youngster before he could get his shot away and the chance was gone. It has become a feature of the player's overall play that he takes a touch too many at times, something that step four teams will not allow him to take on most occasions

​

One man who was happy to let fly from range, however, was full debutant Gwilt, who marked his first-ever start for the club with a quite brilliant opening goal on sixteen minutes; again, the Pitmen worked the ball across from the left flank through Kelly, Sang and Dixon, with the young midfielder applying a clinical finish to the move with a brilliantly struck first-time effort from just inside the penalty area that flew past Clarkson

​

Back came the visitors, stung by Gwilt's opening goal, as Nesbitt did well to hold the ball up on nineteen minutes, keeping Sam Griffiths at bay before playing Luke Yates into space down the left. The former Halesowen man swung in a low cross to the near post that Richards nervously dealt with ahead of Langston

​

Another nervy moment for the Pitmen four minutes later saw Jayden Campbell run clear of a static Pitmen back line as he latched onto a pass from Langston, taking the ball past the onrushing Richards but choosing to take a touch too many which forced him wide and allowed the home side to clear the danger

​

Martin handed the visitors a good chance to once again put the ball into the box on twenty-five minutes after he had brought Langston down thirty yards from goal. Taylor's ball into the six-yard box was aimed towards Danny O'Callaghan, but Kelly was alert to the danger and cleared ahead of Richards as four blue shirts descended on the ball

​

The Pitmen went close to doubling their lead just before the half-hour mark as they worked the ball down the right flank once more through Dixon, who played a delightful slide-rule pass into the feet of Mayemba. The young striker took a touch before ballooning his shot from eighteen yards out over the crossbar

​

The hosts were forced into making their first change of the afternoon on thirty-two minutes as Mendez-Jones's injury woes came back to haunt him once more, collapsing in a heap holding his calf before being helped off the pitch by physio-for-the-day Eve Littler and being replaced by Bower

​

Chasetown took full advantage of this upset in the Hednesford ranks as they equalised on thirty-four minutes through ex-Pitmen striker Nesbitt; the Pitmen were guilty of allowing the pacy Campbell to make a run from the halfway line to the byeline, taking the ball past both Bower and Martin before whipped in a cross to the near post, where Nesbitt stole half a yard on Griffiths to instinctively turn the ball past Richards with a typical poacher's strike

​

The Scholars ended the half much stronger of the two sides as they searched for a quickfire second goal before the break. Langston and Nesbitt linked up well on thirty-eight minutes to send Campbell away once more, only for a firm but fair challenge from Martin on the corner of the penalty area to dispossess the youngster and clear the danger

​

Sang was to pick up the game's only booking - an impressive feat from both sides in a full-blooded local derby - on forty minutes as he brought Campbell down in full flight and handed the visitors a free-kick to the right-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area. Langston assumed responsibility for the resultant free-kick but blasted his effort straight into the Hednesford wall

​

Chasetown were forced into a substitution of their own in first half added time remaining as 38-year-old Taylor went down after chasing Mayemba down the Hednesford right and coming off worst, limping off and being replaced by Luke McGinnell in central defence

​​

It had very much been a half of two halves, with the Pitmen starting well and bossing the opening quarter of the game before allowing Chasetown to come back into proceedings later on in the half through Nesbitt's equaliser. Either way, it had been an eminently watchable game for the large crowd to witness

​

The second half started with a bang as the Pitmen looked to get themselves back on the front foot early on in the half through Mardenborough, who struck a low shot at goal on forty-seven minutes that was hacked off the line by Evans at the far post after a Gwilt free-kick had been turned goalwards by the striker

​

Mayemba was showing more of the attributes that had seen him pick up many admirers during pre-season with a more bustling and involved display, holding off McGinnell on fifty-two minutes as he played Dixon into space down the right once more. The former Bedworth United man turned back onto his left foot and looked to lay the ball off to the unmarked Mardenborough, but some last-ditch challenges from the men in blue cleared the ball away from the striker's grasp

​

Mayemba was left frustrated by the officials three minutes later as he made a good run in behind the Chasetown defence to get on the end of Sang's pass, only for an offside flag against him from the official on the Wimblebury side to halt his progress

​

Sang felt that he had a legitimate shout for a penalty kick on fifty-seven minutes as he went down under a challenge from ex-Hednesford man Melbourne after he had out-muscled the veteran full-back just inside the Chasetown penalty area. Referee Mr Cartwright took a look at the incident but gestured to the youngster to get back to his feet

​

Another good run from Campbell had the Pitmen on the back foot once more on fifty-nine minutes saw him take the ball past Martin and into the penalty area before a sliding challenge from Griffiths turned the ball behind for a Chasetown corner kick

​

Sixty seconds later, more good play from the impressive Sang saw the rangy winger make a jinking run into the Chasetown penalty area from the left flank and got his shot away, only for his effort to lack power and end up in the arms of Clarkson at his near post

​

The visitors made their final two changes of the afternoon on sixty-three minutes - Ben Lund came on up front in place of Nesbitt, who had struggled to make any further progress against Griffiths in the second period, whilst John Atherton replaced the tiring Campbell in midfield

​

The pace of the game started to drop as both sides started to feel the after-effects of two games in three days; a tired-looking challenge from Gwilt on sixty-eight minutes saw him hand Chasetown a free-kick just outside the Hednesford penalty area. With Taylor long since departed, Langston assumed responsibility for the free-kick and lifted a curling, swirling shot over the home side's wall and narrowly over the crossbar

​

The Pitmen still looked a threat on the counter-attack, with Dixon testing the reflexes of Clarkson on seventy-one minutes as he broke into the Chasetown penalty area and drove in a shot that was palmed away by the young stopper to his left-hand side

​

Chasetown came back with back-to-back corner kicks on eighty minutes that tested the Pitmen's resolve, with Richards flapping at the second ball in but was rescued by the referee after he had spotted a foul on the teenager in the build-up

​

With seven minutes of the game remaining, Butler was handed his league debut by the hosts as he came on up front in place of Mardenborough, who was spent and had nothing left to give after another busy display from the striker

​

Chances at either end started to dry up in the final ten minutes as you got a sense that both teams seemed fairly happy with a point apiece. Dixon, Mayemba and Gwilt tried to take the ball away on the counter-attack on eighty-five minutes but Dixon simply had no energy left in his legs to carry the ball into the penalty area and was dispossessed by the recovering McGinnell

​

A late rally from Chasetown saw them force a ninetieth-minute Langston corner kick that was once again missed by Richards but cleared by Kelly at the near post. The ball found its way back to unmarked Langston, whose curling effort from the edge of the penalty area drifted inches wide of Richards' left-hand post

​

Glover can be pleased with his side's attitude and a well-earned point against their local rivals, although there was an element of them hanging on in the last ten minutes as they tired and were reliant on Chasetown's wasteful finishing to hang on to the point. The Pitmen are on the road once more on Saturday as they make the trip to Stalybridge Celtic in a re-arranged league game from their original fixture at Witton Albion, who are still involved in the F.A. Cup

​

Hednesford Town: Richards, Mendez-Jones (Bower 32), Kelly, Martin, Paddock, Griffiths ©, Sang ▆, Gwilt, Mardenborough (Butler 83), Mayemba, Dixon      Subs Unused: Glover, Andrews, Coleman

​

Chasetown: Clarkson, Melbourne, Evans, Taylor (McGinnell 45), Unwin, Wilding, Campbell (Atherton 63), Langston, Nesbitt (Lund 63), O'Callaghan ©, Yates       Subs Unused: Turton, Shaw

​