The Pitmen fall at the second hurdle in this season's F.A. Trophy this evening as a late Danny North goal condemns the makeshift Hednesford side to defeat and the chance to earn £4,000 for their efforts

 

Rob Smith's side were bearing the scars of battle from the first game at Keys Park on Saturday, with skipper Tom Thorley ruled out due to a shin injury picked up in the first half of the game at the weekend. Jim Mutton was again missing due to injury, whilst loanee Reece King was once again unavailable due to being ineligible. Ben Bailey returned to the side however after serving a one-match suspension on Saturday, whilst striker Edji Mbunga was available again after injury

 

Evo-Stik Division One South side Cleethorpes made two changes of their own for the game after going close to causing an upset at Keys Park at the weekend; Liam Dickins came in for the experienced Paul Beesley and Adam Drury replaced Liam Davis for the hosts, who were looking to finish the job on their own patch this evening

 

Both sides started well, with Danny Glover heading over the crossbar for the Pitmen on five minutes from a deep James Lawrie cross, which had been preceded by a chance for Cleethorpes' Lee Mascall, who forced a good save out of James Wren following good work from by Adam Drury

 

A neat piece of play through the hosts' midfield on ten minutes saw Jonathon Oglesby play in a good cross towards Mascall, only for Wren to make a fine stop to deny the striker a clear effort on goal

 

Wren made another superb save to keep his side in contention on fifteen minutes, this time denying the impressive Drury from twenty yards out after he had been played in by North

 

Despite weathering the Cleethorpes storm, it was the Pitmen who once again took the lead in the tie through Joey Butlin, as they had done on Saturday. Charlie Gatter's throw-in found Jordan Graham, whose looping cross was headed home by Butlin from twelve yards out for his second Hednesford goal

 

The Pitmen had their tails up, and looked to force home their advantage with their next attack; a long throw from Ben Bailey was not cleared by a hesitant Cleethorpes defence, with makeshift midfielder Glover heading goalwards in the confusion, only to be denied by a last-ditch clearance

 

Cleethorpes countered, with Mascall firing wide from a tight angle following a through ball from Oglesby on thirty-five minutes, before Drury fired straight into the Hednesford wall just before half-time from a promising position just outside the Hednesford penalty area

 

The bustling Butlin went close to adding to his tally for the night on fifty minutes, striking a firm shot in at goal after being played in by Joe Fitzpatrick but being denied by a flying stop from Cleethorpes keeper Richard Walton

 

Mascall 's marauding run ended with him pulling a shot just wide of goal on fifty-one minutes, before they pulled level with their next attack. Oglesby's run down the left flank culminated in the winger striking a deep, curling cross towards the back post which evaded everyone and dropped into the net. Whether he meant it or not mattered not, with the game back in deadlock once more and forty minutes of game time to go

 

James Lawrie was denied by a good save from Walton five minutes later, with the ball rebounding the midfielder after being palmed back to him from the keeper. His angled drive across the face of goal dribbled wide of the far post, with Chekaine Steele inches away from a tap-in as he tried to reach the ball

 

The game continue to ebb and flow from end to end, with Cleethorpes going close twice in quick succession. Mascall fired narrowly over from a Tim Lowe cross on sixty-three minutes, followed by an effort from the edge of the penalty area from Jack Richardson which cannoned off the top of the crossbar two minutes later

 

Wren earned his man of the match nomination with an incredible save on seventy-one minutes, after Campion had conceded a ridiculous free kick and ended up with his name in the book. The resultant kick found Mascall unmarked, six yards out, with his effort somehow turned away from goal by the legs of Wren when it looked like it was nestling in the net

 

The Pitmen looked to inject more pace into their line-up on seventy three minutes, with on-loan AJ George coming on in place of the ineffective Steele down the right wing

 

Drury was denied by Wren once more a minute later as the Hednesford stopper pushed the midfielder's low shot behind for a Cleethorpes corner kick with his right hand

 

Mascall's run down the left briefly threatened for the hosts on eighty minutes, but his deep cross was snuffed out by Bailey and the rest of the Hednesford defence

 

Lawrie picked up a rare yellow card with seven minutes remaining for an untidy challenge, before the game sparked into life on eighty-seven minutes; Mascall's ball into the box found North, who did well to turn the ball past Wren at the near post to put Cleethorpes in front for the first time in the tie at the crucial moment

 

The emotion of the situation got too much for some in white as the game entered added time, with a bout of handbags breaking out after a free kick was given against Fitzpatrick. Campion - not for the first time in a white shirt - was in the thick of the action, remonstrating with substitute Liam Davis and earning himself a second yellow card for dissent to cap a miserable evening for the Pitmen

 

The away side failed to muster a response in the time remaining, condemning them to an early departure from the competition they won thirteen years ago. They have only two days to rest up before they return to league action on Saturday, when lowly Stalybridge Celtic visit Keys Park

 

Cleethorpes Town: Walton, Lowe, Winn, Dickens, Bloomer, Donald, Drury (Davis 77), Richardson, North, Mascall (Aldrich 90), Oglesby      Subs Unused: Parker, Newell, McFarland 

 

Hednesford Town: Wren, Gatter, Campion ▆ ▆ (90),  Bailey ©, Oji, Fitzpatrick (Mbunga 87), Steele (George 73), Glover, Graham, Butlin (Haig 89), Lawrie ▆        Subs Unused: Veiga

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