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Ollie Harrison

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Ashton United (A) 29.11.25

The Pitmen move two points clear at the top of the Northern Premier League table this afternoon as they edge their way past Cleethorpes Town at Keys Park

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Four wins on the bounce in the league had lifted Hednesford into second place in the league table ahead of today's round of games, with the hosts looking to take full advantage of leaders Warrington Rylands not being in action today. However, manager Gavin Hurren was without two of his key performers due to injury, with both Ryan Wynter and Dom McHale ruled out after picking up knocks in Tuesday's win over Bamber Bridge. Joel Taylor came back into the side ahead of Wynter, with Dan Turner deputising for McHale as the right inside-forward. There was a third personnel change to the XI as club captain Joss Labadie dropped to the bench as Simeon Maye was preferred at the base of midfield

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Cleethorpes - promoted to step three for the first time in their history in the summer after winning the Northern Premier League East title - had settled into life in the Northern Premier League with relative ease, sitting in eighth place ahead of their first trip to Keys Park since 2021. Manager Craig Rouse made 

one change to the side that had drawn 1-1 at Guiseley as Bailey Conway came in for Aaron Braithwaite in midfield. Rouse had dipped into the market in midweek with the loan signing of youngster Frankie Jones from Sheffield United, naming the utility player amongst the substitutes. There was one familiar face amongst the Owls ranks in the form of forward Max Brogan, a former Hednesford loanee back in 2022 who is currently on loan to Cleethorpes from Scunthorpe United

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Another heavy dumping of rain in the past few days had once again been dealt with well by the Keys Park pitch. Cleethorpes looked to make a bright start through Brogan, picking up a pass just outside the Hednesford penalty area in the fourth minute and firing narrowly wide of Tony Breeden's left-hand post with a low effort at goal

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Ollie Harrison - looking to pick up where he left off with a dominant defensive display against Bamber Bridge - was on his game once more in the seventh minute, making an authoritative challenge on Josh Walker to dispossess the lanky target man as he looked to take the ball into the Pitmen's penalty area

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Montel Gibson looked to get the hosts moving with a run in on goal in the ninth minute, running  in behind the Cleethorpes defence after Breeden's long punt out was flicked into his path by Turner, only for the flag to go up against him in the build-up

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The first quality ball into the box from Chris Hussey came a minute later, with the defender floating a free-kick into the box from thirty yards out that was partially cleared by the Cleethorpes defence as far as Dan Trickett-Smith, who tried his luck with a first-time effort from twenty-five yards that sailed harmlessly over the crossbar

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A forceful run from Turner in the eleventh minute saw him momentarily get goal side of Kwame Boateng before the Owls left-back stuck out a boot and diverted the ball behind for a Hednesford corner kick

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Cleethorpes skipper Brad Abbott should have opened the scoring for the visitors in the thirteenth minute as a flowing move down the left saw Boateng and Brogan link up to set up the experienced midfielder, whose effort from ten yards out somehow ended up the wrong side of Breeden's left-hand post. Many in the ground thought that the ball had ended up in the net, as it ended up hitting behind the net behind the goal

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Taylor made a powerful run down the left for the Pitmen on seventeen minutes, taking on Trickett-Smith's pass and skinning Dan Gallimore before pulling the ball back across the face of goal, where neither the incoming Gibson nor Turner could turn into the net from close range

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Some neat footwork from Brogan just outside the Hednesford penalty area drew a foul on him from Harrison on twenty minutes; Nicky Walker's ball into the box was aimed at the presence of Josh Walker, but his flick-on was cleared by Hussey inside the six-yard box

 

Tylor picked up the game's first yellow card of the afternoon on twenty-five minutes as he was penalised by referee Mr Schofield for scything down Brogan just outside the Hednesford penalty area. Nicky Walker took responsibility for the resultant free-kick, curling an effort over the four-man wall but well wide of Breeden's right-hand post

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The Pitmen had struggled to get themselves going thus far but went closest to scoring of the two sides on twenty-eight minutes; Hussey's delightful inswinging corner from the right was met by Harrison at the far post, with his downward header being cleared off the line by Boateng

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Hylton went even closer to breaking the deadlock three minutes later, picking up a pass from Gibson and taking a touch before sizing up his shot on the left-hand corner of the Cleethorpes penalty area - his curling effort beat goalkeeper Ollie Battersby all ends up but came back off the outside of the far post

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The hosts had started to ply significant pressure on the Cleethorpes defence at this juncture, with Hylton again getting into a good position on thirty-four minutes but seeing his angled effort from eighteen yards out blocked by Conway

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Neat one-touch play from the Pitmen two minutes later saw Hussey, Gibson and Hylton all link up to send Taylor into space, with the left-back's deep cross claimed by Battersby ahead of Turner at the far post

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On thirty-eight minutes, Hussey's corner kick from the right caused all sorts of issues for the Cleethorpes defence as they struggled to clear their lines effectively; Trickett-Smith picked up the ball just outside the penalty area but once again lifted his long-range effort high and wide of goal

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Brogan was proving a slippery customer for the Hednesford defence, dropping into pockets of space as he looked to create openings for the two Walkers around him. The former Solihull Moors forward lined up another shot from twenty yards out on forty-one minutes but again struck an off-target effort with his right boot that sailed wide of goal as Harrison looked to close him down

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There was a muted shout for a penalty kick for the Pitmen a minute later as Hylton's attempted cross hit Gallimore's shoulder, prompting Maye, Hylton and Gibson to ask the question with Mr Schofield. However, the official was unimpressed and only handed the Pitmen a corner kick

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Sloppy play from the Pitmen in looking to clear their lines handed Nicky Walker a glorious chance to grab the opening goal for Cleethorpes on forty-four minutes; poor touches from Maye and Joe Doyle-Charles allowed the ball to be turned over thirty yards from goal, with Borgan playing Walker clan through on goal. After taking the ball around Breeden, Walker took a touch too many as he steadied himself and allowed Hussey to make a smothering block at his near post

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The final action of the half saw Brogan have his name taken by Mr Schofield in the last minute of the first period for a late and clumsy challenge on Morgan that pole-axed the right-back as he was clearing the ball

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Morgan limped off the pitch after Brogan's challenge and had to admit defeat during the half-time break as he was replaced by Ahkeem Rose at the start of the second half. Maye was also withdrawn before the start of the second half as Labadie came on in his place in midfield. These changes forced Doyle-Charles to move into an unfamiliar right-back role to cover for the injured Morgan for the second period

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The hosts looked to make a dominant start to the second half after a rather limp first period, with Turner making a break down the right just fifty seconds in, pulling the ball back across goal where Gibson drilled his first-time effort wide of the right-hand post as he was put under pressure by Conway

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With their next attack, however, the Pitmen grabbed the crucial goal of the afternoon as Trickett-Smith grabbed what you could argue could be a low-key goal of the season contender; Gibson's initial cross from the right was cleared as far as Turner, whose ball back into the box from twenty yards out was brilliantly guided home by Trickett-Smith's intricate side-footed half-turn from fifteen yards out, getting the perfect amount of pace and spin on the ball to take it beyond the reach of Battersby and find the far corner of the net via a touch off the post

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Back came the visitors, with Josh Walker glancing a cross from Boateng well wide of goal on fifty-two minutes as the left-back's cross was a little too high for the striker to get a full contact on it

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The busy Brogan forced Breeden into a double save four minutes later as a corner from Nicky Walker on the right was cleared as far as the striker, whose initial low shot was parried by the stopper back to him - his follow-up shot lacked any power, however, and was easily saved at the second attempt by the veteran goalkeeper

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Cleethorpes continued to press, with Nicky Walker forcing a corner kick out of Hussey on fifty-eight minutes after both Taylor and Hussey failed to clear their lines effectively. Once again, Nicky Walker's corner kick was aimed at his namesake at the far post, only for Harrison to further cement his man-of-the-match display with a towering header away

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Shortly after the hour mark, the Owls made a bold double substitution as Rouse elected to take off the already-booked Brogan for Ben Andreucci up front and Billy Whitehouse made way for Braithwaite in the centre of midfield

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A minute later, Gibson brought Breeden's long punt forward out of the sky, taking the ball down the right before whipping in a cross that was aimed at Rose, only for Callum Foster to hack the ball clear

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Battersby kept his side in it with a brilliant double save midway through the second half, firstly denying Labadie after the experienced midfielder had fired in a shot from sixteen yards out that forced the stopper into a parry down to his right; Gibson followed the ball in and looked to turn the rebound home from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, only to turn his shot straight at the recovering Battersby, who managed to turn the ball away for a corner and deny the striker a certain goal

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On sixty-eight minutes, Hussey came across to the right to take a free-kick after Turner had been brought down by Boateng twenty-five yards from goal. His ball into the box was aimed at Harrison at the far post, with Jack Vann beating the centre-back to the ball as he cleared away at the far post

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The Pitmen made their third change of the afternoon before play could restart as Max Sheaf made his return to action after serving a three-match suspension, coming on in place of Hylton

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Josh Walker used his height to good effect once more on seventy minutes, leaping highest to reach a deep cross from Abbott on the right-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area but glancing his effort well wide of goal

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Breeden was called upon to make a smart save for the Pitmen with fifteen minutes of the game remaining, tipping Abbott's deep free-kick over his crossbar for a corner kick as the Owls skipper looked to pick out Josh Walker once more. The resultant corner kick was cleared as far as Foster, whose shot was smothered by Breeden inside his six-yard box

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The home side's final change of the afternoon came with eleven minutes of play remaining as Jonny Edwards made his return to the side, coming on up front in place of Gibson

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Within sixty seconds, Cleethorpes made another double change of their own as Connor O'Grady came on in place of Conway and teenager Jones made his debut as he replaced Boateng

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Edwards really should have put the game to bed for the Pitmen on eighty-two minutes as he was handed a glorious chance to end his long goal drought; played clean through on goal, Edwards held off the attentions of O'Grady and took the ball around the reach of the dive of Battersby. However, with the goal gaping, Edwards took an extra touch and elected to try and pull the ball back to the incoming Turner, allowing the stopper to make a smothering save at his feet

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Nicky Walker went close for the visitors with five minutes remaining, striking a goalbound shot from the corner of the penalty area that was blocked by Harrison and finally cleared by Doyle-Charles

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Cleethorpes elected to use all five of their available changes with a final substitution on eighty-seven minutes as defender Harvey Sutcliffe came on in place of Gallimore

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It had been another hard-fought three points for the Pitmen, similar to their last three home games that had seen the opposition keep it tight and make the hosts work for their win. They move above Rylands to the top of the table and two points clear of the former leaders, also taking full advantage of a slip fomo third-placed FC United of Manchester, who had drawn 2-2 at Hyde United. After four home games in succession, the Pitmen hit the road once more next weekend as they face eighth-placed Ashton United at Hurst Cross

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan (Rose 45 ▆), Taylor ▆, Maye (Labadie 45), Harrison, Hussey, Doyle-Charles ©, Gibson (Edwards 79), Turner, Hylton (Sheaf 69)     Sub unused: Parke
 

Cleethorpes Town: Battersby, Gallimore (Sutcliffe 87), Boateng (Jones 80), Conway (O'Grady 80), Vann, Foster, Whitehouse (Braithwaite 61) Abbott ©, J. Walker, Brogan ▆ (Andreucci 61), N. Walker      Subs unused: none

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