The Pitmen move into the third qualifying round of this season's F.A. Cup after an incredible first-half goalfest sees them demolish hosts Coleshill Town at Pack Meadow

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Tuesday night's late, late show against Ilkeston Town had given Gavin Hurren's side some much-needed confidence going into today's tie, with the Hednesford manager electing to make three changes to his starting XI as Simeon Maye came in for the injured Joss Labadie, Dan Turner replaced Jake Jervis and Jonny Edwards was fit enough to come back into the side ahead of Nathan Blissett

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Coleshill - managed by former Hednesford gaffer Harry Harris - had made an inconsistent start to their Northern Premier League Midland campaign, sitting in fifteenth place ahead of today's break from league duty. Harris made three changes to his Colemen side from the one that had beaten Loughborough Students on Monday night as fit-again duo Archie Kirton and Harry Sweeney came in for ineligible ex-Hednesford duo Joe Morley and Joe Fitzpatrick, whilst another former Pitman - Jack Hallahan - replaced Michael Tait-Moran. Centre-back Taylor-Carter-Byrne - who had a brief spell with the Pitmen in the 2021-2022 pre-season - was named as the Colemen's captain for today's game, whilst former Hednesford winger Dan Gyasi lined up on the right flank. The final ex-Hednesford player in the Coleshill ranks was veteran striker Adam McGurk, who was passed fit to take his place amongst the substitutes. Lucas Yeomans and Tyreace Brown - two more ex-Hednesford players on the Coleshill books - were not in Harris's eighteen-man squad

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Under highly changeable weather conditions at Pack Meadow, the Pitmen picked up where they had left off at the end of Tuesday night's game with a simply blistering start to proceedings; with the first attack of the game, Tony Breeden's long ball forward was flicked on by Edwards to Dom McHale, whose though ball to Dan Turner played the forward clean through on goal; he outpaced the backtracking Carter-Byrne before confidently slotting past Cam Belford from sixteen yards out

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With the sizeable away following still celebrating Turner's early opener, Ahkeem Rose put them into dreamland just two minutes later as he continued his rich vein of recent form in front of goal; picking up a pass from McHale on the right, Rose used his pace and power to good effect as he drove into the box before slamming a low shot beyond the reach of Belford and into the far corner of the net from twelve yards out

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The Pitmen's double-whammy had left Coleshill a little shellshocked, with the hosts suddenly having to scramble for possession and territory. In the eighth minute, Gyasi's run from the right was halted by a challenge on him from Joe Doyle-Charles, handing the hosts a free-kick in a dangerous position twenty-five yards from goal. Sweeney took the resultant kick and curled his effort beyond the Hednesford wall but over Tony Breeden's crossbar

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Gyasi's pace was proving an issue for the Pitmen in their current 3-4-3 formation, with the winger having space to run into down the right flank with no recognised left-back on the pitch. He did well to force a corner kick out of Chris Hussey in the twelfth minute as he tried to pick out Ben Usher-Shipway with a low cross in from the byeline. A ball into the box from Theo Rowe was aimed at Carter-Byrne at the far post, forcing Breeden into action as he punched the ball away from danger

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Three minutes later, Dom McHale's trickery down the right flank saw him bamboozle two Coleshill defenders, drawing a foul from Sweeney and earning the Pitmen a free-kick. Hussey came across to take the kick and floated a ball into the box that was headed wide of the near post by fellow defender Ollie Harrison, who came steaming in to nod his effort wide

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Good play from the Colemen on seventeen minutes saw Rowe make a move down the left, pulling the back across goal where Cody Mullan was caught on his heels and just couldn't quite apply the finish at the far post

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The visitors continued their ruthless streak in front of goal two minutes later as Turner played a first-time ball into the path of Rose, who was already on the move inside the final third of the pitch; he powered past Carter-Byrne before firing confidently past the advancing Belford from the edge of the penalty area and into the net for his second goal of the afternoon

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You could barely take a moment to look away from the action, as the Pitmen grabbed their fourth goal in the opening quarter of the game on twenty-one minutes through McHale. Turner and Rose linked up to create the chance down the right, with Turner playing a neat flicked ball inside to Rose, who in turn unselfishly pulled the ball back across goal to McHale, leaving the Magic Man with a simple tap-in from six yards out; it was his second goal in two games after McHale's late, late winner on Tuesday night

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Incredibly, the Pitmen were to further increase their advantage with their next attack of the game on twenty-three minutes as Rose's superb backheeled flick sent Edwards away on goal, putting the big striker goal side of Carter-Byrne and once again exposing the Colemen's defensive frailties with another confident finish, firing low past Belford from twelve yards out. Phenomenal stuff

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Belford denied the Pitmen a sixth goal of the afternoon on twenty-five minutes, making a brilliant one-handed save to his left to deny Rose his hat-trick after the striker had headed Hussey's inswinging corner kick goalwards from close range

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After all of the furore of the opening quarter, the game settled into a slower rhythm with both sides seemingly settled on the fate of the result. On the half-hour mark, Rose and Turner linked up well again to send Edwards into space, only for an offside flag to go up against Edwards in the build-up to the chance

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A minute later, Sweeney shanked an effort high over the crossbar after neat build-up play to the left of the Hednesford box had seen Rowe lay the ball off to the left-back

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With eight minutes of the first half remaining, Hussey delivered another fine ball into the box with a floated corner in from the right, finding the head of Harrison once more - the big man could only glance his effort wide of Belford's near post as he met the ball off-balance

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McHale almost found himself clean through on goal on forty-one minutes as ​he was played through by Jamie Morgan, only to be denied by some quick thinking from Belford to come out of his goal and clear, leaving his mark on the playmaker in the process which led to a lengthy spell of treatment for McHale

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Rose went close to completing a first-half hat-trick in added time as he took McHale's pass on to the right of the Coleshill penalty area and attempted a curling shot at goal that just flashed wide of the far post

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It had been a completely dominant and ruthless display from the visitors, who had shown their quality in the final third with goals for all of their attacking players. With one eye on their midweek league game at Leek Town, Hurren elected to rest some legs at the break as Morgan and Hussey earned themselves forty-five minutes off as they were replaced by Kieron Freeman and fit-again Elliott Johnson respectively. Coleshill also chose to make a change at the break as Kirton - still feeling his way back after fitness and having endured a tough half up against Turner and Rose - was replaced by Tait-Moran

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The one-way traffic continued straight after the break, with Belford denying McHale on forty-seven minutes as he dived full-length to his left to push the playmaker's volley from the edge of the box away from goal

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Coleshill's best chance of the game so far came on fifty-one minutes as a long throw from the right from Usher-Shipway was flicked on by Taylor-Byrne, forcing Doyle-Charles into a clearance off his own goal line and away from Gyasi's clutches

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A minute later, Breeden made an instinctive save at his near post to turn away a snapshot from Usher-Shipway from close range after Gyasi had pulled back a cross into the path of the much-travelled striker from the right-hand byeline

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The Pitmen made a further personnel change on fifty-five minutes as the hard-working Doyle-Charles was another of the first-team regulars to be given a well-earned rest as he came off in place of Dan Trickett-Smith

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Carter-Byrne picked up the game's only booking from referee Mr Bowles on fifty-seven minutes as he crudely brought Rose down just inside the Coleshill half and was shown a yellow card by the official for the challenge

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A double change for Coleshill on the hour mark saw McGurk come on against his former club in place of Alex McSkeane and Bassit Mandey preferred to Rowe in attacking midfield

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A couple of minutes later, the visitors made a double change up front with the introduction of the vastly experienced Jervis in place of McHale and Blissett replacing Edwards

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Turner looked to create an opening for himself midway through the second half as he drifted inside unchallenged from the left before striking a low shot at goal from fully twenty-five yards out that skipped harmlessly wide of goal

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On sixty-five minutes, Harris made two further personnel changes to his long-beaten Colemen side as experienced defender Harry Craven came on in place of the already-booked Carter-Byrne and Dainty replaced Mullan

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Gyasi had been one of the few bright points in the Coleshill team, winning the ball in midfield on sixty-seven minutes before setting up Mandey, whose effort from just outside the penalty area was struck high and wide of Breeden's goal

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A minute later, Freeman came across to take a corner kick on the right, swinging in a deep cross that the hosts eventually managed to clear back as far as the former Wales International, whose low angled drive back across the face of goal skipped past Belford's right-hand post and out of play via a slight deflection

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From the resultant corner, Freeman delivered another wicked ball into the box from the opposite side that was pushed away from goal by Belford inside his own six-yard box but only as far as Rose, who executed a fine half-volley to fire home his hat-trick goal unmarked on the rebound from four yards out

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Jervis went agonisingly close to grabbing a seventh for the away side on seventy-two minutes, making a late run to the far post as he looked to get on the end of a run and cross from Rose, but the pace of the ball just beat him as he stretched to reach what would have been a simple tap-in from close range

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Usher-Shipway looked to get goal side of Harrison for the first time in the afternoon on seventy-five minutes, racing onto Gyasi's pass but was pulled up for offside after making a move a little too soon

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Ryan Wynter denied Gyasi a further opening three minutes later, coming across the back line to make a timely block and clearance after the former Walsall Wood man had got in behind Johnson and looked to pull the ball back to Usher-Shpway in the penalty area

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The Pitmen wrapped up a memorable afternoon's scoreline with nine minutes remaining as Rose struck once more to make it 7-0; Jervis was the creator, taking the ball down the left and tricking his way past the back-tracking Usher-Shipway before pulling the ball back into the path of Rose, who could afford to take a touch before firing home from close range

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Breeden was looking to protect his clean sheet bonus and made a smart stop to deny Tait-Moran on eighty-five minutes, pushing the substitute's shot away from goal after Sweeney's initial free-kick into the box from the left was headed out as far as the former Aston Villa man on the edge of the penalty area

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Rose felt that he had a legitimate case for a penalty kick with two minutes remaining as he appeared to be bundled to the floor by Dan Brookes as the pair chased down a long ball inside the Coleshill penalty area. Mr Bowles was having one of it, however, and waved away the striker's protests

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A highly clinical and very professional performance from the step three visitors, one that puts them into Monday's hat for the third qualifying round and neatly sidesteps the potential for what could have been a real upset at Pack Meadow this afternoon. Attention quickly turns to Tuesday night and a speedy return to Northern Premier League action, when Hurren's men travel up to the north of the county to face Leek Town, who had been on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat at Cleethorpes Town this afternoon

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Coleshill Town: Belford, Kirton (Tait-Moran 45), Sweeney, Hallahan, Brookes, Carter-Byrne © ▆ (Craven 65), Gyasi, Mullan (Dainty 65), McSkeane (McGurk 60), Usher-Shipway, Rowe (Mandey 60)      Subs unused: Higgs, Darboe
 
Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan (Freeman 45), Hussey (Johnson 45), Maye, Harrison, Wynter, Rose, Doyle-Charles (Trickett-Smith 55), Edwards (Blissett 62), McHale © (Jervis 62), Turner      Sub unused: Brown