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Billericay Town (H) 27.9.25

Hednesford move up into second place in the Northern Premier League table as they complete a fine week on the pitch with victory over fellow high-flyers Gainsborough Trinity at Keys Park

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Wins on the road at Coleshill Town and Leek Town in the past seven days had given Keys Park a real feel-good factor going into today's game, with manager Gavin Hurren once again resisting the temptation to make any changes to his side as he selected the same XI for the third game in succession. Joss Labadie, Nathan Blissett and Joel Taylor remained unavailable due to their relevant injury issues

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Third-placed Gainsborough had made a fine start to the season, having kept six clean sheets in a row in the league going into today's game. Manager Russ Wilcox made one changes to his Trinity side from the one that had started last week's 1-0 win against Whitby Town as the prolific Jonny Margetts was replaced up front by George Hornshaw after picking up a knock

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Keys Park had seen a significant development since the last home game against Ilkeston Town two weeks ago with the installation of state-of-the-art LED advertising hoardings on three sides of the pitch. These gave the stadium a polished, professional and modern appearance and will serve the club well in the coming years

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On the pitch, the Pitmen looked to make a typically-fast start to proceedings through Tuesday's goalscorer Ollie Harrison, looping a header at goal from a Chris Hussey corner kick in the second minute but just missing the target as his effort drifted wide of the target

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In the fifth minute, Dan Turner won a corner for the Pitmen down the left as his cross was turned behind by Sisa Tuntulwana. Hussey swung in another fine cross from the left and found the head of Ahkeem Rose, whose bullet header from six yards out flew past the reach of goalkeeper David Robson and into the net. It was Rose's sixth goal of the week, adding to his four against Coleshill Town and Tuesday night's goal at Leek Town

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Hussey's delivery caused Gainsborough more issues in the eighth minute as he swung in another corner kick from the left that was aimed at Harrison once more, forcing Robson into a claim at the far post ahead of the centre-back

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Two minutes later, skipper Dom McHale made a run down the right, drifting past two challenges from Ash Jackson and Aaron Simpson before drilling in a low shot that drifted wide of Robson's left-hand post

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Gainsborough had struggled to get themselves into the game so far and had been reliant on the likes of Javelle Clarke and Hornshaw to use their pace on the counter-attack. A good move down the right for the visitors on sixteen minutes saw Tuntulwana and Hornshaw combine to send Jordan Helliwell into space behind Hussey, with Helliwell's low cross toward Clarke pushed away by Tony Breeden for a corner kick. Preston swung the ball in from the right and found skipper Bobby Johnson, who lifted his effort from the edge of the box high and wide of goal

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The hosts doubled their lead two minutes later as Rose continued his purple patch in front of goal with his second goal of the afternoon; Jonny Edwards created the opening for his strike partner as he latched onto Breeden's long punt forward, bringing the ball down and driving into the box. Just as it looked as though the striker had lost possession, the loose ball bobbled kindly into the path of Rose, who unleashed a half-volley at goal from sixteen yards out that beat the despairing dive of Robson and found the top far corner of the net

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An audacious effort from McHale very nearly added a third for the Pitmen midway through the first half as he picked the ball up in space thirty yards from goal, spotting Robson off his line and attempting a lob from long range that had the stopper scrambling backwards. Fortunately for the former Darlington goalkeeper, McHale's effort was off-target and drifted just wide of the upright

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The Pitmen were very nearly made to pay for standing off Jackson on twenty-five minutes as they allowed the former Scarborough Athletic defender to make an unchallenged run from deep on the left and to just outside the box, with the left-back drilling a low shot in at goal that was only a yard or so wide of Breeden's left-hand post

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Three minutes later, another move down the Gainsborough left saw Johnson play Simpson into space, with he former Wolves youngster showing some good feet to get past Morgan and cut the ball back from the byeline to Clarke, who unfortunately lost his footing on the greasy surface and failed to get his shot away as the hosts cleared the danger

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Despite Gainsborough's pace on the counter, the Pitmen still looked comfortable in defence, with Ryan Wynter and Simeon Maye once again outstanding in repelling anything thrown at them by the Holy Blues' attack. Twice in succession on thirty-three minutes, Wynter dealt with a Preston corner kick at his near post, heading both inswinging balls away from Helliwell and Hornshaw before the strikers could get to the cross

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Rose was looking to grab his second hat-trick inside a week four minutes later as he used his power and pace to good effect, picking up a Joe Doyle-Charles pass twenty yards from goal and driving at goal but saw his effort blocked by the covering Jackson as the defender came across the edge of his own penalty area

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The game, in truth, had gone a little flat at this point, with both sides creating very little at either end of the pitch. Hussey's inswinging corner from the right on forty minutes lacked the usual precision that the defender is known for, with Harrison unable to reach the ball as it was headed away by Johnson

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With half-time looming, Gainsborough created a great chance to get themselves back into the game as Preston's corner kick from the right was headed goalwards by Johnson, only for Wynter to firmly clear his lines with a header away from danger

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The Pitmen went straight down the other end with a quick counter as Edwards drove forward before playing the ball into the feet of McHale, who worked the ball onto his left foot but could only strike a tame low shot straight at Robson from twenty yards out

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The Pitmen will feel that they had been good value for the lead at the break, with Rose continuing his fine goalscoring form by taking both of the chances provided to him, whilst the three-man central defence had contained the dangerous Gainsborough attack well and had limited them to essentially half-chances for much of the first period

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In very similar style to how Tuesday night's game had played out, Gainsborough came out strongly at the start of the second period as they looked to get a foothold back into the game with an early goal; Tuntulwana - now playing in a more advanced position up the pitch - tested Breeden just a minute after the restart as his effort from the edge of the Hednesford penalty area was fielded by the veteran stopper inside his own six-yard box

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Clarke went within a whisker of reducing the deficit for Trinity on fifty minutes as Hornshaw created an opening for the former Bridghouse Town man with a run and cross from the right that found the striker, whose effort came back off the base of Breeden's right-hand post and back into play, where Wynter hacked the ball clear

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Wynter further cemented his man-of-the-match display with a superb challenge on Clarke three minutes later, picking the pocket of the forward as he entered the Pitmen's penalty area and lined up a shot from fifteen yards out

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A minute later, Preston whipped in a tempting free-kick from the left that was aimed at the run of Johnson, forcing Breeden into a smothering save at his near post to deny the Trinity skipper a simple tap-in

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The visitors were having their best spell of the game so far, with Breeden punching clear Preston's deep corner on fifty-five minutes at the far post to deny Johnson once again before Maye completed the clearance on the edge of his own penalty area

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Shortly after the hour mark, Johnson finally got his head on the end of a cross as he rose highest to meet Clarke's left wing cross. However, his effort lacked any real power and was easily fielded by Breeden in the centre of his goal

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Dan Turner had struggled to get any change out of the impressive Tuntulwana all afternoon long and was hooked by Hurren on sixty-four minutes as he elected to bring on the huge experience of Elliott Johnson to play as a left wing-back

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Morgan made a superb block tackle to deny Tuntulwana on sixty-seven minutes, throwing himself in front of the ball to smother the wing-back's shot at goal from fifteen yards out after good play down the right had seen Simpson slip Tuntulwana into space behind Morgan

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Seventy minutes saw a raft of changes made by both sides; the Pitmen made their final three outfield changes all at the same time as Jake Jervis replaced Rose, Dan Trickett-Smith came on for McHale and the vastly experienced Kieron Freeman dropped into midfield in place of Edwards. For Gainsborough, Wilcox brought Jacon McLoughlin on for Simpson and young Mansfield Town midfielder Jakub Kruszynski came on to make his debut for the club after joining them on loan from the Stags this week, replacing Hornshaw

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Tuntulwana was again denied by Breeden on seventy-five minutes, with the stopper tipping the defender's rising effort from twenty yards out over the crossbar for a corner kick. Preston's resultant ball in was met by the diving header of young defender Harrison Beeden, who was denied by more fine goalkeeping from Breeden to push the ball away as he leapt full length to his left to deny the former Lancaster City defender

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Gainsborough still believed that there was something in this for them as we entered the final ten minutes of play, with young striker Daniel Vanderpuye coming on in place of Tuntulwana to increase the pressure on the Pitmen's back line

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And yet it was the Pitmen that almost put the game beyond Gainsborough just a minute later as Hussey's corner kick from the left was unconvincingly punched away by Robson and straight into the path of Trickett-Smith, whose angled volley from twelve yards out flew inches wide of the stopper's left-hand post

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Trinity rattled the woodwork for the second time in the half on eighty-six minutes as Bobby Johnson was allowed too much time and space to line up a shot along the ground that beat Breeden but came back off the stopper's right-hand post. The ball ran to substitute Vanderpuye, who could only skew his rebounded effort well wide of the opposite post

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Wynter once again stood up to the late pressure from the visitors, making a very timely header away at the far post on eighty-nine minutes to flick Preston's ball into the box away from Vanderpuye

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Wth the game now into added time, Clarke picked up the game's only yellow card from referee Mr Constable for bringing down Morgan out wide on the Hednesford right, buying the hosts valuable seconds and territory to eat up a chunk of added time with Jervis and Morgan both keeping the ball in the corner

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Another fine three points for the Pitmen, and another indication of the quality of this squad to beat another very good step three side, managing the game confidently in the second half despite being second best for long periods of it as Trinity pushed for a goal. A rare week off for the Pitmen means two full training sessions before they look forward to hosting Isthmian Premier League strugglers Billericay Town in the third qualifying round of the F.A. Cup next Saturday afternoon

Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Maye, Hussey, Harrison, Wynter, Rose (Jervis 70), Doyle-Charles, Edwards (Freeman 70), McHale © (Trickett-Smith 70), Turner (E. Johnson 64)       Sub unused: Brown

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Gainsborough Trinity: Robson, Tuntulwana (Vanderpuye 81), Jackson, B. Johnson ©, Lancaster, Beeden, Simpson (McLoughlin 70), Helliwell, Hornshaw (Kruszynski 70), Clarke ▆, Preston       Sub unused: Sykes

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