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Dan Trickett-Smith

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Stocksbridge Park Steels (H) 8.11.25

The Pitmen get themselves back to winning ways this afternoon as they blow away a dreadfully out-of-form Guiseley side at Nethermoor Park with four first-half goals to set up a comprehensive win

Manager Gavin Hurren  - starting to feel the pressure of a run of six games without a win - made three changes to the side that had lost 2-1 to Stockton Town in midweek as skipper Joss Labadie, Dan Trickett-Smith and Joel Taylor came back in ahead of Ahkeem Rose, Max Sheaf and the unwell Chris Hussey

Guiseley’s poor start to the new season had seen manager Mark Bower depart three weeks ago with the Lions sitting in a lowly nineteenth position in the Northern Premier League table. The club had moved to bring in Stocksbridge Park Steels’ successful manager Ian Richards this weekend to replace Bower in a bid to change the club’s on-field fortunes. Interim manager Liam Ridehalgh remained in charge for today’s game and made three changes to the side that had lost 2-1 at Prescot Cables in the F.A. Trophy last weekend - new loan signing from Sheffield United, Sam Aston, replaced Jack Emmett, Lebrun Mdeka came in for Harrison Hopper at number four and Amir Berchil was preferred to Lucas Odunston

Looking for a response to Tuesday night’s defeat, the away side made an absolutely blistering start to proceedings, similar in style to their goal blitz at Coleshill Town recently. In the first minute, Dom McHale made a typically swashbuckling run inside from the right, tricking his way past Ollie Brown and crossing low into the box, where Montel Gibson was eaten to the ball by the unfortunate George Goodman, who could only slice his attempted clearance past goalkeeper Joe Cracknell and into the empty net 

The Pitmen’s fantastic start almost saw McHale double their advantage with the very next attack with an audacious effort from range; Joe Doyle-Charles won the ball and played it out to the Magic Man once more on the right, with McHale spotting Cracknell off his line and expertly curling an angled shot beyond the reach of the stopper and clipping the outside of the post. Trickett-Smith’s attempted follow-up on the edge of the box lacked power, however, and was blocked by some desperate Guiseley defending

McHale was not to be denied, however, and conjured up another moment of magic from an almost identical position in the fourth minute. Picking up Jamie Morgan’s pass on the right, McHale drifted in from the right wing once more and this time got his effort absolutely spot on, striking a wicked curling, dipping effort that beat the reach of Cracknell and found the net via a touch off the inside of the stopper’s right-hand post. Brilliant.

The home side and their fans were completely shell-shocked at the Pitmen’s staggering start to the game, struggling to get the ball out of their own half of the pitch as the away side pressed high and forced errors out of their struggling hosts.  Trickett-Smith picked the pocket of a dawdling John Ludufu in the sixth minute, lining up a shot on the edge of the penalty area that was blocked by Goodman

The rampant visitors were denied another sight at goal in the tenth minute as Trickett-Smith’s quickly taken free-kick looked to play Gibson in on goal, only for a late offside flag against the striker from the assistant on the main stand side to deny him a shot at goal

Tony Breeden appeared to be unhappy with the gloves at his disposal and asked Mr Hussain for a break in play on fifteen minutes as he came across to change his gloves for another pair

Guiseley had barely laid a finger on the men in mint green so far, with several long punts forward either running through to Breeden or Berchil being pulled up for being in an offside position on seventeen minutes after Jordan Thewlis played a pass through to himself

McHale and Trickett-Smith linked up again on the counter for the Pitmen two minutes later, with McHale doing well up against Jake Lawlor as he jinked into the box and pulled the ball back to the former Leek Town man, whose low shot was well held by Cracknell down to his left

Cracknell had to be alert to deal with McHale once more on twenty minutes, coming out of his goal to claim a through ball after McHale looked to have got goal side of Brown on the left-hand side of the Guiseley penalty area

The Pitmen were given the chance to further add to their advantage midway through the first half as they were awarded a penalty kick by referee Mr Hussain. McHale was again the architect, controlling a long pass from Breeden and showing great feet to trick his way past Brown, forcing the full-back into a mistimed challenge on the playmaker as he took McHale’s trailing leg from under him. After a heated debate between Gibson and Hylton as to who would take the penalty, it was the former Motherwell winger who stepped up, executing a cheeky ‘Panenka’ spot kick as he casually chipped his penalty straight down the centre of goal, beating the despairing dive of Cracknell

McHale was certainly in the mood after receiving some recent criticism of his performances from some quarters, picking up Gibson’s pass on twenty-four minutes, but miscuing his effort from the edge of the penalty area and lifting his effort high and wide of goal

Mr Hussain had to call both captains together on twenty-seven minutes after a succession of tasty challenges from both sets of players around the Hednesford penalty area saw both physios called into action and the two sets of players pointing fingers at each other

On the half hour, Gibson rolled the ball into the path of McHale once more, with the Hednesford goalscorer seeing his curling effort blocked and turned behind for a corner kick by Connor Ferguson

Harrison went agonisingly close to adding to the Pitmen’s dominant position on thirty-two minutes as he met Trickett-Smith’s inswinging corner kick from the left at the far post, narrowly glancing his effort inches wide of the far post

A powerful run from Taylor on thirty-four minutes saw the returning left-back get himself to the byeline and swing in a cross to the near post, where Goodman did enough to turn the ball behind for a corner kick as he denied Gibson a chance

The Pitmen were denied a chance to break down the flank thanks to some questionable officiating from Mr Hussain on thirty-six minutes as Labadie won the ball from Longbottom just inside the Hednesford half with a crunching challenge that left the Guiseley man flat out on the pitch. Despite initially playing on, the game was halted with Hednesford on the attack as Longbottom received a lengthy spell of treatment

Former Harrogate Town playmaker Thewlis picked up the first of several cautions for both sides in the game on forty-one minutes after he had flattened Labadie on the halfway line and followed this up with an angry exchange with both Gibson and Harrison. After some consideration with his assistant, Mr Hussain also showed Labadie and Harrison a yellow card each for their part in the piece

Longbottom had failed to shake his previous knock to the knee and was taken off a couple of minutes before half-time as he was replaced by Hopper up front

In the final minute of the half, the visitors grabbed themselves a fourth goal of the afternoon as Hylton doubled his tally in double-quick time; Trickett-Smith picked the ball up on the left after his corner kick had been played back to him by Labadie, delivering a fine ball back into the box that Hylton beat Ryan Wynter to, heading past Cracknell from six yards out as he dipped to meet the cross

Four minutes into added time, youngster Aston earned Guiseley a free-kick right on the edge of the box after a foul on him by Wynter. Aston tried is luck from twenty yards out with a curling effort that took a nick off the wall and went out for a corner kick on the left-hand side

It had been a ruthless first-half display from Hurren’s men, who had absolutely dominated play and were thoroughly deserving of their four-goal lead after taking full advantage of the current indecision in the Guiseley ranks. Both sides made changes before the start of the second half as Ferguson was replaced by Odunston for the hosts, whilst the Pitmen made a double change as Dan Turner came on for the outstanding McHale and Sheaf replaced Labadie in midfield

There was more joy in front of goal for the Pitmen just three minutes after restart as Gibson finally grabbed the goal that his efforts had deserved in the first half; Trickett-Smith’s corner kick or the left was played into the box, where Gibson was quicker than anyone else to react and looped the ball past Cracknell from close-range with his head to register his second goal for the club

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Taylor handed Guseley a free-kick in a dangerous position a minute after the restart, bringing down Odunston to the right of the Hednesford penalty area. Aston's ball into the back post aimed at Lawlor, who was beaten to the inswing ball by Sheaf

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On fifty-one minutes, Gibson picked up Turner's pass in the box and turned, looking to shoot on a sixpence as he tried to create space for himself fifteen yards from goal. His shot appeared to take a nick off Goodman and go out over the byeline, but Mr Hussain was unimpressed and handed Guiseley a goal kick

Hopper picked up the afternoon’s latest yellow card on fifty-three minutes as he was rightly pulled up for a heavy foul on Morgan that left the right-back on the deck and relying on a bout of treatment

With the luxury of a five-goal lead, the Pitmen could afford to give Gibson a well-deserved rest on fifty-seven minutes as they brought on top scorer Rose in his place

 

Tunrer did well to get in on goal down the left for the Pitmen on fifty-eight minutes, running onto Trickett-Smith's cute flick and pulling it back across goal towards Rose, only to find the gloves of Cracknell at the goalkeeper's near post

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A minute later, Hylton was denied a clear run at goal by a poor challenge on him from Lawlor, who pulled the winger's shirt back before sending him crashing to the ground twenty-five yards from goal. The experienced defender somehow avoided a yellow card for the challenge, however, with Mr Hussain awarding the Pitmen a free-kick

Shortly after the hour mark, Guiseley made their third change of the afternoon as former Harrogate Town man Jack Emmett returned to the side in place of Berchil

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Morgan picked up the game's latest booking on sixty-four minutes as he was cautioned by the referee for pulling back Hopper as the pair challenged down the Guiseley left flank. After the Pitmen had cleared the free-kick from Aston, Trickett-Smith broke and played the ball out to Turner on the left; he drifted inside of Brown and a firm effort at goal from the edge of the box that forced Cracknell into a good save

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A minute later, Sheaf tried his luck from twenty-five yards out with a curling effort at goal, picking up a loose ball after Gusieley had struggled to clear their lines but clipping his effort onto the roof of the net

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Trickett-Smith looked to cap off a fine performance with a cheeky goal of his own on sixty-eight minutes as he picked the ball up a full thirty-five yards from goal and attempted an audacious lob over the backtracking Cracknell; however, his shot had neither the height nor the pace on it and made for a comfortable save for the stopper

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Guiseley went close to grabbing themselves a consolation goal on seventy minutes as Aston's deep corner kick to the far post was met by Lawlor, who flicked the ball narrowly over Breeden's crossbar from a tight angle 

Before play could resume, the visitors made their final change of the afternoon as the fit-again Jonny Edwards came on up front as he replaced Morgan, who appeared to still be feeling the challenge from Hopper earlier in the half

Turner entered the referee’s notebook on seventy-two minutes as the substitute was booked by Mr Hussain for deliberately obstructing Brown as he took a throw-in on the left

Thewlis - one of the few Guiseley players to show any quality in the game - reduced the deficit and denied the Pitmen a clean sheet two minutes later as he got on the end of a knock-down by Lawlor to turn the ball past Breeden from six yards out with an incisive finish as the Pitmen switched off in defence for the first time in the afternoon

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Ludufu and Doyle-Charles had a coming-together by the right-hand corner of the Hednesford penalty area on seventy-nine minutes, with Mr Hussain dishing out warnings to both players before handing Guiseley a free-kick. From Aston's resultant free-kick to the far post, Goodman's up-and-down afternoon continued as the Bradford City loanee struck the underside crossbar with a shot from sixteen yards out after the Pitmen had struggled to get the ball clear

Edwards was guilty of a terrible miss with his only chance of the afternoon three minutes later; played clean though on goal by Rose’s reverse ball, Edwards took it round the dive of Cracknell but somehow failed to hit the target as he skewed his right-footed shot over the crossbar with goal at his mercy

Guiseley’s terrible afternoon got a little worse on eighty-four minutes as they were reduced to ten men; a coming-together by the corner flag on the Hednesford right saw Ludufu lunge in on Doyle-Charles after he had already played the ball, forcing Mr Hussain to show the full-back a straight red card for a dreadfully poor late challenge; Doyle-Charles was also booked by the referee for his part after he had got back to his feet

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Gusieley elected to make a fourth change of the game before play could restart, as debutant Aston - who had been one of their better players in a poor afternoon's showing - was replaced by fellow youngster Derren Boyle

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Breeden was on song as he denied Thewlis a second goal of the afternoon on eighty-seven minutes, pushing the midfielder's powerfully struck effort from fifteen yards out away from goal despite the Pitmen's claims of offside against the ex-Boston United schemer

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Cracknell was equal to an effort from Rose in the final minute of the game as the ex-Scarborough Athletic goalkeeper made a firm save to deny the substitute as he turned and drove in a shot from the edge of the box

It had been a completely dominant and richly deserved three points for the Pitmen, who remain unbeaten in any of their previous trips to Nethermoor with a comprehensive, and much-needed, three points that lift them back into the top four of the Northern Premier League table. A week without a midweek game means that they return to action next Saturday with a home game against a Stockbridge Park Steels side that may look rather different to the XI that had been beaten by Workington today, such is the high likelihood of their former manager Richards returning to Bracken Moor for several of his former players when he takes the Guiseley hot-seat on Monday

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Guiseley: Cracknell, Ludufu ▆ (84), Brown ▆, Mdeka ©, Goodman, Lawlor, Thewlis ▆, Aston (Boyle 84), Longbottom (Hopper 43 ▆), Berchil (Emmett 62), Ferguson (Odunston 45)      Subs unused: Booth

Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan (Edwards 70), Taylor, Labadie © ▆ (Sheaf 45), Harrison ▆, Wynter, Trickett-Smith, Doyle-Charles ▆, Gibson (Rose 57), McHale (Turner 45 ▆), Hylton      Sub unused: Parke