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Dom McHale

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Atherton Collieries (H) 26.10.24

The Pitmen continue to struggle in front of their own fans as they drop two more vital league points at Keys Park this evening after a game of two halves against struggling Hanley Town

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Saturday's win over Widnes had extended Hednesford's current unbeaten run to seven games and lifted Steve King; 's side into mid-table, albeit with three to four games in hand on most of the clubs above them in the Northern Premier League West table. On the pitch, King elected to make four changes to his fatigued side as Jack Rose, Blaine Rowe, Ollie Harrison and Manny Duku all came into the side ahead of Ryan Brown, Kory Roberts, Josh Endall and the injured Simeon Maye. These changes saw a tweak in formation as King went with a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation

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Despite impressive pre-season recruitment from Hanley, they had endured a tough season so far and sat rock bottom of the league going into tonight's Staffordshire derby. Player/manager Ryan Shotton had departed the club earlier in the month, with the Blues appointing the experienced Scott Dundas as Shotton's replacement. On the pitch, Dundas made three changes to his side from the one that had drawn 0-0 against local rivals Newcastle Town on Saturday; James Askey had returned to the club after a dual registration spell at Sandbach Town to replace Jake Moult, Will Igoe was preferred to Kieron Cliff in midfield and Lucas Baker came in for Dylan Scott

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The game, like the autumnal weather now arriving in South Staffordshire​, took a while to warm up as both sides made ponderous starts to the evening. On seven minutes, the much-travelled A-Jay Leitch-Smith picked up Igoe's deflected cross from the left on the edge of the Hednesford penalty area and drove in a low shot across the face of Rose's goal, just missing the far post with his effort

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Jack Bearne picked up a pass from Joel Taylor a minute later and took the ball past full-back Reece Jones, but Hanley goalkeeper Dan Moore gathered his ball in at the near post before Rob Stevenson could react

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With the Pitmen having played so many games in such a short space of time - this was game number twenty-one of the season already and the seventh of nine scheduled games in October alone - there was a distinct lack of tempo to their game early on from the hosts, who seemed happy to play the ball around at the back but failed to really hurt their struggling opponents with any meaningful chances in the final third

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Dom McHale picked the ball up from deep on eleven minutes and drifted past three Hanley players with some of his customary fancy footwork, playing Rowe into space down the right. His cross was aimed at Stevenson at the near post but was cut out by Askey before it could reach the hardworking striker in the six-yard box

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A feature of the evening's play from the hosts was to be the poor delivery from set-pieces, with Dan Trickett-Smith playing the first of a series of under-hit corner kicks straight into the hands of Moore on twelve minutes

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A series of corner kicks from the Pitmen three minutes later saw Trickett-Smith attempt to send over a good ball from the right, but underhit his first one and overhit the second as it sailed over the heads of Harrison and Johnson at the far post and out of play for a goal kick

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Old stager Joel Stair denied McHale a chance for the Pitmen on seventeen minutes as he managed to block the playmaker's effort but also brought the Hednesford number ten down twenty-five yards from goal. Yet again, however, Trickett-Smith's delivery was poor as he floated a ball into the box that lacked pace or swerve and was easily headed away by Askey

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Midway through the first half, the Pitmen had their first genuine sight at goal as McHale flicked on Harrison's long ball into the path of Stevenson on the right flank. After taking a touch, the striker picked out Duku with a fine cross that the Dutchman headed down past Moore but just past the stopper's near post

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Sixty seconds later, Duku picked up a Sion Spence pass just outside the Hanley box and looked to get a low shot away, only to see Askey in the way of his effort with a smothering block sixteen yards from goal

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Bearne was handed a great chance to continue his recent goalscoring form on twenty-four minutes as Stevenson did brilliantly to pick the pocket of Joe Edwards in midfield before sending the winger clear of the Hanley defence with a clever through ball; the winger got goal side of Jones but could only scuff his low shot straight at Moore from fifteen yards out as the ball got stuck under his feet

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Hanley had offered very little in the final third of the pitch as they seemed happy to sit in front of the Pitmen and match their formation with two solid banks of four. A free-kick from Brandon Newell on twenty-seven minutes was played into the six-yard box from the left, forcing Rose to come off his line and punch the ball away from the incoming Askey and Stair

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Despite Hanley seemingly protecting a point for much of the first half hour, the away side took the lead on thirty-three minutes courtesy of a quick ball forward; Stair's long ball up to Baker was flicked on by the midfielder into the path of Leitch-Smith, who in turn played Fin Ryder in on the right - his ball back across to Leitch-Smith saw the veteran strike a first-time shot at goal that Rose saved well but could only parry straight back to the former Crewe Alexandra man, who turned the ball into the empty net from four yards out

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Back came the Pitmen, forced into a response by Hanley's opening goal of the evening, with McHale doing well down the right once more two minutes later and pulling the ball back to Spence, whose attempted ball through to Stevenson was cleared by Askey once more

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Two minutes later, Trickett-Smith and Bearne linked up to play the ball back to Taylor, whose deep cross from the left-hand touchline was cleared by former Hednesford man Louis Keenan at the far post to deny McHale a sniff of goal ten yards out

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An opportunistic effort from Bearne almost conjured up an equaliser for the hosts on forty minutes as the winger took advantage of a slip from Jones to take Elliott Johnson's long ball into the penalty area down the left and shoot from a ridiculously tight angle, slamming the inside of Moore's right-hand post with the goalkeeper beaten

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More corner kicks came and went for the hosts as they ramped up the territorial pressure on the Hanley defence towards the end of the first period; again, the delivery wasn't up to standard as Trickett-Smith's crosses were easily dealt with by the Hanley defence. On forty-two minutes, the former Leek man tried his luck himself with an angled shot at goal after Hanley had struggled to clear the initial ball, seeing his effort deflected behind for another corner kick by Stair

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In the first of three added minutes, the Pitmen moved the ball quickly just outside the Hanley penalty area through Spence and Taylor and into the feet of Bearne, whose initial shot was blocked before Duku also saw his follow-up effort deflected away by a forest of Hanley legs in front of him

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It had been another largely familiar half for the Hednesford supporters to witness, as their side once again played a little within themselves at times with too much over-indulgent and ponderous football, allowing Hanley to strike through Leitch-Smith and give the hosts much to do in the second half to get themselves back into it

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Looking to play on the front foot a little more in the second half, the hosts started well with McHale involved again on the right as he picked up Bearne's overhit cross and took the ball past Keenan before teeing up Trickett-Smith, whose rising shot from fifteen yards out was claimed by Moore

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Two minutes later, Stevenson flicked on Harrison's raking long ball forward into the path of the onrushing Duku, who got lucky with the run of the ball as it bounced off the heel of Keenan and back into the striker's path - his left-footed effort from the edge of the box lacked power, however, and made for a comfortable save from Moore

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Bearne's pace continued to cause Jones problems for Hanley, with the former Liverpool man skipping past the full-back on fifty-two minutes before being brought down by Askey to the left of the Hanley penalty area. Trickett-Smith rolled the ball short to McHale, whose shot took a nick off the Hanley wall and bounced wide for a corner kick

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Jones received the game's first booking on fifty-five minutes as he brought Bearne down on the Hednesford left after Taylor had played the winger into space in front of him

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There were vociferous calls for a Hednesford penalty kick three minutes later as Rowe made a run into the box to take Stevenson's clever flick in his stride before going to ground under a challenge from Keenan. Despite the home side's protests, referee Mr Shepherd somehow awarded Hanley a free-kick and waved away the Pitmen's pleas. From where and how he justified this decision, only the match official can explain

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Hanley had once again been incredibly limited in the final third of the game, preferring to sit on their slender lead and soak up the waves of Hednesford pressure. Leitch-Smith did have a brief sight at goal on the hour mark, however, as he drilled in a low shot from the edge of the penalty area that flew wide of Rose's left-hand post after good work from Igoe to play the ball into his feet

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McHale looked to be the Pitmen's main hope of a breakthrough, creating another chance for Trickett-Smith on sixty-one minutes as he jinked his way past two challenges on the right before pulling the ball back to the midfielder, whose looping effort from the edge of the penalty area was headed over the crossbar by Askey for a corner kick

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Bearne earned himself a crucial fifth booking of the season on sixty-two minutes as he fouled Keenan by the left-hand corner flag and petulantly booted the ball away in frustration at the award of a free-kick. This isn't the first time the winger has been booked for dissent this term and is something King will need to work on with him in the future

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Another training ground corner kick from Trickett-Smith on sixty-six minutes saw him roll the ball along the ground and into the path of Stevenson, who broke away from the crowd in the box to meet the ball with a first-time shot that Moore brilliantly tipped around his near post for another corner kick

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Spence followed Bearne into Mr Shepherd's notebook on sixty-eight minutes as he brought down Leitch-Smith with a mistimed challenge on the striker and was shown a yellow card

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Duku went agonisingly close to a leveller for the Pitmen on seventy-one minutes as he got goal side of Stair to meet Taylor's low cross into the box from the left, seeing his effort loop up off his thigh and come back off the right-hand post with Moore completely flat-footed

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The Pitmen made the game's first change of the evening on seventy-four minutes as Jake Jervis returned to the side after serving a two-match ban, replacing Duku in the inside-left position

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A minute later, Hanley also made their first substitution of the evening as Scott returned to the side as he came on in place of young Mickleover loanee Ryder

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The Pitmen were now camped inside the Hanley half as they looked for a late passage back into the game, with McHale once again leading Keenan a merry dance with more trickery on seventy-eight minutes, turning left then right before clipping a left-footed cross to the far post where Jervis was just too far away to turn the ball back at goal

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With nine minutes of the game remaining, Hanley looked to further protect their slim advantage as forward Cliff - recently signed from Rugeley-based Brereton Social - came on in place of Baker

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There was another shout for a penalty kick on eighty-four minutes as Harrison's long punt forward was sidefooted into the path of Stevenson by Trickett-Smith; Stevenson looked to take the ball past Keenan in the penalty area but was blocked by his former Leek team-mate coming across from left-back. The ball bounced up and appeared to strike the hand of the ex-Hednesford man, although Mr Shepherd was unconvinced by the claims and waved play on, with Stevenson shooting straight at Moore from a tight angle as the game continued

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From the resultant Trickett-Smith corner, Hanley had to deal with intense Hednesford pressure as three different phases of play saw the hosts throw the ball into the box at every opportunity. Eventually, the ball landed at the feet of McHale on the edge of the box, with the former AFC Telford United man's curling effort deflected just wide by a last-ditch challenge from Newell

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The hosts finally made the breakthrough they had been threatening to make from the resultant corner kick as Trickett-Smith's corner was returned to him by Spence, with the second ball into the box headed down by Harrison and into the path of central defensive partner Johnson, who showed wonderful technique to control his half volley from twelve yards out and fire home his third goal of the season

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Suddenly, all focus was on finding a late winner for the home side as Hanley desperately looked to cling on to their point in the final minutes. Stevenson did brilliantly to turn past Stair after controlling a Rowe pass on eighty-eight minutes, leaving the defender for dead before firing straight into the arms of Moore from eighteen yards out with a tired-looking shot

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More corners came and went as the game headed into five added minutes, with Trickett-Smith's ball in from the left in the first added minute a hugely disappointing one as Askey cleared with ease under no pressure at the near post, irking the Heath Hayes terrace in the process

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Two more changes for Hanley saw them further shore up the side in added time as Polish defender Paweł Żuk replaced Jones at right-back and Stoke City's young loanee striker Adam Watson came on for goalscorer Leitch-Smith

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With the final action of the night, Hednesford struck the woodwork for the third time in the match as Taylor's late surge towards the penalty area was checked by a mistimed Stair challenge. After much deliberation between McHale and Trickett-Smith, it was the latter that took the resultant free-kick, lifting his effort over the Hanley wall but saw his dipping shot from the edge of the box come back off the crossbar

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It had been a frustrating evening for the 865-strong Keys Park crowd, with yet more valuable points dropped at home as the Pitmen continue to struggle to get a genuine run going in the league around their F.A. Cup exploits. Saturday sees second-bottom Atherton Collieries visit Keys Park off the back of a 5-0 hammering at Stafford Rangers last weekend in what is now looking like a must-win for the Pitmen so early in the campaign if they are to keep in touch with the sides above them in the table that are inching away from Hednesford with every passing week

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Hednesford Town: Rose, Rowe, Taylor, Spence ▆, Harrison, Johnson ©, Trickett-Smith, Bearne ▆, Stevenson, McHale ▆, Duku (Jervis 74)    Sub Unused: Sutherland, Gwilt, Endall, Holness

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Hanley Town: Moore, Jones ▆ (Żuk 90), Keenan, Askey, Stair ©, Edwards, Baker (Cliff 81), Newell, Ryder (Scott 75), Leitch-Smith (Watson 90), Igoe       Sub Unused: Bostock

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