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Liam Kinsella

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Coventry United (H) 19.9.26

Another week of the same tired failings in this Hednesford side condemns the poor Pitmen to defeat number four of the season at Hebburn Town this afternoon

Tuesday’s morale-boosting win over King’s Lynn Town had lifted Kelvin Davis’s side into the heady heights of sixteenth place in the table ahead of today’s long jaunt up to the North East. Dale Gorman started his suspension for the red card picked up against South Shields last weekend, which meant a first-ever start for Sonny Sharples in midfield. The second of the two changes came up front, with Aaron Jarvis coming in for David Abimbola

Hebburn’s excellent early-season form had been checked in the past two games, with heavy defeats to Chester and Radcliffe in the past week. Manager Daniel Moore made three changes to his Hornets side handed a 5-1 reverse at Radcliffe in midweek, as Rob Briggs came in for Aidan Heywood, Alfie Henderson replaced Josh Donaldson and Joe Oliver was preferred to Kian Foreman down the right

The Pitmen’s vocal travelling support were once again served up an early blow as their side tally allowed Hebburn to take the lead with the game’s first chance in the sixth minute; a brilliant cross from Murray from the left was met by a towering header from striker Tom Allan, who headed beyond the reach of Sam Hornby from ten yards out and found the corner of the stopper’s right-hand net. A terrible, terrible start for the visitors and yet another early goal conceded this term

Two minutes later, Hornby did well to deny Murray down to his right, palming the young midfielder’s low shot away from goal after the Pitmen had allowed him too much space on the edge of the box

The Pitmen were really struggling to get themselves into the game in the opening exchanges, resorting to aimless long balls over the top of the Hebburn defence from the likes of George Langston and George Williams, which were easily dealt with by the experienced Matty Elsdon at the back for the Hornets

Former Stafford Rangers striker Jake Charles - making the step up with Hebburn after arriving in the summer from Whitby Town - forced Hornby into another good save on sixteen minutes as he was allowed time and space to get his shot off, forcing the former Walsall stopper into another fine save down to his left

The overworked Hornby was keeping his side in contention at this juncture, making yet another smart save just sixty seconds later as he made a more regulation stop to deny Forbes from close-range after yet more chaotic defending from the Pitmen down the Hebburn right saw the midfielder drift past Lenni Cirino but scuff his effort straight at Hornby

There was a half-hearted call for a penalty kick from the Pitmen on twenty minutes as Dylan’s Mottley-Henry hit the ground under pressure from Jack Donaghy, only for the referee to wave play on

The Pitmen’s first real moment of threat came on twenty-six minutes as Jamie Cooke scampered after a long ball forward down the left, beating Elsdon to the ball and whipping in a fine cross that was narrowly missed by the head of Morgan at the far post. Close

Two minutes later, Good play from Murray down the left saw him drift across the box and strike a shot at goal that Langston did well to come across and deflect away from goal

Hebburn’s complete dominance of the opening half hour of play was vindicated by a second goal of the afternoon on twenty-eight minutes. A free-kick into the box caused the usual problems for a hesitant and disorganised Hednesford defence, with the ball falling at the feet of Tom Allan again; his initial effort was brilliantly saved by Hornby, who could only divert the shot into the path of the incoming Forbes, who scruffily turned the rebound home from close range

Sharples was the first player to have his name taken by the referee shortly after the half-hour mark as an aggressive late challenge on Oliver was deemed booking-worthy

Cooke’s first sight at goal on thirty-four minutes saw the striker strike a clean volley at goal after good work from Cirino down the left saw him cross for Cooke, whose effort whistled just wide of goalkeeper Jacob Allan’s left-hand post

It was Cooke again with the effort five minutes later, electing to take a pot shot at goal from long-range as the play opened up in front of him, hitting a firm right-footed effort that flew a good few feet wide of the post

More defensive frailties at the back for Hednesford on forty-three minutes saw Forbes almost take advantage of some short play from the visitors, beating Hornby to the ball but poking his effort just wide of goal

The away side were handed a barely-deserved lifeline deep into added impact the end of the half as Cooke got goal side of Elsdon and went down under a challenge from the defender, prompting the referee to award the Pitmen a fairly soft post-kick. Ahkeem Rose stepped up to take the penalty but rolled his tame effort straight at Jacob Allan, who palmed the ball away to his left. Fortunately for Rose, the ball rolled kindly for him, tapping the rebound home with the final kick of the half to reduce the deficit

Rose’s late goal had put a huge sticking plaster over what had been a hopeless, rotten first-half performance from Davis’s side, who had been a solid second-best throughout as they veered alarmingly from defensively incompetent to out-of-ideas in the attacking third in a disjointed, characterless first-half display that had rivalled their terrible first half at Merthyr Town on the opening day

Despite this, Davis chose not to make any half-time changes, sticking with his XI at the start of the second period. The away side produced their most fluid piece of play so far on forty-nine minutes as a quick and incisive break down the left saw Cirino race onto a pass from Liam Kinsella and cross for Cooke, who was denied a certain goal as his sidefooted shot was blocked by a last-ditch challenge from the covering Dan Myers

Hebburn made the first change of the afternoon on fifty-four minutes as midfield man Matty Cornish came on in place of former Salford City man Henderson

Forbes followed by Sharples into the referee’s notebook on fifty-nine minutes as he was rightly penalised for an overly-aggressive challenge on Sharples just inside the Hebburn half

The Pitmen went agonisingly close to a leveller on the hour mark as a corner kick from the right saw Sharples deliver a ball into the box, dropping right on the goal line and leading to a mass scramble that saw Rose scuff the ball goalwards, only to be denied a second of the afternoon by some frantic goalkeeping from Jacob Allan, who fell on the ball and managed to get his torso in front of the ball to stop it trickling into the net

Midway through the second half, Davis had seen enough from his misfiring side as they continued to struggle to create much in the way of clear-cut chances, bringing big David Abimbola on for Cooke to play up front as a two with Jarvis

Morgan was the latest recipient of a yellow card on sixty-nine minutes as the right-back blatantly blocked Forbes as they looked to take a quick free-kick and was booked for obstruction right in front of the two benches

Two minutes later, the Pitmen made a further attacking change as the talented Omari Sterling-James came on in place of Jarvis, prompting a shift in position for Rose as he moved in from the left to play alongside Abimbola

Any hopes the Pitmen had of getting back on level terms were hit hard on seventy-five minutes as they were once again reduced to ten men for the second time in a week. Sharples - only brought to replace the suspended Gorman - scythed down Tom Allan out on the Hebburn right touchline, despite the striker appearing to be going nowhere, earning himself a well-deserved second yellow card and an early bath

Hebburn very early took advantage of their numerical advantage almost straightaway as more excellent play down the left from Murray on seventy-seven minutes saw him feed Briggs, whose dipping, swerving effort from the edge of the box beat Hornby but just dipped over the crossbar

Elsdon looked to put the game to bed for the hosts on eighty minutes as he headed towards goal at the far post following a deep cross from the right by Forbes, only to be pulled back for a foul on Williams in the build-up

Murray and Myers looked to double up on Morgan down the left on eighty-three minutes as the pair exchanged passes, with Murray hanging up across to the far post that was just a touch too far in front of the incoming Charles as he looked to beat Langston to the cross

The powerfully-built Abimbola looked to cause issues with his physical presence on eighty-four minutes as he received a pass from Sterling-James in the box with his back to goal. He turned well and got his shot away, but his scuffed effort was blocked by Elsdon

Four minutes later, Abimbola was in on goal once more as Sterling-James’s dangerous cross from the left was bundled towards goal by the teenager, only for Jacob Allan to make the save at his near post

The home side broke quickly on the counter down the left through Murray, whose slide-rule pass through to Allan saw the striker hit a first-time shot at goal that was blocked by a desperate last-ditch challenge from Williams

Davis’s late desperate rolls of the dice came in the third of five added minutes as Aaron Harper-Bailey replaced Cirino on the left side of defence and Will Merry came on for Morgan down the right

Despite plenty of late possession as they camped out on the edge of the Hebburn box, the Pitmen’s lack of cutting edge saw them crash to yet another defeat, one that drops then back down the table and just above the relegation zone after nine games of the season gone. Put very simply, there just isn’t enough week-on-week improvement to see progress in the squad; in the last week alone, we have seen major tactical tweaks, two suspensions, injuries to key players and the continuation of a haemorrhaging of soft, simple goals that are threatening to derail the Pitmen’s campaign and Davis’s increasingly shaky tenure. Davis will most likely be delighted with the welcome break from league action next Saturday when his struggling side play host to Northern Premier League Midland outfit Coventry United in the second qualifying round of this season’s F.A. Cup

Hebburn Town: J. Allan, Myers, Donaghy ©, Elsdon, Briggs, Charles, Murray, T. Allan, Forbes ▆, Henderson (Cornish 54), Oliver      Subs unused: Wood, Donaldson, Taylor, Foreman, Moore, Waters

Hednesford Town: Hornby, Morgan ▆ (Merry 90+3), Langston, Williams ©, Cooke (Abimbola 64), Jarvis (Sterling-James 71), Rose, Mottley-Henry, Kinsella, Cirino (Harper-Bailey 90+3), Sharples ▆ ▆ (75)      Subs unused: Parke, Curran-Nicholls

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