The managerless Pitmen have to settle for a point at a showery Keys Park as top of the table Hebburn Town came from behind to earn a draw this evening
 
The Pitmen’s recent faltering form had finally caught up with Gavin Hurren, who had been relieved of his duties by chairman Craig Gwilt the previous day. Interim manager Jared Hodgkiss made one change to the side that had started Saturday’s drab draw against Whitby as Jermaine Hylton came in for Jamie Morgan on the right flank
 
Hebburn made their longest journey of the season down to South Staffordshire off the back of a draw of their own at the weekend, drawing 1-1 at Warrington Rylands. Long-serving manager Daniel Moore elected to stick with the same XI that had started at Rylands as he faced the second of three tough games this week, before they entertain FC United of Manchester at the weekend
 
The seemingly incessant rain that had been falling for what seemed to have been weeks now showed no sign of letting up ahead of kick off, once again testing the drainage on the Pitmen’s hybrid turf to its limits. The hosts looked keen to shake off the issues of the past few days early on and were straight onto the front foot from the off; Omari Sterling-James had the excellent 1,600 plus crowd on their feet in the fourth minute after winning a free-kick twenty five yards from goal, to the left Hebburn penalty area, taking the kick himself and producing a wonderful swerving, dipping effort that clipped the top of the crossbar with goalkeeper Dan Cameron beaten
 
Hebburn’s first sight at goal came through the in-form Gary Martin two minutes later – Liam Murray turned quickly on the edge of the penalty area and laid the ball off to his strike partner, whose first-time shot sailed high and wide of Tony Breeden’s crossbar
 
The Pitmen looked far more assertive and confident with their play in the opening stages of the game than in any of their last few games, with Liam Kinsella and Dan Trickett-Smith both enjoying plenty of the ball early on. It was Joel Taylor, however, who was to be the standout performer for the hosts, offering a regular outlet down the left flank and whipping some fine balls into the box. One such run and cross from Taylor in the seventh minute picked out Ahkeem Rose, who dragged his low shot from sixteen yards out past Cameron’s left-hand post as the Hebburn defence closed him down
 
The end-to-end nature of the game continued sixty seconds later as Campbell Darcy took the ball down the right, getting past Chris Hussey and crossing low into the box, but no-one in a green shirt could get to the ball as it skipped across the face of the goal and away from danger
 
Martin – the division’s top scorer with eighteen goals so far this season – was off-target once more in the tenth minute, once again wildly striking an effort well wide of Breeden’s left-hand post after some good approach play and pass into his feet from Ethan Wood
 
Three minutes later, Martin beat Ryan Wynter to a cross from skipper Aiden Heywood on the right but headed wide of Breeden‘s right-hand post from close range as the defender did enough to put the striker off
 
Montel Gibson – short of confidence after  barren run in front of goal in the league stretching back to December – was handed a great chance to open the scoring for the hosts on fifteen minutes as he ran through on goal and struck a low shot on the run from just inside the penalty area, forcing Cameron into a good save down to his right to push the ball away from danger
 
Sterling-James went close again for the Pitmen three minutes later after some neat footwork from Taylor down the left saw him get past Heywood and pull the ball back to the forward, whose effort from eighteen yards out whistled inches wide of Cameron’s right-hand post
 
Midway through the first half, Breeden was on hand to make a regulation save to deny Darcy after a good run and pass into his feet from Wood down the left, with the young Hartlepool United loanee striking a shot at goal that lacked any real venom and was an easy claim by the veteran stopper
 
More good play from Taylor on twenty-five minutes earned the Pitmen a corner kick on the left, with Hussey sending over an out-swinging corner kick that was looped up into the night sky by Ollie Harrison before being hacked clear by the Hebburn defence
 
The Pitmen broke the evening’s deadlock on twenty-eight minutes as top scorer Rose struck with an instinctive effort to give the hosts the lead; a throw-in on the left from Hussey found Taylor, who brilliantly clipped the ball into the box with the outside of his left boot and onto the head of Rose, whose glancing effort from twelve yards out was enough o guide it past Cameron and into the far corner of the net
 
Hebburn looked for an immediate response through Arron Thompson on thirty-one minutes, latching onto a run and pass from Murray but skewing his angled shot wide of Breeden’s left-hand post
 
Cameron was alert to a quick counter from the Pitmen three minutes later as Gibson burst past Donaghy to latch onto a pass from Liam Kinsella but was denied by a smothering save by the stopper
 
Taylor went within a matter of inches to extending the Pitmen’s advantage on thirty-seven minutes after some good wing play from Hylton down the right saw him jink past Michael Turner and cut inside before laying it off to the left-back, whose powerful low shot skipped just wide of the woodwork. Close.
 
Hebburn looked to press for a leveller towards the end of the half as the Hednesford defence held firm; a quickfire double chance just before the break saw Thompson swing in a cross from the left that was met by the head of Matt Elsdon, but the defender glanced his effort well wide of goal under pressure from Harrison
 
A minute later, Murray worked the ball onto his right foot just outside the penalty area but shanked his effort wildly over Breeden’s crossbar and into the heaving Heath Hayes terrace
 
It had been a much-improved showing from the Pitmen from Saturday, playing with much more verve, tempo and freedom as they had done in recent weeks and had certainly shaded the first period on possession and clear-cut chances. Hebburn had probed and pressed around the box, but could only point to one on-target effort in the first forty-five minutes to their name
 
The Hornets looked to get themselves back into the game with a strong start to the second half - within a minute of the restart, Heywood’s deep cross from the right was met by the head of Murray, whose weak effort bounced straight through to Breeden
 
Murray then blotted his copybook by picking up the game’s first yellow card of the evening a minute later as he chased back to challenge Sterling-James, bringing him down clumsily just outside the Hebburn penalty area and received a booking from referee Mr Hall. Hussey took responsibility for the kick but could only strike his effort straight into the arms of Cameron
 
Rose was in the hunt for more goals but was off target with his next effort on fifty minutes; breaking down the right, Rose used his pace and power to hold off Donaghy before lashing his shot from eighteen yards out high over the crossbar
 
Hebburn dragged themselves level once more three minutes as some sloppy marking from the hosts saw a ball in from the left by Robert Briggs was headed home by Donaghy, rising highest to guide the cross past Breeden and into the corner of the net
 
The hosts looked for an immediate response through Gibson, who looked to control a long ball forward from Harrison two minutes later but couldn’t quite get it under full control on the edge of the box as he challenged with Elsdon for the bouncing ball, with the defender eventually blocking Gibson’s effort and clearing the danger
 
Breeden was quickly out of his goal to deny Martin on fifty-eight minutes as a counter-attack from the visitors saw Turner thread a through ball into the path of the striker, who was beaten to the pass by Breeden’s alertness
 
Hebburn gaffer Moore followed Murray into Mr Hall’s notebook on sixty-one minutes as was shown a yellow card by the referee for taking his protests too far following a decision that went against his side
 
The Pitmen were forced into making the evening’s first substitution on sixty-three minutes as Wynter picked up a knock midway inside the Hednesford half and was taken off in favour of Morgan in the right-back role
 
Midway through the second half, Hylton made a flying run down the right and got the better of Turner with some tricky wing play that saw him drift across and into the box. However, the fit-again winger dithered at the crucial moment with the play opening up in front of him and delayed his shot, squaring the ball instead into the path of Trickett-Smith, whose first-time effort sailed high over the crossbar
 
Martin was getting more joy out of the Hednesford defenders in the second half than he had done in the first period, making a strong run down the right on sixty-seven minutes to latch onto Heywood’s pass but firing in an angled shot that was easily fielded by Breeden
 
More play down the Hebburn right from Heywood on seventy minutes saw him link up with Darcy - his cross was cleared by Harrison as far as Turner on the edge of the box, whose rushed effort flew wide of Breeden’s right-hand post
 
More good play from Taylor on seventy-three minutes saw the Pitmen’s man of the match make another driving run down the left, cutting inside before being brought down by Heywood, prompting Mr Hall to show the right-back a yellow card for the tackle. Hussey took the resultant free-kick and played the ball deep to the far post, where Morgan looked to pull the ball back across goal with a scuffed cross that was cleared
 
Both sides elected to make substitutions on seventy-six minutes, with the Pitmen bringing on the fit-again Dom McHale for Hylton and Hebburn making a double change – Martin was replaced by Kian Foreman and Olly Martin came on for the booked Murray
 
McHale was straight into the action with his dancing feet, taking the ball down the right flank on seventy-eight minutes and beating two Hebburn players before slightly overcooking it as the ball ran away from him at the crucial moment before he could shoot, allowing Donaghy to clear
 
Trickett-Smith was off-target again for the hosts on eighty-one minutes after Hussey’s left-wing corner kick was headed out as far as the playmaker, whose effort from inside the ‘D’ sailed harmlessly over the crossbar once more
 
McHale’s trickery earned the Pitmen in a dangerous position to the right of the box two minutes later as he was fouled by Turner, with Sterling-James crossing deep to the far post and getting a little too much it – Gibson looked to recycle the ball but couldn’t drive back through the forest of legs in front of him and Hebburn were able to clear their lines
 
The Pitmen made their third change of the afternoon with four minutes remaining as Dan Turner came on up front in place of Rose, who had struggled to get involved in the game in the second half after his goal in the first period
 
Foreman looked to cause the Pitmen issues in the air from the restart of play as he met a cross from Heywood and headed the ball back across goal towards Olly Martin, only for the ball to sail harmlessly out of play
 
Hebburn’s final change of the evening came with a couple of minutes of play left as former Blyth Spartans man Joe Oliver replaced the hard-running Darcy on the right flank
 
There were muted, and desperate, calls for a penalty kick from the Keys Park crowd in the first of five added minutes as McHale got in behind the Hebburn defence before going down under a challenge from Cameron, prompting questions from the men in white to Mr Hall, who dismissed their appeals by continuing with play
 
A late flurry of corner kicks from Hussey on the left were dealt with by the Hebburn defence to see off any late Hednesford pressure, earning the table toppers a point that suits them a lot more than it does the hosts. With Saturday’s game at Hyde United looming large, there will most likely be a swift managerial appointment by the Pitmen before the game at Ewen Fields as they look to keep in touch with tonight’s visitors with only eleven games remaining in the Northern Premier League season
 
Hednesford Town: Breeden ©, Taylor, Hussey, Kinsella, Harrison, Wynter (Morgan 63), Hylton (McHale 76), Trickett-Smith, Rose (D. Turner 86), Gibson, Sterling-James      Subs unused: Labadie, Johnson
 
Hebburn Town: Cameron, Heywood ©, M. Turner, Donaghy, Elsdon, Wood, Thompson, Briggs, G. Martin (Foreman 76), Murray  ▆ (O. Martin 76), Darcy (Oliver 88)     Subs unused: Gomes, Pavan

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