It's a Valentine's Day massacre for the Pitmen as Kelvin Davis's first game in charge of the club ends in a heavy defeat after an absolutely appalling display from his side

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Davis had been confirmed by the club and the new manager on Thursday, with the former Southampton man taking charge at Keys Park until the end of the season alongside Danny Butterfield. Davis made three changes to the side that had started Tuesday night's 1-1 draw with league leaders Hebburn Town as Elliott Johnson returned to the side in place of the injured Ryan Wynter, Max Sheaf replaced Dan Trickett-Smith in midfield and Jamie Morgan returned to the side ahead of Jermaine Hylton

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Hyde's season had been one of constant struggle, with the Tigers currently occupying the final relegation spot going into today's game. The popular and experienced Michael Clegg had recently arrived at Ewen Fields in a bid to turn the club's fortunes around, making two changes to his side from the one that had drawn at fellow strugglers Stocksbridge Park Steels last weekend with two debutants - Preston North End loanee goalkeeper Li-Bau Stowell came in between the stickas after the departure of Yusuf Mersin to Runcorn Linnets and Damon Park - signed from Radcliffe on loan -  replaced the unavailable Taylor McMahon in defence 

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On the 4G pitch, the men in green were slow to get themselves going as Hyde looked to get themselves on the front foot. Tunde Owolabi – a recent signing from Leek Town – looked to use his pace to good effect in the third minute as he raced onto a pass from Scott Duxbury down the left-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area but was denied a shooting opportunity by some excellent covering defending from Morgan

 

Owolabi – a prolific scorer at this level in previous spells at Warrington Rylands and FC United of Manchester – got himself back on the goal trail with a spectacular opener on seven minutes; taking advantage of that rarest of things - a mistake from Ollie Harrison – Owolabi raced onto a long ball forward from Will Hall, getting in behind the burly centre-back as Harrison struggled to keep pace with the frontman and allowed Owolabi to execute a wonderful dipping, swerving volley beyond the reach of Tony Breeden from eighteen yards out and into the right far corner of the net

 

Back came the hosts, with Montel Gibson striking a warning shot at goal on eleven minutes after taking Harrison’s pass forward and making a jinking run across the face of the box from the right before striking a low shot at goal that Stowell saved low down at his near post, pushing it behind for a Hednesford corner kick

 

Two minutes later, a deep corner kick from Hussey on the right caused momentary issues in the Hyde defence as both sets of players scuffled for the ball in, with Ahkeem Rose eventually nodding home but being denied by an earlier whistle from referee Mr Stott for a foul in the build-up

 

Owolabi went close to doubling the home side’s lead on fifteen minutes as the talented Jack Redshaw made a move forward before slotting the ball through to the striker, whose low driven shot across the face of goal beat Breeden but also skipped wide of the stopper’s right-hand post

 

Three minutes later, Joel Taylor and Hussey linked up down the left, with the defender whipping in a deep ball from the corner of the box that just evaded the heads of both Gibson and Rose as the pair made a run into the six-yard box

 

The hosts continued to be a huge threat on the counter-attack and doubled their lead midway through the first half as more out-of-character defending from Harrison allowed Owolabi to out-pace him as the pair challenged for the ball on the edge of the penalty area, with Owolabi firing in a bobbling low shot beyond Breeden that found the back of the net via a touch off the stopper’s right-hand post and seemed to bamboozle the veteran stopper

 

The Tigers were completely dominant at this juncture and could have extended their lead further two minutes later as Owolabi turned provider with a pass to the slippery Edy Maieco, whose low shot at goal was parried away by Breeden at his near post for a corner to Hyde

 

Another fine ball into the box from Redshaw on twenty-seven minutes was aimed at Park at the far post, who was to be denied a debut goal by some timely defending from Max Sheaf to head the ball clear

 

Owolabi tested the reflexes of Breeden a minute later as he was given far too much time and space by the backtracking Harrison, allowing him time to size up his effort from twenty yards out that bobbled straight through to Breeden

 

A visibly frustrated Gibson looked to get the better of Hall on the half-hour mark, controlling the ball well and turning on the edge of the Hyde penalty area, but delaying his shot a second too long and allowing the defender to make a block tackle

 

On thirty-five minutes, Omari Sterling-James was brought down by Hall twenty-five yards from goal after the forward had taken a couple of clever touches to move into space just outside the penalty area. Hussey took the resultant free-kick and curled his effort at goal, but cleared the crossbar by a matter of inches as Stowell watched it over his crossbar

 

Two minutes later, Hussey strode forward and into space in front of him, only to strike his low shot from over thirty yards out well wide of goal as it bobbled across the artificial surface and past Stowell’s right-hand post

 

More enterprising play on the counter from Hyde created another opening for Owolabi on forty minutes as Maieco’s chipped ball found the striker in behind the Hednesford defence once more, getting in behind Hussey and lobbing the onrushing Breeden, only to lift his angled shot from sixteen yards out over the crossbar

 

With three minutes of the half remaining, Sterling-James did have the ball in the net for the Pitmen as he took Hussey’s inswinging free-kick down before firing past Stowell from twelve yards out. However, the referee had spotted a blatant handball from the forward in the build-up and disallowed the goal

 

The Pitmen had been completely outplayed, outmuscled and outfought in the first period by a hard-working and bustling Hyde side that had used Owolabi's pace and power to good effect to put themselves in a strong position going into the second period. Davis made a tactical change at the break as the more defensive-minded Joss Labadie came on in place of Sheaf, taking the captain's armband off Breeden in the process

 

Looking for a reaction from his dreadfully below-par side, Davis sent the Pitmen out with a more attacking instruction, with Sterling-James firing in an early warning shot at goal on forty-seven minutes with a powerful low shot straight at Stowell after bundling his way past Park and into the box

 

However, the Pitmen’s brief fightback was brought crashing to a halt as they fell further behind on fifty minutes; a quickly-taken corner kick from the left from Gabidon found Redshaw on the corner of the six-yard box on the edge of the box – the skipper’s clever lay-off found Park, who steered the ball past Breeden from sixteen yards out to grab a goal on his debut

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Things went from bad to worse for the hapless Pitmen, as the usually solid Hussey continued his nightmare afternoon by gifting Hyde a penalty kick on the hour mark. Gabidon picked the loose ball up on the right flank after Rose had decided to give up on it and drove into the penalty area, where he beat Hussey for pace and left the veteran with no option but to clumsily bring the winger down in full flight. Mr Stott immediately pointed to the spot, with Redshaw calmly sending Breeden the wrong way from twelve yards out to make it 4-0

 

Before play could restart, the Pitmen made a double change to their disinterested attack as former Hyde man Dom McHale came on in place of Rose, with Hylton coming on in place of Sterling-James on the wing

 

Redshaw remained a huge threat for the home side with his quality on the ball, whipping a dangerous free kick into the penalty area on sixty-three minutes that was nervously headed away by Hussey for a corner kick

 

Hyde's first change of the afternoon came on sixty-seven minutes as Maieco was brought off by Clegg and replaced by former Wycombe Wanderers winger Antoine Makoli

 

McHale looked to get his side going with a typically marauding run in from the right on sixty-nine minutes, skipping past a couple of challenges before working the ball onto his left foot and striking a low shot at goal that was easily saved by Stowell

 

Johnson added to the Pitmen's woes on seventy-one minutes as the unsually-dependable defender dropped a clanger to gift Hyde a fifth goal of the afternoon; the former Barnet man was caught in possession as he tried to bring the ball out of defence, allowing Makoli to take the ball off him with relative ease and lay it off to Gabidon, who had the simple task of firing past a horribly exposed Breeden from close-range with a driven shot into the far corner of the net

 

With fifteen minutes of the game remaining, the home side made their second substitution of the afternoon as Owolabi was warmly applauded off by the home crowd as he was replaced by Bruno Cina

 

Two minutes later, the forlorn Pitmen made another change in the attacking third as Gibson - who had yet again been poor and disinterested - was replaced by Turner

 

Hyde’s Shakeel Jones-Griffiths rightly picked up the game’s only yellow card from Mr Stott on eighty-one minutes as the defender brought McHale down in full flight and handed the Pitmen a free kick to the right of the Hyde penalty area

 

Hyde made a late double change on eighty-four minutes as Max Harrop came on up front ahead of goalscorer Redshaw, whilst Jones-Griffiths made way for the experienced Tom Pratt

 

Hylton had been largely anonymous since coming on, but made a good run into the box down the left on eighty-six minutes as he got past two Hyde players before slightly overrunning the ball and allowing Stowell to make a smothering save at his feet before he could get a shot away

 

As the game entered the final minute, Hylton latched onto Hussey's quickly taken free-kick and drove into the box on the left, looking to pick Turner out with a deep cross that was palmed over the bar by Stowell for a corner kick

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A chorus of loud boos from the away support gave way to angry exchanges between the supporters and Davis at the end of the game as the Hednesford supporters let the new man at the helm know their thoughts on a wholly unacceptable performance and result. The Pitmen remain second in the table, but with ten games remaining and Hebburn continuing to look strong, it's looking less likely that Hednesford can get themselves back into the title race with any more displays similar to this in their remaining fixtures. A return to Keys Park on Saturday sees them play host to play-off chasing Lancaster City, in desperate need of a first win in five games to kick-start their flagging campaign once more 

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Hyde United: Stowell, Ditchfield, Duxbury, Jones-Griffiths ▆ (Pratt 84), Park, Hall, Maieco (Makoli 67), Fearnley, Owolabi (Cina 75), Redshaw © (Harrop 84), Gabidon   Sub Unused: Kershaw

Hednesford Town: Breeden ©, Morgan, Taylor, Hussey, Harrison, Johnson, Sheaf (Labadie 45), Kinsella, Gibson (Turner 77), Rose (McHale 61), Sterling-James (Hylton 62)      Subsunused: Trickett-Smith

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