The race for the Northern Premier League West title takes another intriguing turn this afternoon as the Pitmen take full advantage of a slip-up from Widnes to move to within three points of the league leaders with victory at Kidsgrove Athletic

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Gavin Hurren's side headed to the north of the county off the back of last weekend's ugly but necessary 1-0 win at Wythenshawe Town, making two changes to the side that had started last Saturday as Dom McHale was passed fit to return in place of Nathan Blissett and Simeon Maye came back into the side after serving his one match suspension and replaced Niall Watson

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Kidsgrove - starting play in a precarious position just outside the relegation places - had picked up a useful point at Trafford last weekend, with joint managers Matt Rhead and Tom Pope also making just the one change of their own as Javal Thompson replaced Kyle Diskin in midfield. Veteran centre-back Ritchie Sutton - who made fifteen appearances for the Pitmen last season - was named amongst the Grove substitutes

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It was a beautiful day in North Staffordshire, with temperatures in the high teens and bright Spring sunshine bringing out a respectable crowd of 442, with at least half of them turning out in support of the visitors. Kidsgrove made the more enterprising start to proceedings, pressing the Pitmen hard and looking to force early errors out of the away side as they won the first corner of the game in the second minute. Nat Morley sent over a deep cross to the far post, where Ollie Harrison was on hand to head away from danger ahead of Oliver Jepson

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​The game's first real talking point came in the seventh minute as Kidsgrove created the game's first real opportunity. A raking cross-field ball from Morley found Kieran Lazenby in space to the right-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area, taking advantage of a ricochet off the heel of skipper Elliott Johnson to get his shot away, forcing Tony Breeden into a fine parry down low to his right. Jack Bromfield looked to turn the loose ball home from close range with an acrobatic shot, but could only volley his effort wide of goal

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Another good Morley set piece in the ninth minute saw the full-back whip in a dangerous corner from the right that was headed on by Jepson towards Robbie Hatton, only for Chris Hussey to mop things up with a calm and collected clearance inside his own six-yard box

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A long kick forward from Breeden in the thirteenth minute saw the veteran stopper feel the back of his leg, with the stopper requiring a spell of treatment before the game could continue

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Two minutes later, an almighty scramble inside the Hednesford penalty error so no less than three players in blue have a swing at the ball as the Pitmen struggled to clear their lines, with Jimmy Garlick eventually firing just wide of Breeden's left-hand post with an angled drive at goal from fifteen yards out

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Kidsgrove skipper Bromfield picked up the game's first booking of the afternoon from referee Mr Burton on seventeen minutes as he brought down Joe Doyle-Charles just inside the Kidsgrove half and picked up a yellow card, despite the former Burton Albion youngster's protests

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Jake Jervis was content to play off the shoulder of the last man in the first half, looking to chase down any long balls that the Pitmen played down the slope and into the path of the experienced striker. One such ball from Hussey in the nineteenth minute saw the former Birmingham City man latch onto the pass and take it towards the Kidsgrove penalty area before being brought down by Jepson. Hussey spotted up the resultant free-kick and played a delightful ball into the box, where Ollie Harrison arrived late to head narrowly over the crossbar

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Midway through the first half, Jamie Morgan was penalised for a foul on the tricky Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi down by the corner flag, allowing Morley to play another pin-point free-kick into the box where Ollie Harrison was once again in dominant form as he headed away from Jepson at the far post

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Good interplay between Dom McHale and Morgan down the right flank three minutes later saw Morgan take the ball to the byeline, cutting inside and dribbling it along the line before attempting to cut it back into the path of the incoming Dan Trickett-Smith, who was denied a clear shot at goal by some resolute covering from Bromfield

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​The turning point in the afternoon came shortly before the half-hour mark as the Pitmen were awarded a penalty kick. Jervis made a superb run in behind the Grove defence to latch onto Trickett-Smth's lofted ball over the top, bringing the ball down and advancing on goal before being pulled back in a blatant manner by the covering Jepson. Despite calls from the terraces for a straight red card for the defender - much in the same manner as the one that Maye picked up against Trafford two weeks previously - Mr Burton only booked Jepson for the foul and pointed to the spot. Despite Kieran Harrison's unsportsmanlike behaviour in attempting to put off taker McHale, the Magic Man calmly stepped up from twelve yards out to send the stopper the wrong way and register his eighteenth goal of the season

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A break in play three minutes later saw skipper Johnson signalling to the bench that he could no longer continue and was immediately taken off as a precaution, with Watson replacing him and Joel Taylor dropping back to deputise at left-back

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Watson could have made an almost immediate impact three minutes later as Trickett-Smith did brilliantly to force the dawdling Ernie Ofusu into a mistake on the edge of his own penalty area, with the midfielder only able to poke the ball into the path of Watson to the left-hand side of the Kidsgrove penalty area. The substitute drew Kieran Harrison out of his goal and looked to steer it past the burly stopper with a sidefooted effort from fifteen yards out, but saw his shot cannon back off the base of the far post

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Within sixty seconds, Kidsgrove had swept up the other end of the pitch through Adu-Gyamfi, who drew a foul out of Hussey that earned the veteran a yellow card from Mr Burton. Bromfield wasted the free-kick however, as his ball out to Morley was a little too firm and allowed Morgan to see it out for a goal kick with ease

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Trickett-Smith probably should have done better with the chance presented to him on thirty-seven minutes, as Taylor's deep cross from the left-hand touchline was flicked on by Jervis into the path of Trickett-Smith at the far post,. The former Liverpool playmaker took a touch before lashing his half-volley over the crossbar from sixteen yards out as the ball refused to sit up for him

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Jervis really should have added to the Pitmen's tally on forty-two minutes, somehow firing wide of the far post with a low angled drive from the right-hand side of the Kidsgrove box after good approach play from McHale and Trickett-Smith had played him in on goal

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A late flurry of corner kicks from Kidsgrove in first-half added time tested the Pitmen's resolve, although their newfound confidence at the back saw the likes of Hussey, Ollie Harrison and Breeden deal with a threat with relative ease

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Having managed the first fifteen minutes of Kidsgrove pressure well, the Pitmen will have been pleased with their first-half display overall and probably feel a little aggrieved at not being further in front after Watson and Jervis had both spurned their respective efforts

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As expected, Kidsgrove started the second half strongly as they looked for a route back into the game. Another clutch of corner kicks from the house early on threatened but were once again repelled by more excellent organised defending from the experienced Hednesford back line, with Ollie Harrison an absolute man mountain inside his own six-yard box as he headed Morley's deep flag kick away from goal on forty-nine minutes

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Jervis was denied on two occasions in the same move on fifty-two minutes as Breeden's long goal kick forward was taken down by the big man on the edge of the Kidsgrove box, only for Jervis to be denied a shot at goal by Jepson's challenge. Watson recycled the ball well just outside the box before cleverly slipping the ball back into the feet of Jervis, whose first-time shot from twelve yards out was turned behind for a corner by Bromfield

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A corner from Trickett-Smith out on the left on fifty-six minutes was played deep into the six-yard box, where Ollie Harrison rose highest to reach the ball ahead of namesake Kieran, only for Mr Burton to blow for a foul on the goalkeeper when it appeared to just be a misjudgement in the flight of the ball from the stopper that stopped him from reaching it

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A minute later, goalscorer McHale was taken off as Hurren looked to go a little more direct and aggressive, bringing on the giant figure of Nathan Blissett to play up front with Jervis moving out to the right flank

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Watson was once again denied the chance to grab his second Hednesford goal on sixty-one minutes as a very late offside flag pulled him back as he raced in behind the Kidsgrove defence to latch onto Trickett-Smith's pass but was pulled back by the assistant's flag on the far side of the pitch

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Midway through the second half, Kidsgrove made their first change of the afternoon as former Chasetown man Harry Goode came on in place of the ineffective Hatton, who had been well shackled by Hussey and Ollie Harrison throughout

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On sixty-nine minutes, Jack Bearne was brought on to add some pace to the left flank as he replaced Trickett-Smith, moving Watson infield to play just behind Blissett

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Jervis made a darting run to the near post on seventy-two minutes to get his head onto an inswinging Hussey corner from the right, towering over the Kidsgrove defenders but looping his header narrowly over the crossbar from six yards out

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Sutton was given a run out against his former club on seventy-seven minutes as the 38-year-old defender was brought on in place of Ofosu to add his aerial ability to the side on seventy-seven minutes

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Within sixty seconds, however, the visitors essentially wrapped up the points as Maye capped off a fine performance with the killer second goal; Watson cleverly flicked Blissett's knock-down into the path of Bearne, who burst into the box down the left before sending over a low cross into the six-yard box that the incoming Maye gleefully tapped home from close range for his second goal in three games

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In reaction to the second Hednesford goal, Pope and Rhead made their second change of the afternoon before the restart as Diskin came on in place of Lazenby at full-back

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With eight minutes remaining, Taylor picked up a yellow card for the away side as he was booked by Mr Burton for a foul on Diskin to the right of the Hednesford penalty area. Bromfield took the resultant kick but was again incredibly wasteful with his ball in, as Ollie Harrison once again cleared with relative ease under no pressure whatsoever inside his own six-yard box

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Hurren's final change of personnel came a minute later as Kory Roberts - who had been warming up for a considerable amount of time in the second half - was brought on in place of the recently booked Taylor

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Bearne was stll in the mood for a goal, seizing upon a loose pass from Bromfield on eighty-five minutes and charging infield, skipping past two despairing challenges before firing in a rising shot from fully twenty-five yards out that sailed harmlessly over the crossbar

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News started to filter through to the Hednesford supporters of a late equaliser for Mossley at home to Widnes, with this exciting late development from Seel Park spreading around the fans and Hednesford players as Hussey looked to line up a corner kick on the right

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The under-utilised Breeden protected his well-earned clean sheet with a good save on eighty-eight minutes to claim a rasping free-kick kick from Diskin on his goal line after a foul by Doyle-Charles on Adu-Gyamfi

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Deep into added time, substitute Diskin picked up a third yellow Kidsgrove caution of the afternoon as he was penalised by Mr Burton for a foul on Bearne as he looked to try and take the ball off the winger just inside the Kidsgrove half

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Another warmly deserved and thoroughly professional display from the Pitmen, who were excellent value for their win after a completely dominant last hour of football. You can't help but feel that the momentum is starting to swing the Ptmen's way at this late stage of the season, as they now sit just three points behind Widnes and on exactly the same goal difference. Good Friday gives Hurren's men the chance to move to the top of the table on goal difference for the first time this season when they face Mossley at Keys Park, knowing that Widnes will have to wait twenty-four hours to make any response as they host Nantwich Town on Saturday

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Kidsgrove Athletic: K. Harrison, Lazenby (Diskin 79 ▆), Morley, Bromfield © ▆, Jepson ▆, Morris, Thompson, Ofosu (Sutton 77), Adu-Gyamfi, Hatton (Goode 65), Garlick       Subs Unused: Pope, Willan

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Taylor ▆ (Roberts 83), Johnson © (Watson 32), O. Harrison,  Hussey ▆, Trickett-Smith (Bearne 69), Doyle-Charles, Jervis, McHale (Blissett 57), Maye     Sub Unused: Brown

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