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Gainsborough Trinity (H) 20.9.25

The Pitmen produce arguably their best performance of the season so far to confidently dispatch of Leek Town tonight at Harrison Park, moving them to within two points of early league leaders Lancaster City 
 
Confidence was high amongst the Hednesford ranks following Saturday’s ruthless attacking display at Coleshill Town in the F.A. Cup. With this in mind, manager Gavin Hurren resisted the urge to make any changes to his starting XI, sticking with the same faces for tonight’s trip up to the north of the county. The only player to miss out was Nathan Blissett, who had limped off on Saturday and was ruled out due to injury
 
Leek returned home off the back of a 3-0 defeat at newly promoted Cleethorpes Town at the weekend, with manager Josh Brehaut making three changes to his Blues side; Matt Fenton replaced Liam Edwards, Ollie Shenton came in for Jordan Hodkin up front and FC Halifax Town loan signing Charlie Hayes-Green came straight in to make his debut ahead of Jack Griffiths
 
Looking for a response to Saturday’s poor defeat in Lincolnshire, the hosts looked to get themselves onto the front foot early on; Lucas Weir looked to get a shot away from the edge of the Hednesford penalty area in the third minute but scuffed his low effort straight into the arms of Tony Breeden
 
The Pitmen responded with some neat play down the right in the fifth minute involving Jamie Morgan and Dom McHale, who played the ball back into the path of Joe-Doyle-Charles - his ball into the box was aimed at Ahkeem Rose but claimed by the experienced Dino Visser in the Leek goal ahead of the incoming striker
 
Dan Turner looked to add to his back-to-back goals in the past week with an angled effort two minutes later, drifting in from the left as he got past Liam Buckley before firing in a low shot that skipped past Visser’s far post
 
The visitors were growing into the game and taking control of much of the possession, with Chris Hussey seemingly at the heart of everything positive for the Pitmen early on. His corner kick in the ninth minute was aimed at the head of Ollie Harrison at the far post but was headed away by Fenton before the ex-Leek man could reach Hussey’s inswinging ball from the right
 
The hosts looked to break into space down the left at every opportunity, with left-back Tom Curl a particularly impressive performer alongside Alex Hurst. Curl forced a corner kick out of Ryan Wynter in the twelfth minute, with Hurst’s ball in headed clear by Harrison at the near post
 
The in-form Rose went closest of anyone to breaking the deadlock in the fifteenth minute with a great chance; Turner had won a free-kick to the left of the Leek penalty area which allowed Hussey to deliver a fine ball into the box that was cleared back to him by the visitors' wall The veteran defender stood up a return ball to the far post, where Rose did well to pull out of the night sky and chest it down before firing narrowly over the crossbar from twelve yards out
 
Morgan picked up the game’s first booking of the evening three minutes later, perhaps a little harshly shown a yellow card by referee Mr Morris for a foul on Hurst. Weir took the resultant free-kick out on the left-hand side of the penalty area and curled in a cross to the far post that Breeden claimed inside his own six-yard box
 
A quick counter down the left sixty seconds later saw Turner make a run into acres of space behind Buckley as he raced onto Harrison’s long ball forward, teasing his way to the byeline and pulling the ball back into the path of Jonny Edwards, who was beaten to the cross by some more smart goalkeeping from Visser at his near post ahead of Julius Ndene
 
The Pitmen’s new three centre-back formation had really tightened the Pitmen up in recent weeks, with Leek struggling to really impose themselves in the final third despite lots of bright build-up play. Another run from Curl midway through the first half saw him take the ball fifteen yards forward before playing Hurst into space on the left – his deep cross was aimed at the head of Shenton, only for Harrison to produce a towering clearing header just a couple of yards away from his own goal
 
Harrison looked to add his nuisance value to the Hednesford attack three minutes later as he strode forward to get his head on Breeden’s long, rangy free-kick from the halfway line; his flick dropped into the Leek danger zone and was eventually hacked clear by Hayes-Green before Edwards or Rose could react
 
Rose’s pace and power continued to cause Leek issues, with the former Grimsby Town striker bursting through the heart of the Blues defence on twenty-seven minutes, running onto a clever Edwards flick but slightly overran the ball at the crucial moment as he entered the penalty area which allowed Visser enough opportunity to make a smothering save at Rose’s feet before he could get his shot away
 
The Pitmen’s growing pressure on the Leek goal finally paid dividends on the half-hour mark as Harrison, perhaps inevitably, opened the scoring against his former club. Hussey’s corner from the left was cleared as far as McHale, who resupplied Hussey with the ball down the flank. Hussey's low cross that bobbled around the six-yard box and landed at the feet of Harrison, who swivelled and fired a rising shot into the net from close range for his first goal of the season

More good play from Curl on thirty-three minutes saw the former Stoke City youngster make a driving run underlapping past Morgan and Hurst, only to be denied by some excellent defending from Wynter to come across and block the defender’s way
 
Turner and Hussey continued to cause havoc down the left for the Pitmen, with Turner once more drifting inside from the flank on thirty-six minutes and drilling a low cross into the box that was aimed at the incoming Edwards, who was denied a tap-in by more alert goalkeeping from Visser to claim the ball ahead of the striker
 
The excellent Simeon Maye went within a whisker of doubling the Pitmen’s tally on forty minutes, making an unchallenged run to the edge of the Leek box and picking up Turner’s square ball, firing in a powerful rising shot that beat Visser but narrowly flew wide of the stopper’s left-hand upright
 
Maye followed up with an almost carbon copy of this chance just two minutes later, this time taking McHale’s flick forward before unleashing another long-range effort that once again skipped inches wide of the upright
 
Doyle-Charles took ‘one for the team’ just before half-time as he crudely halted Hurst’s progress with a blatant block tackle on the midfielder to stop him from breaking into space down the Leek left, picking up a yellow card from Mr Morris for the challenge
 
It had been a thoroughly professional and controlled display from the visitors in the first period, creating some good chances while looking solid at the back. Leek had threatened with their neat and incisive approach play but had struggled with the final ball into their striker, who had been well shackled by the Pitmen’s back three
 
Perhaps predictably, Leek came out strongly at the start of the second half as they pressed the Pitmen for an equaliser. Just sixty seconds after the restart, Hurst was brought down by Wynter to the left of the Hednesford penalty area, with Weir’s ball into the box headed narrowly over by Fenton at the far post, under pressure from Harrison and Hussey
 
Breeden maintained his clean sheet with a good save on fifty-one minutes, claiming Hurst's low driven shot low down to his left after the winger had been allowed time and space to drift inside from the left flank to shoot from twenty yards out
 
More bright play down the right from Leek on fifty-five minutes saw former Hyde United striker Connor Heath pick the ball up and drive in an angled shot at goal that was deflected behind at the near post for a Leek corner kick
 
The Pitmen made their first change of the afternoon on the hour mark as Edwards – who had struggled to make his mark – was taken off and replaced by the other ex-Leek man in the Hednesford squad, Dan Trickett-Smith
 
Without the physicality of Edwards to aim at, the ball became increasingly difficult to stick up top for the visitors. Hussey delivered another delightful free kick into the Leek box from the left on sixty-three minutes that was turned behind by Fenton for a corner kick, which was also cleared with relative ease by the hosts as Hussey swung the resultant corner into the box
 
Rose looked to get on the end of yet another fine Hussey delivery midway through the second period, getting goal side of Fenton as he looked to nick the ball at the near post, only to be denied by a smothering save from Visser
 
Breeden made a superb save to deny the hosts a minute later as a spell of pressure in and around the Hednesford box culminated in Weir picking up Maye's headed clearance and striking a firm rising shot at goal from sixteen yards out that forced the veteran goalkeeper into action to tip his shot over the crossbar for a corner kick to the Blues
 
Breeden made another brilliant stop three minutes later, denying the busy Hurst once more with another fine save down to his right to push the winger's cross-cum-shot away from danger 
 
On sixty-eight minutes, Leek made their first change of the evening as on-loan Crewe Alexandra striker Hodkin came on in place of Fenton, prompting a more attacking change of formation for Brehaut’s side
 
With the Hednesford defence under increased pressure, Hurren elected to make a tactical shift to his side on seventy minutes as Elliott Johnson came on to play as the left wing-back, replacing the hard-working McHale and also taking the captain’s armband from the Magic Man in the process
 
Some neat one-touch football from Leek on seventy-four minutes looked to open up the Hednesford defence on the right as Weir and Shenton linked up to play Hodkin into space; his cross for Heath was superbly plucked out of the sky by Breeden, denying the striker at the far post
 
Despite spending more time in their own half than the opposition’s throughout the second half, the Pitmen were still proving a threat on the counter, with Rose continuing his rich vein of form with the killer second goal for the away side on seventy-eight minutes; Visser's goal kick was powerfully headed back into the Leek half by Harrison, allowing Rose to chase after the ball; using his pace and power, Rose got goal side of Hayes-Green and dispatched a superbly confident lob over advancing Visser from just outside the Leek box and send the ball into the unguarded net to make it 2-0
 
To their credit, Leek continued to plug away in search of a goal to get themselves back into the game late on; Breeden seemed determined to cling onto his clean sheet bonus, however, making a claim at his far post on eighty-two minutes to deny substitute Hodkin after Hurst’s cross was headed goalwards by the youngster

With the minutes ticking away, Hednesford made two more intelligent substitutions on eighty-four minutes as Jake Jervis came on for the excellent Turner and Kieron Freeman replaced the booked Doyle-Charles in midfield
 
There was some welcome respite for the Pitmen on eighty-eight minutes as Reeves was booked by Mr Morris for a foul on Trickett-Smith on the Hednesford left, which allowed the away side to regroup. Hussey’s ball into the box lacked any real venom on this occasion, however, and was cleared by the Leek defence

Leek made a late substitution a minute later as former Chester striker Tom Lawrence was brought on to add to the Blues firepower in added time as he replaced Heath
 
A hugely satisfying and richly deserved win for the Pitmen – their first in the league on the road since the opening day win over Hebburn Town – which keeps them in touch with the early runners at the top of the Northern Premier League table. Saturday sees one of those clubs in the top three - Gainsborough Trinity - visit Keys Park, with the potential for either side to move to the top of the table if results for Lancaster City and FC United of Manchester go their way
 
Leek Town: Visser ©, Buckley, Curl, Ndene, Fenton (Hodkin 68), Hayes-Green, Hurst, Reeves ▆, Heath (Lawrence 89), Shenton, Weir      Subs unused: Heywood, Porter, Onyeka
 
Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan ▆, Maye, Hussey, Harrison, Wynter, Rose, Doyle-Charles ▆ (Freeman 84), Edwards (Trickett-Smith 60), McHale ©  ▆ (Johnson 70), Turner (Jervis 84)       Subs unused: Brown

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