The Pitmen crash to yet another home defeat this afternoon as Leiston grab three second-half goals to consolidate their position in the top three whilst leaving Steve Burr's hapless side adrift at the foot of the table

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Last week's morale-boosting F.A. Trophy win over Stourbridge was a good springboard for Burr's men ahead of today's return to league action, with the Hednesford manager electing to stick with the same XI that had started last week's 4-2 win. New signing Levi Andoh was included as one of the substitutes after his midweek switch from Buxton, replacing the now-departed Martin Riley as a central defensive option

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High-flying Leiston had conjured up some eye-catching results so far this term and made the long trip from Suffolk off the back of a 2-1 win over Wroxham in the F.A. Trophy last weekend. Joint managers Chris Wigger and Darren Eadie made one change to their starting XI as Joe Marsden came in for Finlay Barnes in midfield

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Underneath leaden early November skies, the hosts made another one of the quickfire starts that had become a hallmark of their recent form, with Leroy Lita having a great chance to open the scoring in the first minute of the game. Lewis Ison fed Kyle Bennett with the ball into space down the right, with Bennett's low cross somehow skipping past the Pitmen's top scorer and away from danger as he attempted a diving header at goal from eight yards out

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Another 'nearly' moment fell Bennett's way in the sixth minute as Zac Hartley made a marauding run down the right after picking up a through ball from Todd Parker and whipped in a low cross that caught Bennett on his heels and skipped away from the forward as he looked to turn the ball home at the far post

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There was a muted call for a Leiston penalty kick from the visitors two minutes later as Marsden's run into the box saw him clash with Keith Lowe and take a tumble inside the eighteen-yard box. Referee Mr Walker took a look at the challenge but allowed play to continue

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Yet another inviting cross from the Pitmen in the ninth minute was not turned goalwards as Hartley's run and cross from the right was aimed at Lita once more, with the veteran striker diving in to reach the ball but once again failing to connect as it was a touch too high for him to get to

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Leiston's first real foray into the Hednesford third of the pitch saw them win a corner kick in the thirteenth minute, which was swung in by Ryan Jarvis and headed wide of the far post by the late run of skipper Seb Dunbar

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Leiston goalkeeper Sam Donkin was in the right position to claim a Bennett free-kick three minutes later, standing his ground on his line to claim the former Telford player's inswinging free-kick after Lita had been fouled by Ollie Saunders just outside the Leiston penalty area

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Tiernan Brooks made his first contribution to proceedings on twenty minutes as neat build-up play down the left from the away side saw Saunders play Ben Fowkes into acres of space inside the Hednesford penalty area, with the forward coming inside and shooting from twelve yards out with a low effort that the on-loan stopper parried away from danger. The ball was recycled out to Dunbar, whose deep cross from the left was tamely turned wide at the far post by George Quantrell

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Lita looked to create a chance from nothing for the Pitmen on twenty-four minutes as a cross from Stanley Obinna Anaebonam was taken down by the striker and worked onto his left foot, despite the player having Rossi Jarvis and Saunders for company. His initial shot was blocked and rebounded to on-loan Luke Redfern, whose follow-up effort from thirty yards out was easily fielded by Donkin

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Some poor defending from the Pitmen on twenty-eight minutes allowed Fowkes to create a chance for himself as he picked the ball up on the right and was allowed to drift past both Parker and Redfern before shooting from the edge of the penalty area, forcing Brooks into another parry at his near post

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A poor late challenge on Keith Lowe by Marsden just after the half-hour mark saw the Leiston man receive a ticking-off by Mr Walker, despite calls from the home side for a yellow card as punishment for the challenge

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Brooks was called upon again to make a timely intervention with ten minutes of the first half remaining as neat play from Leiston down the right saw Fowkes feed Quantrell into the penalty area, with his cut-back turned goalwards by Will Davies's first-time effort that was turned away by the legs of the young goalkeeper

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A minute later, Donkin came racing out of his penalty area to clear a long punt forwards away from goal as he beat Obinna Anaebonam to Ison's searching pass. The ball dropped to Hartley, who could not repeat his goalscoring heroics of last week as he drilled an angled shot wide of goal from the right-hand corner of the Leiston penalty area

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It was the Pitmen's turn to have a muted shout for a penalty kick on forty-two minutes as a neat backheel from Lita played Parker into the penalty area, with the youngster seemingly held back by the arm of Saunders just as he entered the eighteen-yard box. Despite the pleas of the men in white, Mr Walker waved away the protests and Leiston managed to clear their lines

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It had been a fairly even first period in truth, with both sides looking fairly well-organised and compact without being able to take the initiative. The hosts were having one of their more frustrating afternoons in front of goal as the likes of Lita had wasted good openings early on to hand them the lead in a game they simply had to win

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Another quick start to the second half saw the Pitmen going close on two occasions within a minute of the restart; Bennett picked up Lita's pass wide on the right and delivered a fine cross to the far post, where Obinna Anaebonam was denied a tap-in by the athleticism of Donkin to turn the ball away from him from close-range

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Within seconds, Lita had his head in his hands as another Bennett cross, this time from the left was met by the head of the twelve-goal man, only to divert his glancing header wide of the far post

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The hosts were to pay a heavy price for not striking early on in the half as Leiston snatched the initiative with their first chance of the second period on forty-nine minutes; Quantrell was allowed to run all the way to the left-hand byeline and cut the ball back to Fowkes, who took the ball past both Lowe and Redfern as he made his way across the face of the penalty area before striking a firm rising shot past Brooks and into the roof of the net at the second attempt

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A quick break from the hosts on fifty-two minutes saw Livingstone make ground down the left before feeding the ball into the path of the onrushing Bennett on the opposite side of the pitch. With play opening up in front of him, Bennett elected to take a touch too many rather than shoot, allowing Rossi Jarvis to come across and make a timely interception

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Donkin made a brilliant save to deny the hosts an equaliser on fifty-six minutes as Ison's low cross from the right flank found Lita, whose first-time header at the near post was pushed away by the former Biggleswade Town man

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Sixty seconds later, Hartley was off-target once more as he fired another angled shot from the right-hand side of the Leiston penalty area wide of Donkin's left-hand post after good approach play involving Bennett and Lita

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Quantrell received the game's one and only booking from Mr Walker shortly before the hour mark as an off-the-ball incident was retrospectively punished by the match official, who showed the player a yellow card a couple of phases of play after the incident had occurred

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There were a few eyebrows raised across Keys Park on sixty-four minutes as the hard-running Hartley was taken off in favour of new signing Andoh as Burr looked to shake things up, playing the Dutchman in an unfamiliar wide role on the right

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This shift seemed to have the desired effect for the hosts as they dragged themselves back into the game on sixty-eight minutes through the in-form Obinna Anaebonam; Ison's angled ball into the box from the right was neatly sidefooted into the path of the Norwegian by Lita, with Obinna Anaebonam calmly rolling the ball past Donkin from fifteen yards out for his third goal in two games

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The hosts were now looking to go on and grab a winner in the latter stages of the game, with a corner kick from Parker out on the left on seventy-one minutes headed wide of goal by Lowe's flick header from ten yards out

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Burr looked to make another positive change to his side with the Pitmen's second change of the afternoon on seventy-three minutes as the experienced James McQuilkin came on in midfield to replace the tiring and inconsistent Parker

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With the Pitmen going for broke, Leiston capitalised on the home side's desperation for a winner and put themselves back in front with twelve minutes of the game remaining. Dreadful defending from the hosts was to cost them dearly as a high ball was not dealt with by either Bennett or Andoh on the edge of their own penalty area, allowing the ball to run to Fowkes whose looping effort from fifteen yards out had enough on it to beat Brooks and land in the far corner of the net

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Back came the Pitmen once more, with a corner kick from McQuilkin a minute later cleared as far as Livingstone - his cross was headed goalwards by Redfern, who saw his looping header almost drop into the net before Donkin made a timely save to tip the ball over the crossbar for another corner kick

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The Pitmen rolled the dice one final time on eighty minutes as winger Joe Cuff replaced the similarly mercurial Obinna Anaebonam in search of some late inspiration

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Cuff was straight into the action, picking the ball up just outside the Leiston penalty area on eighty-two minutes and attempting a low left-footed shot at goal that was blocked by Sanders and subsequently cleared

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Bennett set Cuff up once more two minutes later as he laid the ball into the substitute's path, only for a lax final ball from the winger aimed at Lita to be cleared by a grateful Leiston defence

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With three minutes remaining and the Pitmen getting desperate, Cuff wasted his best chance since coming on as he sidestepped a challenge from Rossi Jarvis on the edge of the penalty area and worked the ball onto his left foot but fired high over the crossbar with a wild and miscued effort 

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Leiston wrapped up the points hoping into stoppage time as the Pitmen's flaky defence once again proved to be their Achilles heel; a long kick forwards from Donkin drifted over the head of veteran defender Lowe and into the path of Davies, who had the simple task of turning the ball past Brooks from eight yards out. Ridiculously easy for the visitors and a black mark against the positioning of the former Wolves man in the build-up

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The ground had very swiftly emptied by the time Mr Walker had blown his final whistle, with the home crowd now facing up to the very real threat of relegation to step four after an awful run of league form that has garnered only two points from their last four games. After five home games in a row, Burr's side now face four away games in a row, starting with a trip to fellow strugglers Kings Langley next Saturday

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Hednesford Town: Brooks, Ison ©, Hartley (Andoh 64), Rowe, Lowe, Redfern, Obinna Anaebonam (Cuff 80), Parker (McQuilkin 73), Lita, Bennett,  Livingstone       Subs Unused: Portman, Clayton

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Leiston: Donkin, Hill (Spooner 90), Dunbar ©, Saunders, Ryan Jarvis, Rossi Jarvis, Hutchings, Marsden (Fernandes 80), Davies, Quantrell ▆, Fowkes       Sub Unused: Eaton-Collins

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