(0) 0

​

​

(1) 3

231

​

Max Brogan

​

D L L W D L L L L L

 

AFC Rushden & Diamonds (A) 18.2.23

A fifth defeat in a row pushes Hednesford another game closer to their inevitable fate tonight as they are eased out of tonight's Southern Premier League Central game at home to Mickleover

​

Saturday had seen play-off pushing Coalville Town eventually see off the challenge of the plucky Pitmen with a late rally that saw the Ravens claim all three points. With this positive performance still fresh in his memory, player/manager Danny Glover elected to stick with the same XI that had started Saturday's game as he looked for a continuation of this from his side for tonight's game. This had been made all the easier with news of the departure of the under-performing Kyle Bennett to Stratford Town yesterday and the extension of Ben Kaninda's loan spell from Wycombe Wanderers

​

Mickleover - sitting in ninth place in the table going into tonight's Valentine's Day clash - had won their last two league games and had beaten Needham Market 2-0 at the Don Amott Arena on Saturday. Manager John McGrath made two changes to his side for the short trip to Keys Park as Stuart Beavon and Will Trueman came back into the side up front as the pair replaced Elliott Reeves and Marcus Marshall

​

It was a cool mid-February evening, and with Champions League football returning to the television tonight as well as it falling on the most romantic day of the year, the crowd was somewhat pitiful with only just over 200 in attendance. Mickleover got off to a bright start and worked the ball well around the pitch in the early stages of the game. Their first effort of the night was to prove to be a warning to the hosts as they hit the woodwork for the first time in the game through Beavon, who was allowed time and space to pick the ball up in the fifth minute and rifle in a rising shot from sixteen yards out that came back off the underside of the crossbar before being cleared by Ethan Patterson

​

Three minutes later, a slide-rule pass from Rhys Dolan split the two Hednesford centre-backs and played Andy Dales in on goal, whose first-time shot was blocked by Kaninda. The ball dropped kindly to George Nunn, whose follow-up shot hit the leg of Patterson and was cleared once more

​

The visitors capitalised on the Pitmen's slow start to proceedings by taking the lead a minute later through veteran striker Beavon; more patient play from Mickleover saw the ball worked from right to left and into the path of Dolan, who rolled the ball into the feet of Nunn, whose reverse pass into the box took a nick off Mark Derricott and fell kindly into the path of Beavon, who struck from ten yards out with a turn and shot beyond the reach of Luke Jackson

​

Back came the hosts, with Todd Parker having their first real attempt at goal in the eleventh minute as he picked up Jordan Graham's lay-off twenty yards out before drilling in a right-footed effort that moved in the air and forced goalkeeper Oliver Bosworth into a reaction save

​

Brogan looked to replicate his superb debut goal on Saturday as he lined up a free-kick in a similar position to the one he had scored from against Coalville in the thirteenth minute, only to fire his effort straight into the Mickleover wall on this occasion as he struggled to get any flight on the ball

​

A Parker corner kick on seventeen minutes was partially cleared by the Mickleover defence but only as far as Tom Thorley, whose chip back into the six-yard box was controlled well by Graham but tamely stabbed wide of the post by the on-loan Kettering Town man

​

A minute later, Mickleover struck the woodwork for the second time in the opening quarter as Beavon's clever flick played Trueman in on goal, with the Sheffield Wednesday loanee unselfishly laying the ball off to Nunn, whose first-time strike came back off the bar once more. Beavon kept the move alive after picking up the rebound but flashed his low shot just wide of Jackson's left-hand post from the edge of the penalty area

​

Midway through the first period, Stanley Asomugha made a run down the right flank and took the ball into the Mickleover penalty area, but tamely played his low cross into the gloves of Bosworth when both Glover and Brogan were calling for the ball in the middle

​

Jackson made a superb save to deny Sports a second goal on twenty-six minutes as the lively Dales picked the ball out on the left flank and drifted in from the touchline, ghosting past Derricott before unleashing a good effort from the corner of the box that the on-loan Sheffield Wednesday stopper brilliantly tipped over his crossbar at the near post

​

Parker was handed a good chance for the Pitmen by some slack defending from the experienced Phil Watt on thirty-two minutes, picking the defender's pocket on the edge of the penalty area and driving in a low shot to Bosworth's left that the stopper tipped away from danger

​

Graham should have done better with a great chance on the counter-attack eight minutes before half-time, breaking clear of the square Mickleover defence as he ran onto a lovely pass from Brogan, only for his first touch to let him down at the crucial moment and allowing the ball to run away from him and out of play with Bosworth closing him down

​

With a couple of minutes of the first half remaining, Asomugha was handed a superb chance to level the scores as Graham broke down the left and fed Brogan with a fine pass that the on-loan Solihull Moors man squared into the path of the unmarked player, standing fifteen yards from goal. However, rather than shoot first time, the former West Brom man took a touch before shooting, allowing Bosworth enough time to get his body across and block the winger's effort

​

The Pitmen did have the ball in the net a minute later as Asomugha turned the ball home from close range, only for a foul against Glover on Bosworth in the build-up to pull the game back 

​

It had been another competitive first period from the Pitmen but had failed to yield a goal for their efforts, despite the numerous chances that had come and gone for the men in white throughout the first forty-five minutes. Brogan and Asomugha had once again looked dangerous and the most likely to find a way through for the hosts going forwards

​

Mickleover's James Butler received the evening's first caution just two minutes after the restart as referee Mr Porter booked the Sports defender for a foul on Asomugha

​

Asomugha tested the reflexes of Bosworth on forty-nine minutes as his scuffed shot from an angle out on the right was pushed away by the stopper at his near post

​

Three minutes later, Brogan tried his luck with a long-range effort from twenty-five yards out after he had picked the ball up from deep and carried it thirty yards into the Mickleover half. However, his effort was blocked by Watt before he could trouble Bosworth and the ball was cleared

​

Kaninda followed Butler into the referee's notebook ten minutes into the second half as he was shown a yellow card for a foul on Trueman as the visitors looked to build through the centre of the pitch

​

A minute later, defender Joe Bateman went close to doubling Mickleover's lead as a curling free-kick from Dales out on the left was glanced just wide of the far post by the former Derby County man

​

Mickleover elected to make the game's first change of the evening on fifty-seven minutes as Ryan Wilson was brought on by McGrath in place of Trueman

​

The away side finally put some clear daylight between themselves and their struggling hosts shortly before the hour mark as the Pitmen failed to deal with a cross from Dales effectively, allowing Mason Warren to pick the ball up and calmly turn it past Jackson from eight yards out after getting the better of the Hednesford defenders

​

The Pitmen's young heads were dropping quickly, allowing Mickleover time and space to control possession and create further chances as the second half wore on. Wilson fired a free-kick inches wide of the left-hand post for the away side on sixty-three minutes after Patterson had brought Dolan down five yards outside the Hednesford penalty area

​

The Pitmen made their first substitution of the evening midway through the second half as veteran midfielder Kemy Agustien came on in place of Graham, who had struggled to get into the game after a bright initial start

​

Jackson made another fine save to keep the Pitmen in contention on sixty-nine minutes, brilliantly tipping Nunn's goalbound shot over the crossbar with an instinctive save after Kaninda's block tackle on Dolan had run kindly to him on the edge of the Hednesford penalty area

 

A minute later, the Pitmen desperately struggled to clear their lines inside their own six-yard box after Dales' free-kick dropped into the danger zone and was eventually cleared by Steph Morley before Beavon could seize upon the ball

​

This was to be Nunn's last involvement in proceedings, as the on-loan Derby County youngster was taken off by Mickleover and replaced by Reeves for the final twenty minutes of play

​

Reeves was presented with an almost-immediate chance to add to the Mickleover tally with his first touch as Dolan made another run into the Hednesford penalty area down the left and cut the ball back across the face of goal, only for Reeves to not be able to react quickly enough and allow the ball to skip away from danger

​

The Pitmen's second change of the game left the small home crowd asking questions of the Pitmen's management team as another attacking player in the form of Asomugha was brought on in place of midfielder James McQuilkin, meaning the Pitmen had four central midfielders on the pitch at the same time - not exactly something you expect to see for a team chasing down a two-goal deficit

​

The hosts had been desperately disappointing in the second half, failing to test Bosworth throughout the majority of the forty-five minutes as they lacked confidence, quality and ideas in any part of the pitch. Thorley drew ironic cheers from the crowd on seventy-eight minutes as he dragged his low shot from just outside the penalty area well, well wide of goal with what was to prove to be the Pitmen's final attacking intent of the evening

​

A visibly frustrated Glover earned himself a soft yellow card with nine minutes of the game remaining as he challenged Bosworth for the ball and only succeeded in clattering the Mickleover stopper in the process, earning him a booking and a ticking off from Mr Porter for his actions

​

Sports put a pleasing sheen on their display with a third goal of the evening on eighty-six minutes; Dales - whom the Pitmen had struggled to pick up all evening long as he made several good runs down the flank - made another fine run down the left, beating Derricott and crossing for Dolan, whose header at the far post beat Jakcosn but came back off the post, running kindly into the path of the incoming Warren to tap the ball over the line and into the empty net

​

There was still time for Mickleover to carve out another great chance to grab a fourth goal in added time as Beavon did well to hold off Kaninda and feed the ball to Reeves in the Hednesford penalty area. The substitute unselfishly played the ball into the path of Warren, only for the ex-Rotherham United man to blaze his shot from ten yards out over the crossbar

​

It had been yet another sobering and depressing evening for the dwindling and depressed home supporters, who witnessed home defeat number nine of the season so far as they trudged off into the dark February night. They travel to basement side AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday in what may well prove to be the game that decides which of the two sides ends up rock bottom of the league at the end of the season

​

Hednesford Town: Jackson, Derricott, Morley ©, Thorley, Kaninda ▆, Patterson, Asomugha (McQuilkin 73), Parker, Glover ▆, Brogan, Graham (Agustien 65)      Sub Unused: Portman, Hartley, Williams

​

Mickleover: Bosworth, Mann, Dolan, Butler ▆, Watt ©, Dales (Marshall 86), Warren, Beavon, Nunn (Reeves 71), Trueman (Wilson 57), Bateman      Subs Unused: Mills, Atwal

​