Hednesford's superb start to the season continued this evening, as the Pitmen took all three points from a hard-fought game at Mickleover Sports this Wednesday evening. The Derbyshire team, strong at home, gave the high-flying Whites a real scare having taken a first-half lead that was no less then they deserved

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Once again, manager Rob Smith stuck with a winning team, with Marvin Robinson returning to the substitutes bench after missing Saturday's game against Chester for personal reasons

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As a rain shower hit Station Road just before kick-off, the Pitmen made the best of the slick surface in the early stages of the game and passed the ball around with purpose. Darren Campion made a number of encouraging runs down the left-hand side, whipping in two dangerous balls that were cleared by a panicky-looking Mickleover defence

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Chris Clements was first to have a sight at goal on ten minutes, picking up Jay Denny's square ball and firing a couple of yards wide of goal

Mark Danks's game ended eight minutes later, as he was forced off due to a leg injury. Danny Quinn, who could count himself unlucky to be on the bench again, came on in his place

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Quinn's hard work and pressure almost conjured up a goal on twenty-three minutes, getting in front of his marker and hitting a low shot that was well gathered by Mickleover keeper Ali Baccherini

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Cheyenne Dunkley was inches away from grabbing a third goal of the season a minute later, as a Clements corner caused panic in the Mickleover ranks; Baccherini dropped the ball at the feet of the onrushing Dunkley, but the youngster had the ball hacked away from him as he shaped to shoot

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Gradually, Sports started to come into the game, as the Pitmen seemed to allow complacency to creep into their game. Karl Ashton tested Dan Crane's reflexes on the half-hour mark with a powerful shot that the Hednesford number one parried away from goal

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The fifty-fifty challenges suddenly seemed to favour the home side, as they got to grips with the Hednesford midfield and launched a number of promising attacks. One such move saw the hosts open up the Pitmen down the left-hand side, with Ashton having the simple task of sidefooting past an exposed Crane after a square pass from Kieran O'Connell

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O'Connell could have added a second for Mickleover just before the break, as he fired inches wide of the post after yet another clever move exposed the Pitmen in midfield

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The second half saw the Pitmen respond with a much more attacking mentality, as they launched an aggressive response to Mickleover's first-half performance. They won two corners in a row early on, forcing Sports onto the back foot. However, on both occasions, Clements' balls in were poor and were easily cleared

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The pressure building on the Sports defence finally told on fifty-six minutes, as Campion's free-kick out on the right-hand side found the head of Chris Shaw, who headed firmly past Baccherini to level matters

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Hednesford spent the next twenty minutes looking for another way through a tiring Mickleover defence, with a set-piece the most likely source of a goal. Pedro Monteiro almost put the Pitmen into the lead for the first time on sixty-nine minutes, heading Campion's corner kick narrowly wide of the far post

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Wellecomme went closest to putting the Pitmen into the lead on seventy-seven minutes, racing clear as he chased down a Clements through ball, but Baccherini made a good save to deny the big striker on the edge of the area

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The same man forced Baccherini into another save on eighty-two minutes, sweeping the ball towards goal but allowing the keeper to turn the ball away from goal

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 Two minutes later, Hednesford finally made the pressure pay, as yet another Campion corner kick dropped at the far post for Monteiro, who turned the ball home from a tight angle

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Smith immediately made two tactical changes as he looked to close the game out, with Robinson coming on for Wellecomme and Ben Bailey replacing loanee Kyle Haynes

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There was still time for a late scramble from the home side, as Crane made a superb double save in added time to deny Mickleover an equaliser. The Pitmen move up to second place in the table as a result, with a difficult trip to Kendal in the offing on Saturday as the Pitmen try and make it five out of five 

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Hednesford Town: Crane, Monteiro, Campion ©, Shaw, Dunkley, Denny, Haynes (Bailey 85), Clements ▆, Wellecomme (Robinson 84), Danks (Quinn 18), Clarke ▆       Subs Unused: Gomes, Osborne

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Mickleover Sports: Baccherini, Leigh (Roulston 55), Guy, Walshe ©, Beardsley, Stryswski, Graves (Bryant 85), Martin, Ashton, O’Connell, Simpson      Subs Unused: Hoyle, Farthing, Smythe

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