18.4.2025
Pitching In Northern Premier League West
Hednesford Town
McHale (33) (penalty), Jervis (67)
Mossley
(1) 2
(0) 0
Attendance
MoTM
Current Form
Next Match
1,439
Jake Jervis
D W W W W W L W W W
Stafford Rangers (A) 21.4.25
The Pitmen move to the top of the Northern Premier League West table this afternoon - for twenty-four hours at least - as they produce another controlled display to defeat Mossley at Keys Park and overtake long-time leaders Widnes on goal difference
Back-to-back league wins at Wythenshawe Town and Kidsgrove Athletic had lifted Gavin Hurren's side within three points of Widnes ahead of today's Good Friday clash, with the hosts looking to take advantage of their game taking place a full day before Widnes' game against Nanwtich Town to lay a marker down and pile the pressure on Michael Ellison's side. On the pitch, Hurren was without inspirational skipper Elliott Johnson as the defender was ruled out with the knock picked up in last week's win at Kidsgrove and was replaced by Jack Bearne. However, there was some good news for the Hednesford manager as he could call upon the services of striker Ahkeem Rose after the former Hereford marksman had recovered from his hamstring pull and was able to be named amongst the substitutes
Mid-table dwelling Mossley had handed the Pitmen a huge boost last weekend by picking up a late point against Widnes to narrow the gap at the top of the table. The soon-to-be-departing Lilywhites manager Dave Fish made just the one change of his own for their trip down to South Staffordshire as ex-Hednesford midfielder Joe Berks made way for last week's goalscorer Mason Fawns
The Hednesford public once again came out in their numbers to back their home town team this Easter weekend, with a superb 1,439-strong crowd mostly backing the hosts as they looked to make the late move to the top of the table. It took some time for the players to give the crowd anything to get excited about, with the Pitmen playing some neat one and two-touch football to feet in the opening exchanges without really testing the Mossley defence
In the ninth minute, Hednesford won a free-kick just inside their own half, which Tony Breeden gestured to the outfield players that he would take, sending them forward into the Mossley box. The veteran goalkeeper's ball in was met by the head of Ollie Harrison, whose flick header at the near post was diverted away by Teddy Lavelle and cleared away from danger
Neat counter-attacking play from Mossley a minute later saw the visitors break quickly down the left-hand side, with Gedeao Varela playing a neat through ball into the path of the tricky Obua Mugalula. The lanky former Stalybridge striker tried to take the ball in his stride as he outpaced Jamie Morgan, but couldn't quite reach the through ball as it squirmed away from his grasp
The Pitmen seemed content to play for set-pieces and flood the box with players at every opportunity, with Bearne winning a corner kick on fourteen minutes after one of his typically marauding runs down the left flank. Chris Hussey whipped in the resultant corner but got a little too much on it for the incoming Harrison and Jake Jervis, with the ball running harmlessly out to play on the far side.
Jervis was proving a slippery customer for the Mossley centre-backs in the early part of the game, making several incisive runs down the channels and dragging skipper Mark Lees out of position. A strong run from the former Plymouth Argyle man on seventeen minutes saw him pick up Dan Trickett-Smith's lofted pass, driving into the box down the right before laying it off to Dom McHale, who twisted and turned onto his right foot before dragging a low shot well wide of goal from sixteen yards out
Mossley goalkeeper Fin Madigan denied Jervis midway through the first half with his first meaningful save of the afternoon, parrying the striker's low shot away down to his right after Jervis had struck Trickett-Smth's lay-off first-time towards goal from twenty yards out
Referee Mr Walker frustrated the home crowd two minutes later by electing not to penalise Mossley midfielder Sean Kgwakgwa for what appeared to be a blatant arm across the face of Bearne to stop the winger from bursting past him on the Hednesford left. He allowed the game to continue for a couple of phases before pulling play back and handing Mossley possession inside their own half with a drop ball. Bizarre decision-making from the match official
The visitors were still happy to take anything that came their way on the counter, with full-back Jack Marrow making strides down the right on twenty-seven minutes as he got past Joel Taylor and crossed low into the box from the byeline, forcing Harrison into retreating action at the far post to hack the ball clear before Mugalula could reach the cross
Two minutes later, Marrow was involved once more as good play from Michael Brewster played him into space once more on the right, with his deep cross being headed behind by Harrison for a corner kick. Fawns antagonised the Hednesford fans in the Heath Hayes terrace by blatantly placing the ball outside the corner arc and swinging the ball into the far post, where Trickett-Smith was on hand to pounce on the bouncing ball and hack it clear after Breeden had punched the initial danger clear
Bearne had been very much on the periphery of the game so far but produced a moment of brilliance to earn his side a penalty kick on thirty-three minutes; Taylor's lond throw was headed out as far as the former Notts county man, who took the ball back into the box on the left before being bundled over by an untidy challenge from Kgwakgwa. Mr Walker had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, with McHale repeating his feat from a week ago as he sent Madigan the wrong way from twelve yards out to make it three goals in his last four games; a timely return to goalscoring form for the Magic Man, which also moves him level with Manny Duku in the scoring charts on nineteen for the season
On thirty-eight minutes, Brewster linked up well with Mugalula on the left once more, feeding the forward with another good pass. The rangy Mugalula turned well past Morgan but dithered at the crucial moment and allowed Harrison to come across and make a timely block before he could get a shot away
Hednesford looked to catch Mossley out with a cleverly-taken corner kick routine as McHale quickly took a flag kick on the right and played it short to Hussey, who tried to work the ball onto his left foot but could only foul Varela as the Mossley defence closed him down on the edge of the box
Hussey was involved once more at the attacking end of the pitch with two minutes of the first half remaining, sending over yet another wonderful corner kick with height and curl on it that found Harrison lurking at the far post. The burly defender headed the ball down into the six-yard box, where Jervis tried to turn the loose ball home but was denied by Madigan down by his post
A rare error of judgement from the usually-consustent Hussey almost handed Mossley a way back into the game in first half added time as the veteran defender was guilty of overplaying just outside his own box and gave the ball away cheaply to Eric Yahaya, who took a couple of touches inside the box before being dispossessed by the recovering Hussey and allowing Simeon Maye to clear the danger
With the very last action of the first half, Morgan went on a rangy run across the face of the Mossley penalty area before laying it off to fellow full-back Taylor, whose angled drive cleared the crossbar by a matter of inches
In keeping with many of the Pitmen's recent games, they had largely controlled the first forty-five minutes and were deserving of their half-time lead after limiting Mossley to feeding off scraps inside the Hednesford third of the pitch. Up front, Jervis had been superb in leading the line for the hosts, using all of his years of experience to good effect
Mossley looked to make a quick start to the second half, with Kgwakgwa picking the pocket of Maye on forty-nine minutes and getting to the byeline but getting his laces underneath the ball and lifting his cross far too high for anyone in yellow to get on the end of in the penalty area
A superb run from McHale a minute later saw the Hednesford goalscorer beat two Mossley players as he drifted inside from the right flank, clipping the ball across the face of goal where Matt Kardacz managed to poke the ball away from danger. Trickett-Smith pounced on the follow-up but could only strike his half-volley over the crossbar from ten yards out after the ball refused to sit kindly for him
On fifty-two minutes, Fawns' afternoon was brought to an end by Fish as the talented playmaker was taken off and replaced by Berks after a frustrating afternoon for the former Bootle man
Berks - looking to make an impact against the club he finished last season with - was denied with his first involvement on fifty-four minutes after neat play involving Yahaya and Kgwakgwa set the substitute up just inside the penalty area, only for Harrison to once again sweep up with another dominant and bustling block to steer the ball away from danger
McHale felt that he had a legitimate shout for a penalty kick sixty seconds later as another one of his slalom-like runs into the penalty area saw him brought down just inside the box by a clumsy challenge from Kardacz. Incredibly, Mr Walker waved away the protests and the game continued, much to the grounded McHale's frustration
Mossley's best chance of the afternoon thus far fell to the feet of Brewster on fifty-seven minutes as the experienced midfielder ghosted in at the far post to connect with a deep cross from the left by Marrow, getting goal side of Morgan momentarily but toe-poking his effort just wide of the post as he stretched to reach the inviting cross
On the hour mark, Morgan picked up the game's first yellow card of the afternoon from Mr Walker after the right-back had brought down Mugalula in full flight on the Mossley left flank
Two minutes later, the home side made their first change of the afternoon - possibly with an eye on potential play-off games coming up - as Doyle-Charles was given a well-earned rest with Niall Watson coming on in his place
Watson looked to make an early run in behind the Mossley defence with his first touch, taking down Taylor's pass and exchanging passes with Bearne before seeing his low cross into the near post hacked behind for a corner by Kardacz
Midway through the second half, Mossley made their second substitution of the afternoon as former Warrington Town midfielder Will Shepherd came on in place of Kgwakgwa
Within a minute, however, the Pitmen looked to have wrapped up the points as the excellent Jervis capped off a man of the match display with a fine strike; Taylor's quick throw-in on the left found Jervis in acres of space thirty yards from goal, with the former Blues man skipping past Brewster before firing in an unstaoppable low shot from twenty yards out that beat Madigan for pace and nestled in the far right-hand corner of the net. The big man unvieled a tribute to his former team-mate Joe Thompson under his shirt after news of the former Rochdale midfielder's death earlier in the day from cancer; he had been a team-mate of Jervis's at Tranmere Rovers back in the 2012-2013 season
Mossley moved to make a third change of the second half on sixty-nine minutes with the introduction of Wealth Dasilva-Olajide up front in place of the out-of-luck Yahaya, who had got no change out of Harrison or Hussey all afternoon
The Ptmen were rampant and went looking for a killer third goal that would wrap up the result, with Bearne once again involved down the left on seventy-two minutes as he tricked his way into the penalty and drove in a low cross that was hacked clear by Kardacz before Watson could get to the ball
With the buffer of a second goal now in the bag, Hurren could afford to wrap more of his key players up in cotton wool as he brought off Harrison on seventy-four minutes for a rest as he brought Kory Roberts on in his place
Two minutes later, McHale was also given some well-earned rest by the home side as the Pitmen's goalscorer was brought off and replaced by Nathan Blissett in a move that saw Jervis move out onto the right flank
With the giant Blissett to aim at, Hussey sent over another delightful corner kick from the left that was aimed for the head of the 6ft 7" man mountain on seventy-six minutes, only for Madigan to follow the flight of the ball well and pluck the ball out of the sky ahead of the incoming substitute at the far post
On eighty minutes, Berks found a pocket of space on the right flank for Mossley after picking up a pass from Marrow, taking it past Taylor and crossing from the byeline but playing the ball straight into the arms of the grateful Breeden at his near post
With nine minutes left on the clock and the Pitmen in full control, Rose made his timely return to action up front as he replaced Jervis, who was given a warm ovation from the home crowd for a job well done
Within two minutes of coming on, Rose created a glorious chance for Blissett on the turnover as he brilliantly took Roberts' long ball down with his thigh and left Lees on the floor, running at the back-tracking Kardacz before unselfishly playing Blissett in on goal. However, the ball to the big man had a little too much on it and meant he could only strike a first-time effort into the side-netting from twelve yards out
Trickett-Smith picked up a late booking for the Pitmen on eighty-eight minutes as the playmaker was shown a yellow card by Mr Walker for a clumsy challenge on Lavelle
More good feet from the impressive Mulgalula on ninety minutes saw him shimmy past Morgan down the left and enter the penalty area, only to be denied yet again by another timely block from Harrison, who had been outstanding all afternoon for the Pitmen
Another confident and defesively-sound display from the Pitmen lifts them above Widnes at the top of the Northern Premier League West table tonight on goal difference, with the long-time leaders now having to react to today's result when they host a tricky Nantwich Town side at the DCBL Stadium, with the Dabbers looking to pick up where they left off last week with a 6-0 win over Hanley Town. We then move onto Bank Holiday Monday, with the two sides both facing incredibly challenging games away from home as the Pitmen travel across the Chase to face local rivals Stafford Rangers, whilst Widnes make the short journey across the Mersey to face third-placed Vauxhall Motors. Come 5 pm on Monday, we should have a much better idea of how the final day of the season is shaping up and who is in the driving seat for that one automatic promotion spot next Saturday
Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan ▆, Taylor, Maye, Harrison (Roberts 74), Hussey, Trickett-Smith ▆, Doyle-Charles (Watson 62), Jervis (Rose 81), McHale © (Blissett 76), Bearne Sub Unused: Brown
Mossley: Madigan, Marrow, Varela, Lees ©, Kardacz, Lavelle, Kgwakgwa (Shepherd 66), Brewster, Yahaya (Dasilva-Olajide 69), Fawns (Berks 52), Mugalula Subs Unused: Adekpoya, Sherratt
