Hednesford's disastrous run of results shows no sign of abating, as they are beaten again this evening by fellow play-off hopefuls North Ferriby on a cold and wet night by the Humber to make it five defeats in a row

 

Beleaguered Hednesford boss Dean Edwards, stung by the news today that regular keeper Stuart Brock was to head to America on trial, brought Danny Woodhall back in as Brocks' replacement, whilst Sam Hall also came back into the side in place of the suspended Alex Cowley. Work commitments for Duane Darby and Mark Briggs saw other Pitmen limited to only four substitutes as the squad was stretched once again

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Play-off chasers Ferriby had defied many of the pre-season pundits who had predicted a season of struggle for the Villagers, with tonight's hosts sitting in seventh place ahead of the game, only a point adrift of the top five. There were two changes to Neil Allison's side from the one that had been well beaten at fellow challengers Nantwich on Saturday as Matty Bloor and Simon Bird came in for Ben Morley and Alex Davidson respectively 

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In front of a small attendance, many of whom probably regretted coming out on such a cold and wet evening, the away side made a bright start; their goal drought of recent games ended after five minutes by Elliott Durrell. Tyrone Barnett's attempted shot fell nicely for Durrell, who fired past Steve Wilson in the Ferriby goal

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The first ten minutes was dominated by the sky blue-clad away side, who looked to increase their lead on numerous occasions. One minute after the goal, Ross Draper had a great chance to extend the lead, making one of his late runs into the area from deep. His first touch took him past the last man, but as he looked to shoot, his second touch took the ball away from him. Durrell tried in vain to get on the end of the ball as it came towards him, but could not direct it home

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Despite making a great start to the game, slack defending that has haunted the Pitmen since New Year allowed the home side to get back into the game. On eleven minutes, Ferriby's Simon Bird was allowed time to fire past Woodhall, after he had been given space by Tom Marshal and Decio Gomes. Woodhall's handling of the situation will come in for some questioning after he allowed Bird's fairly weak effort to go through him

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 The Pitmen responded with off-target efforts from Barnett and Ross Dyer, as the Pitmen looked to get back on track following what had been an undeserved equaliser. Sean Platt's superb cross mid-way through the half almost conjured up a second goal for the Pitmen, with the ball hitting Ferriby's Paul Foot and crashing off the crossbar, before bouncing on the goal line where Wilson saved

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North Ferriby had produced very little in the way of an attacking threat other than the goal, but they always carried a threat going forward, especially with Hednesford's defence looking decidedly dodgy. Gomes was on hand to deny Ferriby's Calum Russell on the half-hour, sliding in to clear the ball away after the Hednesford defence had been opened up by the Villagers' attack

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Hednesford were playing with more confidence than many of their previous games and forced Ferriby onto the back foot as the first half came to a close. However, half chances from a succession of corners were the only scraps the front men had to feed off

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The Pitmen will have probably wished for the game to have continued without half-time, as they had been on top for much of the first period. However, within three minutes of the second half starting, they were looking at another mountain to climb. Bird's fairly innocuous shot somehow found its way through, beating Woodhall for a second time and once again asking serious questions about the goalkeeper's ability from seemingly straightforward situations

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The goal seemed to drain any enthusiasm that the Pitmen had accrued during a morale-boosting first half, as passes started to go astray and confidence seemed to disappear. Ferriby started to play the better football, penning the Pitmen inside their own half for periods of the second half

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On a rare foray into the opposition half, Tom Marshall managed to get into a goalscoring position, but failed to connect properly with the ball, allowing Wilson to make a comfortable save low down

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Barnett - finding it hard to create the chances he was earlier in the campaign - summed up the Pitmen's lack of confidence fifteen minutes from the end, firing well wide of goal after Gomes, easily the Pitmen's best player, had played a superb ball through to him

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For Ferriby, Bird looked to finish the Pitmen off with a hat-trick goal, but Woodhall partially atoned for his two previous errors with a fine save. Youngster Matty Bloor also went close for the home side, who looked the more likely to score and extend their leas than the Pitmen equalising

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On came Luke Edwards for Anthony Maguire as the game hit the final ten minutes, with Edwards moving into a four up front with Dyer, Barnett and Durrell. The best chance for the Pitmen came with five minutes left; Hall sent over another good cross, which found Durrell at the back post. His ball in towards Barnett was somehow clawed away from goal by Wilson and a Ferriby defender, desperately defending on the line to clear the ball away

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Another poor result, and a continuation of a disastrous run of results. Edwards and co. have it all to do to ensure the Pitmen's season does not end up with the club outside the play-offs yet again, with the visit of mid-table Ossett on Saturday a good start with which to string a set of results together

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North Ferriby United: Wilson, Cooke, Larvin, Foot ©, Chapman, Bloor, Jackson (Foster 79), Fry (Davidson 56), Bird, Russell      Subs Unused: Frizzell, Morley, Wilberforce

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Hednesford Town: Woodhall, Platt, Maguire (Edwards 80), Gomes, Harvey, Marshall, Hall, Durrell, Barnett, Dyer, Draper ©        Subs Unused: Cowley, Gill, Harbutt

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