A strong second-half performance from Hednesford saw them come back from two goals down to earn themselves a respectable draw against a hugely experienced PFA XI squad at Keys Park this evening
 
Hednesford manager Kelvin Davis - still without several key members of his squad going into the final three games of pre-season – named an inexperienced first XI for the first half of the game, electing to keep his big guns on the bench until the second half. For the first time in pre-season, there were two triallists in the Hednesford ranks – one in central defence and another up front, as Davis looked at further options to his depleted numbers
 
The PFA XI squad – made up of free agents still looking for clubs going into the new season – was packed with star names and players of note from seasons gone by; Welsh International midfielder Jonny Williams, former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Amos, ex-Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy, former Portsmouth striker John Marquis, former Sheffield Wednesday favourite Fernando Forestieri and former Rangers striker Kane Hemmings all started the game, with several more impressive names due to come on at the break

The visitors' strong starting eleven could not have made a stronger and more efficient start to the evening's proceedings - with only four minutes on the clock, ex-Shrewsbury Town striker Marquis opened the scoring to make it three goals in his last two games; a through ball from Ethan Bristow sent Hemmings away down the left, with the ex-Burton man squaring the ball into the path of Marquis, who side-footed past Xander Parke from close-range
 
Parke’s evening got even worse straight from the restart as the PFA XI doubled their lead within sixty seconds. A short back pass from Ben Lomax caught Parke out, with the stopper pressured into a rushed clearance by Marquis that dropped into the path of Hemmings – the son of former Hednesford winger Tony - who executed a fine lob back over the goalkeeper’s head and into the empty net from twenty yards out
 
The disjointed hosts were at sixes and sevens, struggling with the quality of their opponents on the ball as they chased around the pristine Keys Park pitch as they looked to close down the space. Marquis went close to making matters even worse in the eighth minute as he once again got in behind the static defence and fired in a low shot that beat Parke but came back off the base of the stopper’s right-hand post 
 
The Pitmen finally made their way up the other end of the pitch in the tenth minute, with Lenni Cirino delivering a fine corner kick from the left that was cleared away at the near post by Morsy ahead of Lomax
 
Williams was pulling all of the strings in the centre of midfield for the visitors, spraying passes around the pitch with consummate ease to play the likes of Hemmings, Marquis and Forestieri into space in and around the penalty area. On twenty minutes, Marquis picked up another defence-splitting pass and steadied himself, but lifted his effort from sixteen yards out over the crossbar as Lomax looked to close him down
 
Marquis continued to lead the Pitmen a merry dance as he once again found acres of space in behind them midway through the first half, only to be pulled up for a tight offside call from the assistant on the main stand side
 
Five minutes later, Hemmings also suffered the same fate as he made a late run in behind Lomax but was adjudged to have moved a little too soon by the assistant as he rounded Parke inside the six-yard box
 
Lomax’s game ended prematurely on thirty-seven minutes as he came off worst in a clash with Hemmings and was forced off, with Aaron Harper-Bailey coming on in his place in defence. Jai Curran-Nicholls deputised at right-centre-back, with Harper-Bailey slotting into the left centre-back role alongside Niall Maher
 
Former Bristol Rovers midfielder Luke Thomas wasted another good opening for the PFA XI four minutes before the interval as the visitors worked the ball across to him, only for the ex-Barnsley man to lash his shot over the crossbar
 
It had been a half of pretty much total domination from the PFA XI, who had given the young Hednesford side the runaround with their quality on and off the ball and should probably have been in a stronger position going into the second half. Both teams made substitutions at the break, with the PFA XI making ten changes whilst the Pitmen limited themselves to just the two as Dylan Mottley-Henry came on for Finn Teesdale and Liam Kinsella replaced Dale Gorman in midfield

Harper-Bailey went closest of anyone in a white shirt to getting them on the scoresheet three minutes after the restart as he rose to meet a Cirino free-kick at the far post but headed straight into the arms of new PFA XI goalkeeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke
 
However, an error from Boyce-Clarke on fifty-two minutes was to spark a Hednesford comeback as the former Aldershot Town stopper was caught in two minds by triallist A just inside the penalty area, with the striker taking a touch before firing into the net via a touch off the left-hand post
 
Sensing a comeback was on the books, Davis went to his bench to bring on the dangerous attacking trio of Jamie Cooke, Omari Sterling-James and Ahkeem Rose on fifty-six minutes, bringing off Maher, Cirino and Triallist A
 
This triple change immediately changed the mood around Keys Park as the Pitmen pressed high on the counter-attack and forced the PFA XI onto the back foot for much of the remainder of the game. Sterling-James – assuming the captaincy from Gorman – struck a firm shot at goal on fifty-nine minutes after working the ball onto his right foot on the edge of the box, forcing Boyce-Clarke into a fine save to his left to turn the ball over for a corner kick
 
Sterling-James tried his luck once more two minutes later from a free-kick twenty yards from goal, curling in an effort from the left-hand corner of the PFA XI penalty area that rippled the top of the net as it flew narrowly over
 
Midway through the second half, Rose made a darting run at goal from halfway on the counter, taking on Harrison Holgate but scuffing his shot straight into the grateful arms of Boyce-Clarke
 
Cooke elected for the acrobatic approach to shooting four minutes later, attempting an overhead kick at goal from twelve yards out after good play down the wing from Mottley-Henry had seen the former Chester man stand up a cross for Cooke; however, the former Halifax man only got a toe to the ball and shanked his effort over the crossbar
 
The Pitmen’s pressure finally told on seventy-three minutes as the very impressive Mottley-Henry won the hosts a penalty kick; making a driving run into the box from the right, Mottley-Henry was sent sprawling by a mistimed challenge from Charles Dunne, with the referee having no hesitation in awarding the Pitmen a penalty kick. Rose stepped up and confidently placed the ball straight down the middle of goal to equalise with his first strike of pre-season
 
Despite the Pitmen now dominating proceedings, Parke was called upon to make a good save to deny Elias Kahunga on the counter down the right on seventy-five minutes, pushing the ball away down to his right-hand side
 
Sonny Sharples had been the pick of the Pitmen’s XI all evening long, covering every blade of grass with his box-to-box style reminiscent of a young Steven Gerrard. The former Bolton man went close to grabbing a winner on seventy-nine minutes as he drove forwards and struck a low effort at goal that flew just wide of the post
 
The Pitmen were playing some delightful flowing football on the counter-attack in the closing periods of the game, with Mottley-Henry making moves down the right on eighty-five minutes before setting up Sterling-James, whose header drifted just wide of the post with Boyce-Clarke beaten
 
Cooke tested the reflexes of Boyce-Clarke down to the stopper’s left in the final minute of the game as a low driven shot from the forward looked destined for the corner of the net until a fine fingertip save from the stopper forced the ball wide for a Hednesford corner kick
 
It had been the very definition of a game of two halves – a first half totally dominated by the more experienced core of the PFA squad, with the Pitmen dominating long spells of the second period and probably feeling that they should have won it late on. Another tough, but differing, challenge awaits them on Saturday as Welsh Premier League side Connah’s Quay Nomads – fresh from a Europa Conference League tie against FC Balkani last week – make the trip to Keys Park
 
Hednesford Town: Parke, Gorman © (Kinsella 45), Lomax (Harper-Bailey 37), Cirino (Cooke 56), Curran-Nicholls, Turner, Sharples, Teesdale (Mottley-Henry 45), Maher (Sterling-James 56), Trialist A (Rose 56), Triallist B
 
PFA XI: Amos (Boyce-Clarke 45), Watson (Caprice 45), Macdonald (Holgate 45), Dunne, Bristow (Ferguson 45), Williams © (Anderson 45), Morsy (Paterson 45), Thomas (Scott 45), Hemmings (Bodin 45), Forestieri (Moult 45), Marquis (Kachunga 45)

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