Following the depressing manner of defeat four days previously, the Pitmen turned in a Boxing Day extravaganza that saw them smash five goals past Prescot Cables at Hope Street this afternoon

 

With centre-back Tom Marshall out at least the next four weeks with shin splints, Phil Starbuck drafted in Lincoln United defender Ben Brown as cover for the Hednesford captain, with the new boy coming straight into the side as one of three changes to the side well beaten by Fleetwood just before Christmas. Elsewhere, Wayne Dyer returned in place of Anthony Maguire after his one-match ban ended. Alan Nagington came in for Chris Adam to make a three-pronged attack with Ross Dyer and Chris Hanna

​

Prescot - currently occupying the relative safety of mid-table - came into this Boxing Day clash having not played a game since the 1st December due to the recent cold snap. Manager Andy Gray made two changes to the side that lost at Eastwood Town last time out as Chris Fitzsimmons replaced Vinnie Freeman at full-back new signing Tommy Taylor came in for Shaun Tierney

​

In front of a dismal Boxing Day crowd at possibly the most basic ground currently operating in the UniBond Premier League, the Pitmen started well as the returning Wayne Dyer fired in every early warning shot just wide of the post within the first sixty seconds of the game from long-range

​

The Pitmen swept into the lead a minute later, with Hanna grabbing his first goal for the Pitmen since rejoining the club on loan from Walsall. Mario Pedro's deep cross from the right found Hanna unmarked at the far post to head past Richard Mottram in the Prescot goal from close-range, despite Mottram's best attempts to keep the ball out

​

In the eighth minute, Ross Dyer's strength won the ball from Fitzsimmons and playing in the ball to the busy Pedro. The Portuguese star spotted Dyer continuing his run into the penalty area and returned it to him, with Dyer getting his shot away but saw it deflected away from goal as it looked to be beating Mottram at the near post

​

Prescot's first sight at goal came a minute later as Karl Connolly headed Rene Gilmartin's initial clearance from a Karl Bell free-kick narrowly over the crossbar as he beat Paul Robinson to the rebound

 

Former Queens Park Rangers man Connolly had another chance to bring Prescot level once more as a cross from Taylor was headed just wide by the forward after he had beaten Ben Brown to the cross

​

Mottram denied Hanna a second goal of the afternoon in the thirteenth minute as he pounced on a dangerous cross from Pedro into his near post narrowly ahead of the incoming Walsall loanee

​

Two minutes later, the lively Hanna picked up a loose pass from Wade and let fly from just outside the Prescot penalty area, only to fire just wide of goal. Mottram's lazy goal kick went straight to Wayne Dyer, who headed back into the danger zone where Hanna was alert to the ball, striking a firm shot at goal that Mottram saved well

​

A rare Prescot attack on nineteen minutes saw winger Sam McNutt pull his angled shot from the left-hand corner of the penalty area just wide after the Hednesford defence had allowed him to run in on goal and appealed in vain for an offside decision

​

Mottram was certainly overworked in the opening quarter of the game and had to come to the home side's rescue midway through the first half as Naginton played Dyer in on goal with a delightful slide-rule pass, only for the Prescot stopper to make the save and hold the ball at the second attempt

​

Nagington was making the most of a rare start on the left-hand side of the front three and created an opening for Pedro on twenty-six minutes, crossing from the byeline and finding the head of Pedro at the far post, who headed into the net. However, his celebrations were halted courtesy of a late offside flag on the main stand side against him in the build-up

​

A minute later, Cables got themselves back on level terms despite being second best so far in the game; a corner kick from Wade found the head of the striker, who had dropped back to defend the corner kick, who could only divert the ball beyond the reach of Gilmartin as Connolly put him under pressure from close-range

​

The Pitmen went back into the lead only two minutes after the hosts had drawn level, with Nagington grabbing a well-deserved first UniBond Premier goal for the Pitmen. The striker made a darting run behind the Prescot defence to get on the end of a pass from Palmer to go one-on-one with Mottram. Prescot's Karl Bell made an illegal sliding challenge on the striker as he took the ball around Mottram and brought him down, only for Nagington to do just enough as he tumbled to the ground to poke the ball into the net. Despite the clear foul by Bell, the referee awarded the goal rather than send Bell off and award a penalty. One-nil to common sense at last

​

Ross Dyer lashed a shot over the crossbar on thirty-five minutes after being set up by Pedro, whilst new skipper Paul Robinson headed into the Hednesford fans who had made the journey up to Merseyside as he rose to meet a Chad Sheppard corner kick three minutes later

 

Dyer atoned for his earlier own goal with a strike at the right end of the pitch on forty-two minutes, lobbing Mottram with a delightful chip on the edge of the penalty after collecting picking up a loose clearance from Bell and spotting the goalkeeper off his line

​

Half-time saw Simms came brought on in favour of Palmer, who was once again struggling with general fitness and stamina which had blighted his second spell at the club thus far

​

The Pitmen followed this up with a second substitution just seven minutes after the restart as Pedro was taken off and replaced by fellow winger David Brown in a straight swap down the right flank

​

Brown was straight into the action as he got past the hapless Fitzsimmons on fifty-five minutes and crossed for Ross Dyer, only for the striker to completely miss his header at the near post

​

Hanna did well to disposes Bell in midfield four minutes later and play Ross Adams into acres of space down the right. the full-back steadied himself and picked out the run of Wayne Dyer, only for the midfielder to completely scuff his first-time effort into the side-netting

​

The hosts were lucky not to be reduced to ten men on two separate occasions midway through the second half as Thomas Moore only received a booking on sixty-two minutes for kicking Robinson whilst he lay injured on the ground, followed within a minute by a yellow card for full-back  Lee Smith as he wiped out Hanna down the left flank as the striker got the better of him

 

Nagington did well to control a low cross from Adams on sixty-six minutes, turning on a sixpence and lifting his shot from eighteen yards out over the crossbar

​

Hanna was also wasteful three minutes later as he streaked away from Fitzsimmons but elected to shoot from a tight angle rather than pick Dyer out at the far post and fired well over the bar

​

Substitute David Brown grabbed the away side's fourth goal of the afternoon on seventy-two minutes as he was given far too much time and space by the Prescot defence to take down a cross from Hanna before firing past Mottram from ten yards out with a tidy low finish

​

With both sides seemingly content to settle for the game in its current form, the game started to resemble a training game in the final fifteen minutes as the chances dried up at both ends. The visitors made their final change of the afternoon with ten minutes remaining as Maguire replaced the tiring Hanna down the flank

​

Bell fired wide from a good position inside the Hednesford penalty area on eighty-three minutes, whilst Wayne Dyer got the ball caught under his feet when played through on goal a minute later and allowed Moore to dispossess him at the key moment 

​

 With the game drifting into added time, Prescot grabbed another consolation goal through Price, who reduced arrears in the final minute with a shot past Gilmartin from close-range after some tired-looking defending from the Pitmen let the striker in on goal

 

However, the Pitmen scored a fifth goal of the game  with what was essentially the  last kick of the game as David Brown crossed from the right-wing for fellow substitute Maguire to fire past Mottram from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box to complete a comprehensive win for the away side

​

A fine win for the Pitmen and one that ends their recent run of poor form to move them up into eleventh place in the league table. They have another away game to contend with on Saturday as they travel to fellow mid-table dwellers Worksop Town looking to build on this morale-boosting win

 

Prescot Cables: Mottram, Smith ▆, Fitzsimmons, McEwan, Bell ▆, Moore ▆, Wade, Taylor (O'Donnell 72), Connolly (Byers 54), Price, McNutt (Lynch 63)       Subs Unused: None

​

Hednesford Town: Gilmartin, Adams, Robinson ©, B. Brown, Palmer (Simms 45), Pedro (D. Brown 52), Sheppard, W. Dyer, R. Dyer, Nagington, Hanna (Maguire 80)     Subs Unused: None

​