400

 

Ethan Patterson

​

D L L L L L W D D L

 

Hitchin Town (H) 18.3.23

Hednesford's mini-revival in the Southern Premier League Central is brought to an end this afternoon as hosts Royston Town ease past their visitors at Garden Walk courtesy of two second-half goals from Matt Bateman

​

The Pitmen made the trip to Hertfordshire off the back of a battling display against play-off chasing Ilkeston Town in midweek that had seen Danny Glover's side come from behind to claim a point at Keys Park. Glover made only one change to his side for today's game as on-loan Ben Kaninda returned to the side after playing for parent club Wycombe Wanderers in midweek, replacing Harvey Portman in the centre of defence

​

Hosts Royston were in the midst of an inconsistent run of form, having lost 1-0 at Kings Langley in midweek to leave Steve Castle's side in eighth place in the table and most likely too much to do to gatecrash any of the play-off places with games running out. Castle made three changes to his Crows side for today's return to Garden Walk as Dimi Kyriatzis returned in goal ahead of Louis Chadwick, James Brighton was passed fit to come back in ahead of Michael Turner and new loan signing from Cambridge United George Hoddle was handed a debut ahead of Shaun Keane

​

The hosts looked to take the game to their opponents early on as they tested the Pitmen's fragile confidence through captain Adam Murray in the fifth minute as he picked the ball up out on the left and jinked his way past both Lucas Yeomans and Kaninda before striking a weak low effort straight into the hands of Luke Jackson from fifteen yards out 

​

Good play from the visitors three minutes later saw Chay Tilt link up with Steph Morley before the Hednesford captain sent over a deep cross to the far post that was claimed by Royston goalkeeper Kyriatzis ahead of Jordan Graham

 

It was a tight, cagey opening to the game with both defences on top early on; Nathan Tshikuna made a barnstorming run through the centre of the Pitmen's defence on twelve minutes but was dispossessed by Kaninda in a timely manner before he could slip the ball through to Matt Bateman

 

Three minutes later, an offside flag on the far side denied Bateman as the former Hemel Hempstead Town striker made a run in behind Ethan Patterson but was adjudged to have moved too early as he got on the end of Murray's intended pass

 

The Pitmen had offered very little as an attacking force in the opening quarter of the game as they remained solid and organised at the back but lacking in ideas in the final third of the pitch. Graham looked to close down Mackye Townsend-West as he played the ball out of defence on eighteen minutes but just couldn't nick the ball away from the young Stevenage loanee as he looked to clear his lines

 

Midway through a lacklustre first half, Bateman's flick-on to Murray saw the Crows bring Ky Marsh-Brown into play down the left, with the ex-Brentford player skipping past Yeomans but sending his cross over Jackson's crossbar when both Murray and Alfie Williams were making their way into the box

 

The best chance of the game so far fell to the hosts on twenty-five minutes as Marsh-Brown did well down the left to beat Yeomans again before pulling the ball back from the byeline into the path of Murray, whose air-shot ran kindly to Williams; his follow-up effort was well-saved by on-loan Jackson, who had enough time to come out of his goal and turn the shot away from goal before Patterson cleared the danger

​

Sixty seconds later, a mistake by Kaninda saw the defender allow the ball to roll over his boot and into the path of Murray, who in turn played Marsh-Brown into space on the left. He cut inside on the edge of the box and attempted a low, curling shot at goal that Jackson claimed down to his right-hand side

​

Tshikuna picked up a loose pass from Max Brogan on the half-hour mark, taking the ball forward midway inside the Hednedsford half before clattering the crossbar with a well-struck rising shot from twenty-five yards out that had beaten Jackson. Murray flicked the rebound back into the path of Bateman, whose turn and shot just inside the penalty area was blocked by Yeomans

​

The game again became scrappy and disjointed as both sides struggled to make their chances count. Kemy Agustien did well to clear the danger for the men in sky blue on thirty-four minutes as he hacked a loose ball clear with Bateman looking to pick up a Murray flick-on inside the six-yard box after Marsh-Brown's cross had reached the skipper at the far post

​

Kaninda was also on hand to tidy up for the visitors on thirty-five minutes as his presence of mind stopped Williams from breaking forwards with a timely interception to take Hoddle's pass away from the midfielder

​

With the final action of a dull and uninspiring first half, the Pitmen won a free-kick thirty yards from goal after Graham was fouled by Townsend-West. Morley stepped up to take the shot but lifted his effort high and wide of goal with a poor effort at goal

​

The first half had taken on a similar theme to recent Hednesford games with the Pitmen struggling to create many openings in an attacking sense but looking solid and stoic at the back as they soaked up the pressure from Royston

​

Within five minutes of the restart, Royston had another great chance to take the lead as Murray laid the ball off to Marsh-Brown out on the right - his deep cross found the head of Bateman, who beat Yeomans to the ball but looped his header beyond the far post from ten yards out as Murray tried to turn the ball home from close-range

​

The Crows hit the post for the second time in the afternoon on fifty-three minutes as they continued to have the better of the game as a long punt forward from Kyriatzis was inadvertently flicked into the path of Bateman by Patterson, who got goal-side of Kaninda and lobbed a shot beyond the reach of Jackson from the edge of the penalty area that came back off the goalkeeper's left-hand post

​

The game swung the way of the hosts just before the hour mark as they were handed a penalty kick in an incident that saw Jackson shown a straight red card; Murray broke into the Hednesford penalty area and took the ball around the on-loan stopper, who brought the Royston skipper down as he tried to wrestle possession from the player. Referee Mr Fletcher had little doubt in his mind as he awarded the Crows a penalty kick and sent Jackson off for the challenge as he had denied Murray a clear goalscoring opportunity. Agustien was booked in the aftermath of taking his protests a little too far as the Pitmen made a swift substitution, with Rhys Williams making his league debut for the club as he replaced Tilt

​

After the furore had died down, Bateman placed the ball onto the spot and sent Williams the wrong way from twelve yards out to give the hosts a deserved lead and left the ten men of Hednesford with a mountain to climb

​

Having finally turned their possession and territorial advantage into a goal, the Crows made their first substitution of the afternoon as James Brighton was replaced by Kian Harness before play could restart

​

The home side continued to turn the screw on their opponents and grabbed a quickfire second goal on sixty-four minutes; Tshikuna's initial forward ball forward from just outside the Hednesford penalty area was returned to him by Harness, with the former Rushden man whipping in a fine cross to the far post that was headed home by the unmarked Bateman for his second goal in four minutes 

​

With the game now starting to peter out, Royston made their second substitution of the game on sixty-eight minutes as the hard-working Marsh-Brown was replaced by the manager's son Charlie Castle

​

The Pitmen's struggles in the final third continued as Brogan and Graham linked up on the edge of the penalty area on seventy minutes but found Ronnie Henry in the way as he cleared with ease. A very frustrating and fruitless afternoon for the Pitmen up front

​

With sixteen minutes remaining, the visitors made their second change of the afternoon as the more attack-minded Stanley Asomugha replaced Thorley out on the right flank

​

On seventy-eight minutes, the Pitmen made their final change of the game as midfielder James McQuilkin came on in place of the tiring Agustien in a straight swap in the centre of the park. At the same time, Tshikuna was afforded generous applause from the home crowd as he was replaced by Fernando Bell-Toxtle

​

The Pitmen went down to nine men temporarily on eighty-one minutes as Tilt limped off and had to be patched up by sports therapist Shannon Kincade before returning to the field of play a couple of minutes later

​

Bateman was denied his hat-trick by Rhys Williams on eighty-three minutes as a run in behind the Hednesford defence by Hoddle was not tracked by the away side, allowing him to pull the ball back into the six-yard box where Bateman attempted a cheeky backheeled effort at goal that was cleared away by the feet of the stand-in stopper at his near post

​

The dangerous Bateman had the ball in the net on eighty-five minutes as he ran in unchallenged on goal, tucking the ball into the net past Rhys Williams but being pulled back by an earlier offside flag against him in the build-up

​

A rare sight at goal from the visitors in the final minute of the game saw Brogan pick the pocket of Townsend-West on the edge of his own penalty area before shimmying past Hoddle and laying the ball off to Graham, whose low shot was easily fielded by Kyriatzis

​

In the second of four added minutes, Royston substitute Castle was shown a yellow card by Mr Fletcher for a foul in the centre of the park to break up the Pitmen's attacking play

​

After three unbeaten games, the Pitmen are brought back down to earth with a defeat that pushes them ever closer to their inevitable fate at the end of the season. Royston's home form has been strong all season long with only two defeats at Garden Walk, so the Pitmen can be pleased with being competitive up to the sending-off and can only speculate as to whether they could have taken points today had they remained with their full compliment for the duration of the game. Glover's men have a two-week break with no game scheduled for them until they play host to Hitchin Town in two Saturdays' time - we may see Glover and Guy Hadland dip into the market once more as they look for a more attacking threat from their players in the games that remain this season

​

Royston Town: Kyriatzis, DaSilva, Brighton (Harness 62), Townsend-West, Murray ©, Henry, Tshikuna (Bell-Toxtle 78), Hoddle, Bateman, A. Williams, Marsh-Brown (Castle 68 ▆)      Subs Unused: Forde, Turner

​

Hednesford Town: Jackson ▆ (59), Yeomans,Morley, Agustien ▆ (McQuilkin 78), Patterson, Kaninda, Thorley (Asomugha 74), Parker, Graham, Brogan, Tilt (R.Williams 60)       Subs Unused: Glover, Portman

​