17.9.2024
F.A. Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Hednesford Town
Johnson (24), Duku (51), (62), Stevenson (80)
Rugby Town
M. Taylor (84)
(1) 4
(0) 1
Attendance
MoTM
Current Form
Next Match
831
Joel Taylor
W W L W D W W L D W
Chasetown (H) 21.9.24
Hednesford march on into the third qualifying round of this season's F.A. Cup after another comprehensive and high-scoring encounter at Keys Park sees them finally dismiss the challenge of Northern Premier League Midland side Rugby Town
Having laboured to a 2-2 draw at Bultin Road at the weekend, Hednesford manager Steve King went all-out attack in his approach for tonight's game, naming an aggressive-looking side as he welcomed back the fit-again Dom McHale in place of Omar Holness and brought birthday boy Jake Jervis back into the side ahead of Rob Stevenson
Rugby manager Carl Adams looked to pick up where his side had left off on Saturday as he made one change to his Blues side for their first trip to Keys Park since 2010; veteran striker Mikey Taylor was rewarded for his bright cameo at the weekend with a start ahead of Tayo Tucker up front. Former Hednesford favourite Chris Clements - who missed out on Saturday's game due to a prior engagement - was named amongst the Rugby substitutes for his return to Keys Park
Despite the quick turnaround in games, the Hednesford public once again responded to the club's battle cry with another 800-plus attendance. They were nearly treated to another early show from the hosts in the first minute of the game as Joel Taylor elected to take a free-kick on the left quickly and drove in a shot that Rugby's veteran stopper Paul Hathaway pushed away from goal, denying Jack Bearne on the follow-up with an impressive double save
Bearne looked to get the hosts going down the right in the fifth minute, making one of his driving runs into the rugby penalty area off the right as he cut inside a challenge from Edwin Ahenkorah before slightly over-running the ball and seeing it run over the byeline before he could pull the cross back into the path of Manny Duku
In the tenth minute, Dan Trickett-Smith's corner kick was only cleared as far as captain Eliott Johnson, who played the ball back out to the playmaker on the left. Trickett-Smith's cross into the penalty area was met by the head of Jervis, who could only glance his diving header over the crossbar from six yards out
Rugby had struggled to get themselves going thus far, seemingly content to play for set-pieces and aim for the likes of Mikey Taylor and former Hednesford duo Liam Francis and Mike McGrath. A ball in from Dan Summerfield from the right in the twelfth minute was aimed at Saturday's goalscorer Trey Charles, who was denied a chance by some dominant defending from Kory Roberts at his far post, hacking the danger clear
Some lovely interplay from the hosts on eighteen minutes saw Simon Maye and Trickett-Smith link up to play Joel Taylor into acres of space out on the left, in behind the Rugby defence. The left-back's cross looked to pick out Jervis at the near post, only for Hathaway to make the save before the striker could turn the ball into the empty net
McHale's influence on the side is obvious when he plays as he is the conduit for everything positive and attacking in the Hednesford ranks; he tested the reflexes of Hathaway on twenty minutes as he picked up Bearne's pass twenty-five yards from goal before unleashing a powerful shot that the 40-year-old stopper had to palm away down to his right-hand side
The Pitmen's dominant first quarter of the game finally paid dividends as they got their noses in front three minutes later through Johnson; Bearne's wonderful jinking run earned his side a corner kick which Trickett-Smith quickly took and rolled into the path of Jervis, whose first-time shot was blocked by the Rugby defence but not cleared. McHale recycled the ball out on the left and drove in a low cross that was diverted into the path of Johnson, who had the simple task of steering the ball home from six yards out. It was the defender's second goal of the season so far
McHale and Hathaway renewed their rivalry three minutes later as McHale's initial through ball to Duku was blocked by McGrath but not cleared by a dallying Ryan Sahota, allowing McHale to pick his pocket and take the ball into the box before drilling in a half-volley at goal that Hathaway once again turned away down to his left
The first questionable offside decision of the evening went against the Pitmen on the half-hour mark as Jervis was played in on goal by a miscued Francis clearance, only for the assistant on the Wimblebury side to harshly raise his flag against the striker as he slotted the ball past Hathaway from ten yards out
Joel Taylor was proving to be a real thorn in the side of Summerfield as the left-back consistently got the better of the visitors' number two down the left flank. On thirty-four minutes, another great run saw Taylor chip in a cross from the byeline, aimed at Bearne at the far post. The winger arrived late but could not divert his header into the net, instead nodding his effort well wide of the woodwork under pressure from Francis
At the other end, a rare attack from the visitors saw Mikey Taylor shrug off a challenge from Roberts as he chased down a long ball from Hilton Arthur, only for the veteran to be flagged offside for moving too soon before the ball was played
Another superb run from Bearne on thirty-seven minutes saw the former Liverpool man leave Ahenkorah and Sahota for dead with another brilliant run into the box, choosing to shoot on this occasion with a low angled effort that was straight at the overworked Hathaway
The Pitmen's only yellow card of the night came with five minutes of the half remaining as McHale was deservedly booked by referee Mr Stott for a nasty-looking challenge on O'Toole in the centre circle that angered the Rugby players and management team which led to some pushing and shoving
Jervis was again left a frustrated figure on his birthday as another well-timed run from the striker saw him get in behind a static Rugby defence on forty-four minutes, latching onto a lovely ball from Trickett-Smith before turning it past Hathaway from eight yards out with a sweetly struck drive. However, despite the striker looking a good yard onside, the assistant flagged Jervis for offside again and the goal was disallowed once more
It had been another dominant display from the hosts, who should have been further ahead and in more control of the game than they were at 1-0, thanks in part to Hathaway's heroics and in part to some questionable offside calls against Jervis
Looking to finish things off early in the second period, Hednesford made another strong start to the half as Jervis won a free-kick for the Pitmen to the left-hand corner of the penalty area on forty-eight minutes, allowing Joel Taylor to whip the ball in towards Roberts but seeing his cross cleared by McGrath
Duku - the Pitmen's menace-in-chief at Butlin Road on Saturday - had been a little quiet so far this evening, but this soon changed as the Dutchman notched his third goal in four days on fifty-one minutes to put daylight between the two sides. McHale won the ball in midfield before threading an absolute peach of a pass through the centre of the Rugby defence and into the path of Duku, who tip-toed his way past the sprawling Hathaway in front of him before turning the ball into the empty net from close-range with some delightful close control
That was to be the end of McHale's evening, however, as the maestro from Manchester was forced off due to picking up another knock on fifty-three minutes and was replaced by Sion Spence
Rugby's first changes of the evening came shortly afterwards as Adams looked for a reaction from his side; Clements came on in place of O'Toole in midfield and Tucker was quickly restored to the side as he replaced Charles up front
Duku didn't have to wait long to register his fourth goal of the round, however, as he added to the Pitmen's burgeoning goal tally for the season on sixty-two minutes. Bearne's pace and trickery saw him beat Ahenkorah once more with some neat footwork down the right on the hour mark, shooting at goal from the edge of the penalty area and forcing Hathaway into another good save. Rugby struggled to clear their lines after Jervis had rescued the ball, with Trickett-Smith letting fly from an angle that was also pushed away by the veteran stopper. The ball looped up and landed at the feet of Duku, whose volley back across goal was diverted into the net by the hapless Francis on the line as he tried to keep the ball out
Duku went close to a quickfire hat-trick for the Pitmen on sixty-four minutes as Spence sent him away down the left with a raking cross-field pass; the striker ran at McGrath before striking a low shot at goal from the edge of the penalty area that skipped inches wide of Hathaway's left-hand post
The Pitmen's second change of the evening came before play could restart as Zidan Sutherland came on for some much-needed game time in place of Bearne on the right flank. At the same time, Rugby elected to make a change as youth team graduate MJ Semahimbo replaced Arthur
The changes continued apace on sixty-seven minutes as the Pitmen brought on Stevenson up front ahead of Duku and Jacob Gwilt was given a run-out as he replaced Trickett-Smith. Duku clearly wasn't happy at being taken off as he was still looking for his hat-trick goal for the second game in succession
Clements delivered a fine free-kick into the Hednesford box on sixty-nine minutes that found the boot of McGrath, who could only toe-poke his effort wide of Jack Rose's right-hand post from six yards out
On seventy minutes, Rugby made a further change of personnel as the out-of-sorts Sahota was taken off by former Hednesford midfielder Adams and replaced by Barry Fitzharris in midfield
Sutherland's first real contribution was to force Hathaway into yet another save on seventy-three minutes after Stevenson's brilliant reverse pass had sent him away down the left, free of the Rugby defence. With perhaps a little too much time to think about it, Sutherland dallied on the ball and allowed Hathaway to narrow the angle and push his shot around the post for a Hednesford corner kick
With eleven minutes remaining, another one of the Hednesford squad in desperate need of minutes came on to stake a claim for Saturday's team against Chasetown as the lively Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen came on in place of Jervis
And what a change it proved to be, as with his first touch of the ball, Alamu-Tajudeen created an opening for Stevenson to grab the Pitmen's fourth goal of the night on eighty minutes. Bringing the ball out from the back, Johnson slipped the ball into the path of Stevenson, who showed typically robust technique to hold the ball up before laying off to Gwilt, whose own incisive pass sent Alamu-Tajudeen away down the right. The former Bromsgrove Sporting man picked out Stevenson in the middle with a fine low ball into the box that his fellow substitute gleefully fired past Hathaway from ten yards out to make it 4-0
Stevenson forced Hathaway into another good save with his legs on eighty-two minutes, twisting and turning past Fitzharris before firing in a low shot at goal from an angle that Hathaway diverted away from goal with his legs standing next to his post
Mikey Taylor had worked hard for little reward up front for Rugby but did grab a consolation goal for his efforts with six minutes remaining as he brought down Ahenkorah's cross-field pass on his chest, turning quickly past Johnson and Roberts before firing in a low shot that beat Rose down to his left and nestled in the far corner of the net - a very tidy goal from the 36-year-old
With the game drifting into added time, Gwilt looked to add to his solitary goal this season at Racing Club Warwick from a free-kick after Sutherland had been brought down right on the edge of the area by Ahenkorah, who was shown a yellow card for the foul. Gwilt's resultant kick lacked power, however, and was diverted away from goal by the boot of Francis for a Hednesford corner kick
A ruthless second-half display in front of goal from the Pitmen sees them through to the third qualifying round, where they have been handed another highly winnable and local game against Midland Football League outfit Shfinal, who had beaten Redditch United the previous night to make it to this stage for the first time since 1982-1983. Before then, attention turns back to the F.A. Trophy on Saturday as the Pitmen play host to local rivals Chasetown for the second time already this term, looking for an improved display on the disappointing 1-1 draw at Keys Park on August Bank Holiday Monday
Hednesford Town: Rose, Rowe, J. Taylor, Johnson ©, Roberts, Maye, Jervis (Alamu-Tajudeen 80), Trickett-Smith (Stevenson 67), Duku (Gwilt 68), McHale ▆ (Spence 53), Bearne (Sutherland 65) Sub Unused: Brown, Holness
Rugby Town: Hathaway, Summerfield, Ahenkorah ▆, Francis ©, McGrath, Sahota (Fitzharris 71), Arthur (Semahimbo 65), O'Toole (Clements 57), M. Taylor, Charles (Tucker 57), Nee Subs Unused: Osiomoejiokhian, Mensah
