Another abject display from the Pitmen - under new management for the third time this season already - sees them crash to defeat at second-placed Runcorn Linnets, leaving them a huge eight points from safety with only nine games remaining this season

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Yet another week of turmoil at Keys Park - something now so deeply ingrained in the psyche within Hednesford Town FC that it barely registers these days - had seen manager Harry Harris sacked after four winless league games. Mike McGrath had taken charge of the side for the Birmingham Senior Cup game against Romulus in midweek before the club announced the appointment of former Leek Town and Newcastle Town manager Paul Moore as the club's latest incumbent to the Keys Park hot seat. Moore had brought a new face in ahead of the game, signing his former Newcastle midfielder Danny Edwards after seeing Dan Gyasi depart on Thursday for Boldmere St. Michaels. On the pitch, Moore made five changes to the side that had started last weekend's 1-0 defeat against Mossley as Blaine Rowe, Josh Endall, Joe Thompson, Jake Jervis and James McQuilkin all came in for Sam Griffiths, Callam Mendez-Jones, the departed Gyasi, Tom Thorley and Max Martin respectively

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Runcorn - sitting in second place in the table, albeit nine points adrift of leaders Leek - had seen their rich vein of recent form checked by local rivals City of Liverpool in midweek as they suffered a 2-0 home defeat, their first reverse in seven games. Manager Bill Paynter shuffled his pack with no fewer than four changes of his own for today's game as Sam Barratt replaced Peter Wylie, Jacques Welsh came in for Alex Jones in defence, recent signing Kieran Knapper was preferred to Eric Bryne and Oliver Molloy started ahead of Ryan Brooke

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Despite the heavy dumping of water on the pitch during the past two days, the hybrid surface at the APEC Taxis Stadium had coped well and was in good nick for this afternoon's clash. Jai Verma was straight into the action for the hosts in the first minute, darting down the left and winning a free-kick thirty yards from goal; Jack Kelly's delivery from the resultant kick was aimed at Endall, but was headed clear at the near post by Anthony Kay

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At the other end, Endall had to be alert to deal with a free-kick from the hosts in the fourth minute as the lively Will Saxon won a free-kick to the left-hand corner of the Hednesford penalty area. Knapper's ball in was aimed at the head of Molloy, who was denied by a firm header away by the centre-back at the far post

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It to prove to be a busy afternoon for Hednesford stopper Kieran Boucher, who made the first of a string of fine saves in the tenth minute; Mike McGrath cheaply gave the ball away inside his own half, allowing Saxon to break into the Hednesford penalty area before playing Welsh through on goal. The former Tranmere Rovers youngster tried to pick out the bottom far corner of the net with a curling effort but was denied by Boucher, who got enough on the shot to divert it away from the net but saw the ball roll back the other way, with McGrath having to make a timely clearance off his line to deny Molloy tap-in on the rebound

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From the resultant corner kick, taken by Saxon, the ball somehow went straight through a cluster of players inside the six-yard box and fell to Molloy at the far post, who seemed a little surprised that the ball had reached him and could only divert the ball wide of the far post

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The hosts looked far more accomplished on the ball in the final third, probing at pushing the Hednesford defence at every opportunity. The talented Knapper - a January signing from league rivals Kidsgrove - forced Kelly into diverting his cross behind for another corner kick on fourteen minutes as he broke quickly down the right after good hold-up play from Molloy to play him into space

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The Pitmen's best chance of the opening quarter of a slow burner of a game came on seventeen minutes as Verma did well once more down the left, teasing his way past Barratt as he got to the byeline and stood up a ball to the far post, where Jervis arrived to wastefully volley his effort high and wide of goal, rather than bring the ball down and pick out Delfouneso by the penalty spot

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Delfouneso turned provider for Jervis two minutes later as he picked up Verma's pass midway inside the Runcorn half before sliding the ball through to the former Plymouth Argyle man, who had made a run across skipper James Short put lacked any real belief in his shot at goal and allowed the left-back to recover and block his tame effort at goal

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A quickly-taken free-kick from the hosts on twenty-four minutes saw Short pick up the ball out wide on the left and play a long, rangy angled ball into the penalty area that was met by the head of Molloy, who beat Endall with ease in the air but nodded his effort wide of goal from eight yards out 

 

A minute later, Boucher made another good save to keep the Pitmen in contention as Ahmed Ali weakly lost possession to Lewis Doyle in midfield, allowing Doyle to play the ball onto O'Neill. His low shot from the edge of the penalty area was at a good height for the stopper, who turned the ball away from goal with a diving save to his left

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However, from Short's inswinging corner kick, Kay arrived late at the far post, taking advantage of a momentary lapse of judgement by Boucher in coming to claim the ball and out-jumping a static Ali to head home from six yards out

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Endall had endured a nightmarish first half hour of play, constantly giving the ball away cheaply when playing out of defence and struggling to pick up the lively Molloy when the ball is worked to the striker in the final third. The lanky defender became the first player to earn himself a booking on thirty-three minutes as he brought down Saxon and was shown a yellow card by referee Mr Eaton

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The Pitmen had given Runcorn stopper Bayleigh Passant anything to really worry about thus far with a real lack of penetration in the final third of the pitch. Another infuriatingly poor delivery from a free-kick on thirty-six minutes saw Kelly whip the ball into the box from the left but saw the former Marine stopper make an easy save inside his six-yard box with no one in red able to challenge him

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There were ironic cheers from the 100-plus travelling supporters on thirty-nine minutes as Barratt was awarded a free-kick for the hosts, despite seemingly falling over his own feet as he brought the ball out of defence and past Ali. When you're down at the bottom, decisions like this never seem to go your way

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The home side finished the half strongly, and had further chances to extend their lead going into the break; successive corners from the right by Short tested the Pitmen's resolve as they struggled to clear their lines before another corner from the same player on forty-three minutes dropped to Knapper, whose snap-shot from eighteen yards out was saved by Boucher

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Doyle followed Endall into Mr Eaton's book with a minute of the first period remaining as he clashed with McQuilkin in the centre of the park and brought the diminutive midfielder down, earning himself a yellow card

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The hosts had worked their way into the game after a quest first twenty minutes, with the Pitmen having no qualms about the half-time score as they simply hadn't created anything of note to get them back on level terms since Kay's goal. The expensively assembled front three of Delfouneso, Jervis and Verma hadn't worked as a unit and had not been supported by a lacklustre midfield, allowing the hosts to make several runs from deep at will and put pressure on the error-strewn Hednesford defence

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Much in the same way as many of the recent games under Harry Harris, the Pitmen's half-time chat went completely out of the window as they once again conceded a cheap goal in the first few minutes of the second half. Boucher had already been called upon to make a save from Knapper, who had seized upon a loose pass out from McGrath and driven a shot at goal that the Hednesford stopper had turned behind; just sixty seconds later, a long punt forwards saw Endall completely miss his header and gifted O'Neill ta chance to maker an unchallenged run in on goal. Boucher did well to make the initial save, smothering the striker's shot but seeing the ball run kindly to him on the rebound, with the Bamber Bridge loanee turning the rebound into the empty net at the second attempt

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Rowe was the second man in red to pick up a booking from Mr Eaton on fifty-five minutes as he brought the creative Molloy down and was shown a yellow card, despite the former Darlington man trying to make a case against the decision

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McQuilkin stung the fingertips of Passant four minutes later as the Pitmen broke quickly down the centre of the pitch through Delfouneso, whose attempted pass to Verma was cut out initially and played to Ali, who laid the rebound off to his midfield partner. The veteran sized up a shot from the edge of the penalty area and attempted a curling shot that Passant tipped over his crossbar for a corner to the Pitmen

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Boucher's busy afternoon continued as he made a superb double save on the hour mark to keep the Pitmen in the game; Runcorn broke quickly after an up and under from O'Mahoney was flicked on by Molly and into the path of Saxon, who was denied by the legs of Boucher as he came out of goal to meet the forward. The ball ran kindly to O'Neill, whose follow-up effort lacked any real power and was smothered by a grateful Boucher on his penalty spot. Good goalkeeping, horrific defending from the Pitmen

 

The Pitmen's torrid afternoon got worse midway through the second half as they were reduced to ten men as Jack Kelly was shown a straight red card; Runcorn once again opened up the flaky Hednesford defence with another quick break down the middle as Knapper was allowed to run fully sixty yards unchallenged and into the Hednesford third of the pitch. Kelly came across to snuff out the danger but could only bring the former Vauxhall Motors player down just outside the box and was rightly sent off for the challenge

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Verma looked to use the red card to his advantage as he surged forwards down the left for the Pitmen two minutes later, leaving two Runcorn players in his wake as he stepped inside but saw his effort easily saved by Passant down to his right

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A corner from McQuilkin in sixty-eight minutes was glanced towards goal by Delfouneso, only for a headed clearance off the line by Barratt to deny the striker his first-ever goal for the club

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Moore's first change of the afternoon caused confusion and frustration within the away supporters as he elected to take off striker Delfuouneso on seventy-one minutes and bring on centre-back Griffiths, despite his side looking to grab a goal to get themselves back into the game

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Boucher made another good save for the ragged visitors on seventy-two minutes, pushing a shot from O'Neill away for a corner kick after good approach play down the middle from Doyle to play the winger into space

 

Boucher was at it again two minutes later, tipping a rising shot from O'Neill over the crossbar after the forward had picked up Short's cross on the right and turned inside to shoot from the edge of the penalty area

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With fifteen minutes of the game remaining, the coasting hosts made their first change of the afternoon as goalscorer O'Neill came off in favour of the vastly experienced former AFC Telford United forward Brooke

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A minute later, Moore made another odd substitution as Thompson - playing without reward as the lone-target man now - was taken off in place of the more defensively-minded Thorley

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Brooke's first involvement came just a couple of minutes after he came on as he took the ball into the box down the right, running past McGrath before trying his luck with an angled shot that the Hednesford number one managed to divert away from goal at his near post before Rowe completed the clearance

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With ten minutes remaining, former Port Vale striker Paynter made his second change of the afternoon as he elected to give minutes to young striker Adam Moseley, bringing the youth team graduate on ahead of Saxon

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A visibly frustrated Jervis - who had been a huge disappointment for the Pitmen on his full debut for the club - picked up a booking on eighty-two minutes after he had challenged Passant for a long ball from Thorley inside the Runcorn penalty area, leaving the stopper in a heap and earning the experienced forward a yellow card for his actions

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More heroics from Boucher on eighty-five minutes saw the stopper make yet another superb double save to deny Runcorn; Verma lost out in midfield to Barratt, who drove forwards and played Brooke into space on the right. The ball was laid back into the path of the right-back, whose powerful effort from twenty yards out took a deflection but was still saved brilliantly by Boucher, who followed this up with a superb instinctive stop on the rebound to deny Kay a certain goal from six yards out

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More ironic cheers emanated from the dwindling away support behind Passant's goal on eighty-eight minutes as Jervis finally got goal side of O'Mahoney for the first time the afternoon as he latched onto Verma's flick-on before tamely firing wide of goal from sixteen yards out

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On eighty-eight minutes, McQuilkin's terrible free-kick on the left was headed away easily, allowing O'Mahoney to clear his lines with a long ball up to Molloy. Once again, there was nothing in the way of covering from the hapless Hednesford defence, allowing Molloy to charge into space and play Brooke in on goal, onyl for Boucher to once again come up with a response as he saved with his legs once more to turn the shot away from goal

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Runcorn finally put a gloss finish on a dominant second-half display with a third goal in the last minute of the game; good work down the right saw Barratt play the ball into the feet of Brooke, who made progress down the wing and pulled the ball back into the six-yard box, where O'Neill missed his kick but allowed the ball to run to Molloy, who had the simple task of turning the ball home from close-range

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Before the game could restart, Moore made his third baffling substitution of the afternoon as Edwards came on for literally a few seconds in place of McQuilkin, with the game now well out of the Pitmen's grasp and with no opportunity for the former Salford City youngster to touch the ball. Runcorn also made their final change of the game as goalscorer Molloy was afforded generous applause from the home fans as he was replaced by Byrne

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A dispiriting afternoon for the large away following to swallow once more, having seen their side completely out-played in the second half by a stronger, quicker and more confident Runcorn side, who conceivably could have scored seven or eight had it not been for the heroics of Boucher. There had been far too many unacceptably lazy performances from many of the players in red, not doing the basics such as tracking back or challenging for the ball against a quick, direct and inventive Runcorn side who put them to the sword

 

Eight points now separate the Pitmen from Vauxhall Motors - 3-1 winners today over 1874 Northwich - leaving the Pitmen now looking increasingly likely that they will have to rely on a PPG lottery at the end of the season with other sides at step four who will finish in the final relegation spot, with the two sides with the best points total likely to stay up due to the demise of both Nuneaton Borough and Marske United earlier this term. Next weekend sees Motors make the trip to Keys Park for the first of two critical games in the Pitmen's season, facing 1874 Northwich two weeks later at Townfield

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Runcorn Linnets: Passant, Barratt, Short ©, Welsh, O'Mahoney, Kay, Knapper, Doyle ▆, Molloy (Byrne 90), Saxon (Moseley 80), O'Neill (Brooke 75)       Subs Unused: Wylie, Roberts

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Hednesford Town: Boucher, Rowe ▆, Kelly ▆ (65), McGrath, Endall ▆, Ali ©, Verma, McQuilkin (Edwards 90), Thompson (Thorley 76), Delfouneso (Griffiths 71), Jervis ▆     Subs Unused: Morley, Mendez-Jones

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