Despite a solid second-half showing and creating a host of good chances, Hednesford have to be content with a point in today’s Bank Holiday Monday clash at Spennymoor Town

A quick runaround of games saw the Pitmen make the long journey to the North East off the back of their first win of the National League North season on Friday night, defeating Harborough Town 2-1 at Keys Park. Manager Kelvin Davis made two attacking changes to his starting XI, with Ahkeem Rose and Omari Sterling-James restored to the line-up ahead of Jamie Cooke and Will Merry

Spennymoor had made a similarly stuttering start to the new campaign, picking up only four points from their opening five games. Manager Tommy Miller made four changes to his Moors side from the one beaten 3-1 at Bedford Town at the weekend, with Dan Jones, Glen Taylor, Cam Darcy and Matty Dolan all coming into the side ahead of George Cantrill, Ben Beals, Aidan Marsh and Richie Bennett

Playing up the considerable slope at the Brewery Field, the Pitmen looked to get themselves on the front foot early on, with Lenni Cirino seeing plenty of the ball early on in proceedings down the left; on four minutes, the ex-Gillingham man danced past Ben Pollock and got himself into the box, only to see his low attempted cross into the feet of Rose cleared by ex-Gateshead defender Frankie Whelan

A series of early corners from the Pitmen came to nothing, as both Gorman and Sterling-James placed deft flag kicks straight into the hands of Spennymoor goalkeeper Brad James early on

James was called upon to make the first of several good stops in the tenth minute as Sterling-James raced onto a through ball from Gorman down the left, sliding a right-footed shot goalwards but being thwarted by the reflexes of the stopper to charge the ball down and divert the ball away

A deft ball over the top from Whelan looked to play the rangy Taylor on twelve minutes, prompting Sam Hornby to take responsibility for the situation with a smothering save just inside his penalty area

The Pitmen’s early season defensive fragility was exposed by the hosts in the nineteenth minute; the visitors struggled to clear their lines effectively as a ball in from Jones on the right bounced around the six-yard box, falling to Taylor in the first instance. His first shot was blocked before Junior Mondal kept the move going, setting up his skipper once more by playing the ball back into the danger zone. Taylor’s second attempt deflected off George Langston and into the path of Dolan, who forced the ball home from close-range at the third attempt. It was the veteran former Bradford City midfielder’s first goal of the season on his first start of the campaign

The away side were forced onto the front foot after such a soft goal conceded, with Dylan Mottley-Henry making a rampaging run down the right and crossing deep for Cirino, who showed neat footwork to turn the ball onto his left foot before having his pocket picked by Pollock

Cirino picked up the game’s first yellow card of the afternoon on twenty-four minutes as he took a tumble in the penalty area under a challenge from Pollock. Referee Mr Hood brushed aside Cirino’s pleas for a penalty and instead booked the left-back for simulation

A huge slice of luck and some indifferent defending from Spennymoor handed the Pitmen a leveller on twenty-six minutes - the home side attempted to play the ball out of defence, with Cam Salkeld making a hash of his attempted backpass that sold his goalkeeper short just outside his box. Rose pounced on the short ball, took it around the dive of James before scuffing his shot into the far corner of the net from the tightest of angles

With their tails up, the Pitmen looked for a quick-fire second goal two minutes later as Sterling-James won and took a free-kick to the left of the Spennymoor penalty area, floating a deep free-kick to the far post that drifted over the heads of everyone and dropped a foot or so wide of James’s left-hand upright

The men in navy blue shirts had the ball in the net on thirty-four minutes as an inswinging corner kick from Mottley-Henry was fumbled by James at the far post, with the ball bobbling around in the six-yard box before Aaron Hayden back-heeled the loose ball into the net. However, Mr Hood had brought play to a stop for a perceived foul on the stopper in the build-up and the goal was disallowed

Dolan looked to test the Pitmen’s resolve once more on thirty-seven minutes as he struck a free-kick from twenty yards out at goal that took a nick off the Hednesford wall and just wide of Hornby’s right-hand post

Two minutes later, Dolan swung in another free-kick from the left that was aimed at the head of Taylor, only to play his ball straight into the grateful arms of Hornby

Rose had caused Spennymoor’s defenders real issues on the counter-attack throughout the first half, making another run in behind the retreating Whelan on forty minutes and outpacing the defender, firing in a low angled shot at goal that James did brilliantly to save with his legs

There was a strong call for James to receive a card of some colour two minutes later as another marauding run from Rose saw him played through on goal once more, with James racing out of his goal and appearing to clip the striker as he took the ball past the stopper. Incredibly, Mr Hood saw nothing wrong with what appeared to be a clear foul by the goalkeeper and allowed play to continue, much to the disbelief of the Hednesford players and staff

In the final minute of the half, Sterling-James looked to catch James out with an opportunistic long-range effort that he hit earlier than the stopper expected, pulling his shot inches wide of the stopper’s right-hand post with James scrambling across his goal 

It had been a keenly-contested, if a little low-quality, contest so far, with both sides looking a little vulnerable with their respective three centre-back set-ups. The hosts elected to make a half-time change at the back as Whelan was replaced by Cantrill at centre-back

The Pitmen made a strong start to the second half as good play from Rose saw him control the ball well and send Sterling-James through on goal down the left. Once again, James was equal to the danger, making another smothering save to his left to turn Sterling-James’s goalbound shot away

James’s topsy-turvy afternoon continued three minutes later as he once again flapped at an inswinging Dale Gorman corner kick at his far post but was rescued by a questionable call from Mr Hood as he was handed a free-kick for a foul against him when there appeared to be no-one in a navy blue shirt remotely close to him

Spennymoor’s first change of the afternoon came shortly before the hour mark as Darcy was taken off by Miller and replaced by the much-travelled Danny Johnson

A minute later, the Pitmen made a bold double attacking change as David Abimbola replaced the industrious Sterling-James and Cooke came on for Jai Curran-Nicholls

Cooke’s introduction almost had an immediate impact as the forward raced onto a long-raking ball forward from Langston on sixty-two minutes, getting goal side of Cantrill and striking a firm low shot at goal that James once again made a smart save down to his right

The Pitmen made a further personnel change midway through the second half as Jamie Morgan came on for Williams, who was playing his second game in four days after a long lay-off and was feeling the strain

Jones picked up a well-deserved and quite blatant booking from Mr Hood on sixty-nine minutes as he was yellow-carded by the match official for pushing the industrious Liam Kinsella to the floor in midfield to stop the former Walsall man from breaking into the Spennymoor half

A minute later, the Moors made a third change of the game as another one of the Moors’ ex-Gateshead contingent, Rob Ramshaw, made way for the experienced former Newcastle United and Wycombe Wanderers midfielder Jack Young

A rare chance at the Hednesford end of the ground was created by Taylor on seventy-one minutes after some neat build-up play from the hosts fed the striker, who shifted the ball onto his right foot but lifted his effort from twenty yards out high over Hornby’s crossbar

A brilliant run from Cirino three minutes later saw him drift inside from the left, taking the ball past three Spennymoor players and driving to the byeline, cutting the ball back into the six-yard box and watching his ball skip straight across the face of goal, with no-one able to apply the finish

Goalscorer Rose’s hard-running afternoon was brought to a halt with fifteen minutes remaining as he was brought off and replaced by Merry on the left-hand side of attack

The lively and ever-willing Cooke flashed another opportunistic strike just wide of goal sixty seconds later, taking the ball over halfway before striking a powerful low shot at goal from fully thirty yards out that skipped off the turf and inches wide of James’s right-hand post. Close

The home side’s final change of the afternoon came with thirteen minutes remaining as recently-acquired young left-back Sam Murray replaced Mondal on the left flank

More good play from Cirino down the left on seventy-nine minutes saw him feed Merry with a neat reverse pass that the former Southampton striker took into the box, looking to strike a right-foot shot but dithered on his effort at the wrong moment and allowed Pollock to make the block

Abimbola’s physically imposing frame counted against him twice in two minutes on eighty minutes; firstly, he was denied a free-kick in midfield after being fouled by Cantrell before then being penalised for holding off Johnson as the pair challenged for a Hornby clearance shortly afterwards

Cantrill was the final player to enter Mr Hood’s notebook with six minutes of play remaining after he had brought down the free-running Cooke in full flow thirty yards from goal

A minute later, the combative Sonny Sharples was finally handed a well-overdue debut for the Pitmen as he came on for Gorman in central midfield to add energy to the midfield area in the final minutes 

Jones was well off-target with a wild slash at the ball two minutes later, picking the ball up to the left of the Hednesford penalty area and firing high over the crossbar as Kinsella did brilliantly to close him down

With the game entering the final minute of normal time, Langston’s long throw out on the right was headed back to him by Cantrill, with the former Braintree Town skipper taking the ball to the byeline and driving another delicious low ball across the face of the Spennymoor goal, beating the dive of James but once again allowed to drift away from danger as no-one in a navy blue shirt could react quickest to tap the ball home

Deep into added time, Morgan almost repeated his back-post heroics from Friday as he met a right-sided corner kick from Merry, glancing the ball agonisingly wide of the far post with James beaten

A more rounded display from the Pitmen and an improved team performance from the Harborough game, although they will perhaps be smarting somewhat at not taking one of the numerous chances in the second half to claim all three points against a Spennymoor side that lacked a cutting edge throughout. There are visible improvements to the Pitmen’s performances as the games are being ticked off, but perhaps the frustration is that the overall results don’t necessarily match the improvements in the football and tactics. Attention turns to more North East opposition on Saturday as the Pitmen return to Keys Park to face the much-fancied South Shields.

Spennymoor Town: James, Jones ▆, Whelan (Cantrill 45 ▆), Jenkins, Taylor ©, Ramshaw (Young 70), Mondal (Murray 77), Darcy (Johnson 59), Pollock, Salkeld, Dolan     Subs unused: Dawson, Miller

Hednesford Town: Hornby, Langston, Hayden, Williams © (Morgan 65), Gorman (Sharples 85), Sterling-James (Abimbola 60), Rose (Merry 75), Mottley-Henry, Kinsella, Cirino ▆, Curran-Nicholls (Cooke 60)     Sub unused: Parke

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