The Pitmen remain top of the Northern Premier League table this afternoon after completing a dramatic smash-and-grab win over Stockton Town in their first-ever visit to the MAP (UK) Stadium

Having sat out last weekend’s set of fixtures due to Storm Goretti’s cold weather, the Pitmen returned to action after sixteen days away with two changes to the side that had lost to Rushall Olympic as Omari-Sterling-James made his full debut ahead of Dom McHale and Simeon Maye was restored to the side in favour of Ahkeem Rose

Stockton - occupying the final play-off spot at the start of play - had also been without a match since New Year’s Day, having seen games against FC United of Manchester and Prescot Cables called off in the past fortnight. Long-serving Anchors manager Michael Dunwell made one change to his side from the one that had beaten Morpeth Town as Michael Sweet came in for Kevin Hayes        
                                    
Backed by a sizeable away following that made up Stockton’s second-biggest crowd of the season, the Pitmen looked to adapt to the slick 3G surface quickly, having struggled to create much in the way of chances on Rushall’s artificial surface. Ollie Harrison was on hand to make a timely block to deny Jake Petitjean a shot at goal in the fourth minute, throwing a leg in front of the striker’s effort from fifteen yards out and turning the ball away from danger after his initial clearance had dropped kindly to Petitjean

Stockton recycled the ball well down the left, working it back into the path of King, whose low-angled effort from twenty yards out flew well, well wide of Tony Breeden’s left-hand post

Niall Watson was looking to be the Pitmen’s biggest threat on the counter-track, willing to chase the long balls down up against left-back Gallagher. The former Southport man did well to drive past his man on seven minutes, bringing the ball inside and exchanging passes with Max Sheaf and looking to thread the ball through to Montel Gibson before Adam Nicholson could clear the danger

Breeden was alert to the danger posed by Amar Purewal on ten minutes, making a claim inside his six-yard box after the prolific former Morpeth striker and tamely struck a shot at goal after Petitiean’s initial effort was sliced into the path of his strike partner by Jamie Morgan’s touch

Harrison was at his commanding best again on twelve minutes, making a fine smothering block to deny Ryan Barrett after the full-back had made a move into the Hednesford penalty area down the Stockton right

Referee Mr Tilmouth was willing to let the game flow wherever he could, but left the away fans frustrated on fourteen minutes as he allowed Gibson to take a loose ball on after Morgan had been clattered by Gallagher on halfway. After Gibson had failed to take advantage of the move, the match official went back to talk to Gallagher but bemusingly, failed to show the full-back a yellow card for the heavy challenge on Morgan

After Morgan had received a long spell of treatment for Adam Paget, Sterling-James delivered the Pitmen’s first corner of the afternoon, floating in a good ball to the far post that Harrison knocked down the Sheaf via a touch from goalkeeper Nathan Harker, whose attempted shot from twelve yards out was blocked and cleared

Skipper for the day Breeden was again to hand to deny Purewal on eighteen minutes, making a simple catch to his right to claim the striker’s header at goal after he had met a deep cross from Nicholson on the left

Breeden’s busy opening quarter continued midway through the first half, as the veteran stopper was on hand to make an easy save to push away Purewal’s half-volley from fifteen yards out, with Chris Hussey completing the clearance

More positive play from Watson on twenty-six minutes saw him take down a fine cross-field ball from Sterling-James and see Morgan away down the flank with a neat pass; the right-back’s attempted cross towards Gibson was blocked by the back-peddling Scott, whose clearance took a fortuitous bounce off Morgan and went out for a Stockton goal kick

On thirty-one minutes, Breeden ended up on the deck and required treatment as the stopper was caught late by an accidental boot from Petitjean, who had attempted to stop the goalkeeper from booting the ball clear and clipped him mid-kick out

Three minutes later, more hard running from Sterling-James saw him take Hussey’s pass on down the right and jinked past Barrett, pulling his ball back towards Gibson but seeing his low cross cleared by Coulthard

A Stockton corner kick on forty minutes was floated in to the far post and brilliantly plucked out of the air by Breeden, who immediately sent a fine kick upfield to Sterling-James, who looked to break onto space down the left but was adjudged to have been offside just inside the Stockton half

Gibson was perhaps a little lucky to only pick up a yellow card from Mr Tilmouth a minute later as the striker was booked for a frustrated elbow into the midriff of Nicholson twenty yards inside the Stockton half as the pair challenged for the ball

In first half added time, Ryan Wynter's long throw level with the Stockton penalty area was cleared as far as Sterling-James, whose looping volley at goal from twelve yards out appeared to take a deflection and end up on the roof of Harker’s net, only for the referee to award Stockton a goal kick

It had been a largely poor spectacle so far, with very little quality play in either box and chances at a premium. Watson and Sterling-James had worked hard down each flank for the away side but had not been adequately supported by their fellow mis-firing forward line. Stockton had looked fairly comfortable in dealing with the largely aimless punts forward by the Hednesford defenders in the general direction of Gibson and Sheaf

Cameron Painter picked up Stockton’s first booking of the afternoon shortly after the restart as he brought Sterling-James down just outside the home side’s penalty area. Sterling-James - something of a set-piece expert - took the resultant free-kick and struck a fine ruling shot at goal from twenty-five yards out that forced Harker into a superb flying save to his right, pushing the ball onto the post and away from danger. Hussey picked up the rebound and tried to force the rebound home from a tight angle, but was denied by the legs of the stopper at his near post

Another neat piece of play from Watson two minutes later saw him take the ball down the right for the Pitmen before sending Trickett-Smith away into space beyond him. The playmaker took the ball past Gallagher and looked to pull it back into the path of Gibson, only for Nicholson to sweep up and clear the danger

On fifty-one minutes, Hussey was tripped by Barrett on the left flank and quickly took the free-kick himself, picking out Gibson in space on the edge of the penalty area. The striker nipped in ahead of Nicholson to reach the low ball in and struck an instinctive first-time shot that was blocked by the Stockton skipper. Harrison picked up the rebound and tried to force a low shot at goal but he too found Coulthard in the way. Despite muted protests for the men in mint green for a handball against the defender, Mr Tilmouth allowed play to continue

Stockton finally broke the deadlock on fifty-five minutes as they stole into the lead with a set-piece goal; Petitjean won a free-kick wide on the right after being fouled by Maye; the same player whipped in a deep ball to the far post that caught the Pitmen ball-watching, allowing Coulthard to side-foot the ball into the net from close-range unchallenged

Stockton looked to take advantage of a rattled Hednesford defence two minutes later as a break down the right saw Sweet cross low into the box, forcing Wynter to clear the danger temporarily. The ball ran to Petitjean, whose follow-up from close-range was blocked by Harrison’s last-ditch challenge before Hussey finally cleared the ball

The hosts should have extended their lead on sixty-two minutes as a quick counter saw Sweet played through on goal by an angled ball from Nicholson, only to fire in a fairly tame effort that was pushed away by Breeden at his near post for a Stockton corner kick

 

From the result kick from Petitjean, Scott's downward header at the near post was pushed away by Breeden after the ball was headed straight at him by the Stockton skipper. The Pitmen struggled to clear their lines before Coulthard was finally blocked by Wynter's block tackle to the left of the Hednesford box

 

Midway through the second half, the Pitmen rolled the dice up front at Dan Turner came on in place of Maye to take his place on the left side of the Hednesford attack

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Two minutes later, Sterling-James tried his luck again from a free-kick in a very similar position to the one he had struck early in the second half but could only fire his powerful effort straight into the four-man wall of yellow in front of him, striking the head of Nicholson in the process, which left the defender requiring a lengthy spell of treatment

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Mr Tilmouth had not exactly endeared himself to the locals during the second half and further angered the home fans on seventy minutes as he failed to pull up Hussey for a late challenge on Painter down the Stockton right, before penalising Sweet for a foul on Sterling-James and showing the midfielder a yellow card for a fairly similar offence to the one committed by Hussey seconds earlier

On seventy-four minutes, the away side made another attacking change as Watson - who had worked incredibly hard for his side - was sacrificed for top scorer Rose

A minute later, Stockton made the first change of the afternoon as former Morpeth Town man Steels returned to the side as he replaced Sweet in the wide area on the right

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Hussey and Wynter had to be alert to a quick break down the Stockton left on seventy-six minutes as Steels took a pass on from Scott and crossed low into the box, where the two centre-backs did enough to clear the ball away from the incoming Petitjean at the near post

Looking to maintain their slim advantage going into the final ten minutes, Stockton made their final substitution of the game on eighty minutes as Jamie Bramwell replaced Painter

Gibson finally found himself goal side of the towering Stockton centre-backs on eighty-three minutes, running onto Turner’s clever angled pass and controlling the ball well before firing high and wide of goal with a wild effort from eighteen yards out

The Pitmen grabbed themselves a barely-deserved equaliser with five minutes of the game remaining as a corner kick from Hussey on the left was floated into the six-yard box - Rose headed the ball towards goal but was denied by a brilliant save from Harker, palming the ball away from point-blank range to his right to somehow keep Rose’s effort out. The ball ran kindly to Sterling-James, who poked home the equaliser from close-range to record his first goal for the Pitmen. Game on

With the momentum now firmly behind the visitors, they looked to turn the result on its head with wave after wave of attack as the game became stretched. Sterling-James struck a low shot at goal from twenty yards out on eighty-seven minutes as he jinked inside from the left, but didn’t get enough behind it and made it an easy save for Harker down to his right

Hurren gambled one more time up front on eighty-eight minutes as he brought Joel Taylor on to play wide on the left wing as he replaced the misfiring and yellow-carded Gibson

Sheaf went within a whisker of winning the game for the Pitmen in the first of eight added minutes, controlling Morgan's pull-back from the right well on the edge of the Stockton box and showing Coulthard some clever feet to turn past the defender and strike a shot on the turn that skipped inches wide of Harker’s right-hand post

With the game deep, deep into added time, the Pitmen’s late press handed them a lifeline with the award of a ninety-sixth-minute penalty; Sheaf's cross from the right-hand corner of the box was aimed at Rose, taking a bounce off the turf before striking the arm of Barrett as the full-back looked to clear the ball away. Mr Tilmouth took a second to gather his thoughts before pointing to the spot and awarding the visitors a dramatic late penalty kick. Hussey handed the ball to Rose, who coolly set Harker the wrong way from twelve yards out to clinch what had looked a highly improbable result for the away side ten or so minutes earlier

Rose’s late winner proved to be a hugely important moment in the context of the afternoon, as news of a similarly-late winner for Hebburn Town against Ashton United maintained the narrow gap between the two sides. Hebburn face Whitby Town in midweek, looking to move to the top of the league with a win before the Pitmen play again next weekend with a long-awaited return to Keys Park to face struggling Staffordshire rivals Leek Town

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Stockton Town: Harker, Barrett, Gallagher, King, Nicholson ©, Coulthard, Sweet ▆ (Steels 75), Painter ▆ (Bramwell 80), Amar Purewal, Petitjean, Scott     Suns unused: Arjun Purewal, Thompson, Faulkner

Hednesford Town: Breeden ©, Morgan, Hussey, Maye (Turner 65), Harrison, Wynter, Watson (Rose 74), Sheaf, Gibson ▆ (Taylor 88), Sterling-James ▆, Trickett-Smith.    Subs unused: Labadie, Parke

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