For the second season in succession, the Pitmen will host a play-off final at Keys Park as they sweep aside ten-man Stockton Town at Keys Park in this evening’s semi-final
 
Kelvin Davis’s side had had little time to shrug off the disappointment of missing out on the league title to Hebburn Town at the weekend, with the Hednesford manager making one change to the side that had started the 3-3 draw with Ashton United – top scorer Ahkeem Rose returned to the attack as he replaced Jake Jervis on the left of the front line
 
A late Kevin Hayes winner at Warrington Rylands on Saturday had edged Stockton past Lancaster City and clinched the final play-off spot, setting up a long trip down to Staffordshire from Teesside in the process. Long-serving manager Michael Dunwell made just the one change to his Anchors side from Saturday as Vinnie Steels came back in ahead of Owen Gallacher at full-back
 
Despite the fixture coming about at short notice, both sides’ sets of supporters came in large numbers once more, with over 3,500 once again cramming into a resplendent-looking Keys Park. In much the same way as the weekend, the Pitmen looked to make strong and authoritative start to proceedings; in the third minute, an outswinging corner from Chris Hussey on the left was headed back to him by Coulthard - Hussey’s return ball to the far post picking out the head of player of the year Ollie Harrison, whose downward header was somehow kept out by a wonderful reaction stop from goalkeeper Nathan Harker, diverting the ball away from goal with an instinctive save low down to his right
 
Two minutes later, Stockton’s first journey into the Hednesford penalty area saw Jake Petitjean swing in a free kick from the right that was aimed at Nicholson at the far post, only for the excellent Harrison to beat him to the ball and turn it behind for a corner kick
 
The hosts were content to keep the ball and control the tempo of the game in the early stages, using the large Keys Park pitch to its full advantage to force Stockton’s players into plenty of chasing down. A mazy run from Jermaine Hylton in the seventh minute saw the winger drift in from the right, taking on Arjun Purewal before seeing his attempted shot blocked by Nicholson
 
Another good delivery into the box from Hussey three minutes later saw the veteran defender lift his free kick from the left flank deep into the Stockton box, where Coulthard headed away under pressure from Harrison and Montel Gibson
 
Gibson had started strongly, giving Coulthard some real issues with his aggression and hard running. A powerful run from the striker on fourteen minutes saw him hold the ball up before playing it down the right and into the path of Jamie Morgan, whose attempted cross to Hylton was turned behind by Arjun Purewal for a corner kick. Hussey quickly played the corner ball short to Omari-Sterling-James, who allowed his pocket to be picked by some stout defending from Nicholson before he could get his shot away

Hylton was guilty of wasting a great chance to open the scoring on eighteen minutes after Rose was played in on goal by Gibson’s clever flick, driving into the box but electing to pass to Hylton rather than shoot himself; the winger dithered on his shot at the crucial moment, deciding to take the extra touch rather than shoot, which allowed Harker and Nicholson time to crowd him out and block the shot. The loose ball eventually ran to Rose at the far post, with the striker gleefully turning it come from close range. However, Rose’s joy was short-lived as a late offside flag from the assistant on the main stand side ruled the goal out
 
Midway through the first half, a frustrated Rose sliced a rising shot high over the crossbar from twenty yards and into the heaving Heath Hayes terrace after getting on the end of a flick on from Gibson

Stockton had been reliant on set-pieces to get themselves up the pitch in the opening half hour, with Amar Purewal doing well to draw a foul out of Harrison on twenty-seven minutes to earn the Anchors a free-kick thirty yards from goal. Petitjean swung the free kick in but got far too much on it, drifting out of play and wide of Tony Breeden’s right-hand post
 
Shortly after the half-hour mark, Sterling-James tried his luck from range after some patient build-up play from the hosts saw Gibson play him into space just outside the Stockton penalty area, with the in-form forward working the ball onto his right foot but drilled his effort wide of Harker’s left-hand post
 
Stockton were struggling to get themselves out of their own half, relying on the hard running of Amar Purewal and the craft of Petitjean to give them any presence in the Hednesford half. Another free kick from Petitjean on thirty-four minutes was played a little too hopefully into the box, lacking any real target, and was easily headed away by Harrison before the Pitmen cleared their lines
 
On thirty-seven minutes, Breeden was called upon for the first time in the evening to make a timely punch away at his far post, reacting well to a deep cross from Petitjean out on the right that was aimed at the lanky Coulthard
 
The game’s real turning point came with four minutes of the first half remaining; Rose’s threaded pass played Sterling-James clean through on goal behind the Stockton defence, with the former Hereford man taking a touch just outside the box before a clumsy and desperate lunge from Arjun Purewal sent the forward stumbling to the ground. Referee Mr Durno had a great view of the incident and instantly reached for his red card, rightly sending the defender off as he had clearly denied Sterling-James a shooting opportunity
 
The resultant free kick from Sterling-James came back off the Stockton wall and into the path of Hussey, whose follow-up shot was deflected away and into the path of Rose, standing on the right-hand corner of the box – his left-footed effort across goal looked to be heading for the far corner of the net until a vital deflection off Gibson turned the ball past Harker and into the net from six yards out. Cue pandemonium in the Heath Hayes terrace
 
Gibson’s late goal had been a well-deserved opener for the hosts, who had been the better of the two sides in the first period and had been a threat in the final third without much in the way of reward before the goal. Stockton had been well-organised and stoic in defence, but had struggled to create anything of real note in the final third. It could be suggested that Dunwell’s team had looked to keep the game tight and play for extra-time and penalties, something that they would now need to abandon in the second half with the red card and the late Gibson goal combo
 
Rose seemed absolutely determined to end his recent goal drought and went close to doubling the Pitmen’s advantage just a couple of minutes after the restart, heading Gibson’s chipped cross goalwards from twelve yards out but being denied by a smothering save from Harker down to his left
 
The former Hamilton Academical striker went even closer to breaking his duck on fifty-two minutes as he seized upon a short back pass from Steels to beat the advancing Harker to the ball, striking a shot at goal that came back off the underside of the crossbar and back into play. Despite Rose’s insistence that the ball had crossed the line, Mr Durno waved away his protests and Stockton were able to clear their lines
 
A rampant Hednesford side continued to pepper the Stockton goal with early efforts at goal, with Sterling-James lining up one of his trademark long-range strikes a minute later that was held by Harker in the centre of his goal as the ball skipped off the slick turf
 
A quick counter from the hosts on fifty-eight minutes saw Gibson control the ball well and play strike partner Rose in on goal, with the out-of-luck striker curling his left-footed effort just over Harker’s crossbar from just inside the Stockton penalty area
 
With perhaps more than one eye on Bank Holiday Monday, Davis made his first change of the evening just after the hour mark as the hard-running Gibson was given a well-earned rest as he was replaced by Jake Jervis up front
 
Petitjean picked up the game’s first yellow card of the evening from Mr Durno on sixty-one minutes after the Anchors youth team graduate was booked for a foul on Joe Doyle-Charles
 
With time running out for Dunwell’s side to get themselves back into contention, the Anchors made their first change of the evening on sixty-seven minutes as Josh Scott was replaced by Stephen Thompson
 
Stockton’s best chance of the whole game fell at the feet of Hayes on seventy minutes as the forward looked to turn the ball home from close range, only to be denied by a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Harrison to turn the ball away from goal
 
Harrison was involved at the other end of the pitch on seventy-two minutes, rising highest to meet Hussey’s inswinging corner kick from the right at the far post, glancing his effort at goal inches wide of Harker’s right-hand post
 
Three minutes later, Harker did brilliantly to deny the hosts with another timely save, pushing a glancing George Williams header away from goal for a corner kick after Sterling-James’s free-kick into the box was turned goalwards by the former MK Dons man
 
Hussey swung the resultant corner kick into the box from the left that was cleared as far as Hylton on the edge of the penalty area; his header back into the danger zone bounced around the box before Harrison applied the finish from fifteen yards out, lashing a half-volley beyond Harker and into the net. It was the big man’s third goal of the season, all of which have come courtesy of his boot rather than his head
 
Stockton’s response to falling two goals behind was to make a double change on seventy-seven minutes – Ryan Barrett came on for Steels and former Gateshead man Jamie Bramwell replaced Petitjean
 
The Pitmen’s second goal seemed to kill off the game as a competitive contest, with the hosts happy to maintain possession and play out most of the remaining time with the ball at their feet. Stockton looked tired and leggy, with the restriction of playing with ten men for over half of the game catching up with them as the half wore on

Defender Ryan Wynter was given some valuable match action by the Pitmen on eighty minutes as he came on in place of Hylton on the left side of the pitch
 
Fit-again Max Sheaf was also given some game time on his return to the squad on eighty-four minutes as the former Cheltenham Town midfielder was brought on in place of Sterling-James
 
Two minutes later, the outstanding Liam Kinsella – who had covered every blade of grass in midfield – was given a rapturous round of applause from the Keys Park crowd as he was replaced by Dan Trickett-Smith
 
Stockton also chose to use their final two substitutions, blooding two youngsters for the final minutes as Tom Birtles replaced Amar Purewal and Chuka Unigwe came on for Cameron Painter in the eighty-eighth minute
 
Trickett-Smith picked up a late booking from Mr Durno deep into added time after tripping up youngster Unigwe in the centre circle to stop him from breaking into the Hednesford half
 
It had been a controlled display from the home side, who move into their second play-off final in successive years and will be in a confident mood ahead of Monday’s game, where they will face Warrington Rylands – winners of a thrilling game over FC United of Manchester at Broadhurst Park this evening in the other semi-final. Expect another capacity crowd at Keys Park as the Pitmen look to make it back-to-back promotions and finally return to the promised land of National League football after a decade away

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Hussey, Kinsella (Trickett-Smith 86 ▆), Harrison, Williams, Hylton (Wynter 85), Doyle-Charles ©, Gibson (Jervis 62), Sterling-James (Sheaf 84), Rose       Sub unused: McHale

Stockton Town: Harker, Arjun Purewal ▆ (41), Steels (Barrett 77), King, Nicholson ©, Coulthard, Hayes, Painter (Unigwe 88), Amar Purewal (Birtles 88), Petitjean ▆ (Bramwell 77), Scott (Thompson 67)      Subs unused: none

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