Despite what was arguably their best ninety minutes of the whole season to date, the Pitmen find themselves remaining rock bottom of the league as table toppers Tamworth steal the points in a tight Staffordshire derby this evening

​

A battling draw at Hitchin Town had brought Steve Burr's side within three points of both AFC Rushden & Diamonds and Barwell at the foot of the table ahead of tonight's return home; Burr made only one change to his starting XI for tonight's game as Zac Hartley came into the side to make his debut in place of Leroy Lita, who had been ruled out after picking up a concussion at the weekend as will most likely miss Saturday's game against Royston Town as well. New signing Olamide Ibrahim - signed on loan from Derby County yesterday - was named amongst the substitutes

​

League leaders Tamworth made the short hop across the county off the back of a narrow 1-0 win over Bromsgrove Sporting, with manager Andy Peaks electing to stick with the same side that had started at the Victoria Ground as the Lambs went in search of a win that would increase their lead over Coalville Town at the top of the table to three points

​

On a chilly evening and with the RACE Stadium pitch in resplendent condition, the hosts looked to get off to a flying start with a free-kick on the edge of the Tamworth penalty area inside the first minute of the game. Kyle Bennett - scorer of a wonderful free-kick at the week - touched the ball to his left and into the path of Joe Cuff, whose low driven effort was charged down by the Tamworth wall

​

Pushed on by their large away following, Tamworth looked to play aggressively on the counter-attack early on with Ty Deacon linking up well with Alex Bradley in the fifth minute and feeding the ball into the path of the league's top scorer Dan Creaney, whose run into the box down the left saw Lewis Ison step across and shepherd the ball out of play. The pair clashed on the byeline as the ball ran out of play and squared up to each other, prompting referee Mr Perry to have words with the two players

​

Jas Singh - a scourge of Hednesford teams of the past at the likes of Gloucester City, AFC Telford United and Solihull Moors - was left to frustrate the home supporters once more three minutes later as the experienced stopper made a fine save to deny Todd Parker after Hartley's cross from the right was cleared as far as the former Wolves man by Ben Hart, with the midfielder's well-struck effort from twenty-five yards out parried away by Singh down to his left

​

More forceful play from Tamworth in the twelfth minute saw Creaney win a free-kick just outside the penalty area after Keith Lowe had fouled the big striker. Kyle Finn took the resultant kick but saw the Pitmen's wall stand up well to the shot and managed to smuggle the ball away from danger

​

Successive corner kicks from the Pitmen on fifteen minutes tested Tamworth's resolve as Parker whipped in two crosses from the right that the league leaders struggled to deal with. The second ball in ended back at the feet of Parker, whose attempted pass to Joe Cuff was hacked clear by Alex Collard

​

Another good corner from Parker two minutes later was missed by several players and ended up bobbling around inside the six-yard box, but was eventually cleared by Hart as Ison tried to turn the loose ball home

​

Nesbitt went closest out of anyone to opening the scoring on twenty minutes as the hosts switched the play from right to left and found Adam Livingstone in space down the left flank; the Scotsman beat former Hednesford man Matt Curley all ends up and swung in a superb curling cross that was met by the head of Nesbitt, whose glancing header drifted wide of the far post after he had got goal side of Collard

​

Nesbitt found himself clear of the Tamworth defence momentarily three minutes later as a long punt forwards from Tiernan Brooks found the former Redditch United man in on goal. As he looked to shoot from a narrow-angle to the right of goal, Hart came across and smothered the ball away, injuring himself in the process

​

After a spell or treatment for Hart, Nesbitt took the resultant corner kick and found the head of Lowe, whose dominant jump and header lacked direction and drifted out of play on the far side of the pitch

​

Hart's injury was to prove to be too much for him to continue, however, as the former Burton Albion man was taken off a few moments later and replaced by the portly summer signing from AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Liam Dolman

​

The Pitmen continued to give as good as they got, with Bennett making a tricky run forwards just before the half-hour mark and playing Nesbitt through once more, only for an offside flag against the striker to halt his progress going forwards

​

Creaney got the better of former team-mate Ben Bailey two minutes later as he gave the Hednesford skipper the slip to get on the end of a free-kick from Finn, but could not bring the ball fully under his control ten yards from goal and allowed Bailey to make a timely interception and clear

​

Bailey was involved at the other end of the pitch with ten minutes of the half remaining as Parker's corner kick was met with a full-blooded header from the centre-back at the far post, but much like Lowe's earlier effort his header lacked direction and steered the ball out of play

​

Nesbitt was left a frustrated figure once more on thirty-nine minutes as Singh denied the striker his third goal since returning to the club. A good run from the former Solihull Moors man saw him get on the end of a pass from Cuff, but his weakly-struck effort had Singh well-placed to make the save at his near post

​

The Pitmen were finishing the half the stronger of the two sides and forced Singh into another stop on forty minutes as he claimed Nesbitt's inswinging corner kick ahead of both Cuff and Lowe inside his own six-yard box

​

In the last regulation minute of the first half, Ison stepped out of defence to win the ball in midfield and play the ball into the path of the winger, who took a touch before drilling in a low shot with his weaker right foot that Singh saved, standing a yard in front of his line

​

There was still time for Nesbitt to force Singh into another save in added time as he picked up a pass from the excellent Ison on the edge of the penalty area, turning past Callum Cockerill-Mollet before firing in a low shot that the Tamworth goalkeeper pushed away to his right-hand side

​

The Pitmen could be extremely pleased with their first-half showing, making a mockery of their lowly league position having had the better of the chances and limited their table-topping visitors to very few openings thus far

​

Finn picked up the game's first booking off Mr Perry five minutes after the restart as he brought Ison down with a mistimed challenge on the defender that was deserving of a caution for the former Hereford man

​

Ison - and much of the crowd - was left bewildered at how he had failed to give the Pitmen the lead two minutes later as Bennett's curling, looping free-kick out on the right - earned by the same player after a foul on him by Dolman - found the defender in acres of space in the penalty area - Ison's diving header looked to be heading for the bottom corner of the net but seemed to drift away from goal in the air and clip the base of the post on its way out of play. Agonisingly close from the Pitmen

​

At the other end, Brooks was called upon for the first time in the evening on fifty-five minutes to make a superb stop to deny Finn as the midfield man ran onto Creaney's chipped pass and clear of the Hednesford defence, only to be denied a certain goal by the legs of the on-loan Notts County stopper from ten yards out

​

Bennett almost conjured up a spectacular curling strike from twenty-five yards out on fifty-nine minutes as he picked up a Chris Clements pass in midfield and took the ball into space before attempting to bend the ball into the far corner of the net, seeing his shot beat Singh but also land the wrong side of the post

​

Fairlamb - another one of the former Rushden contingent to follow Peaks to the Lamb over the summer months - joined Finn in the referee's notebook shortly after the hour mark as was penalised for some blatant shirt-pulling on Bennett in midfield

​

Brooks made a good save right in front of Creaney a minute later, claiming a long-range effort from Finn and holding the shot despite the big striker bearing down on him

​

Bailey's determination to get one over his former side saw him test the reflexes of Singh midway through the second period as a sustained spell of pressure from the Pitmen in and around the Tamworth box saw the ball finally land at the feet of Bailey, whose rising shot from sixteen yards out was tipped over the bar acrobatically by his former team-mate Singh for yet another Hednesford corner

​

However, Tamworth reminded the Pitmen why they were top of the table on seventy minutes as Creaney struck a warning shot across the Pitmen's bows with an opportunistic effort that came off the crossbar; drifting in off the right flank, Creaney picked up Curley's pass and took the ball past Livingstone before striking a rising effort at goal from the corner of the box that came back off the bar

​

With nineteenth minutes remaining, the Pitmen elected to make a double change as Clements was replaced by Luke Rowe at the base of the midfield and Cuff made way for Stanley Obinna Anaebonam

​

However, it was to be the Lambs that were to get their noses in front with fifteen minutes remaining as Creaney made it fourteen league goals for the season with one of his more scrappy efforts. Finn's lofted corner from the right was met at the far post by the head of Collard, who forced Brooks into a fine stop down to his left to palm the header way from goal. Collard laid the loose ball back to Creaney, whose first-time effort beat Brooks down to his left and found the far corner of the net

​

This seemed to knock the stuffing out of the hosts, who had given so much to the game but had seen their efforts taken apart by one moment of step three quality from Creaney. Their play was more subdued and less fluent in the latter stages of the game as Tamworth looked to pull the shutters down and manage the game to their own needs in the remaining few minutes

​

With eleven minutes remaining and the Pitmen chasing the game for the first time, Ibrahim was brought on by the hosts for his debut as he replaced the industrious Parker in the centre of midfield

​

Bennett was the first Hednesford player to pick up a booking on eighty-two minutes as he was shown a yellow card by Mr Perry for an off-the-ball incident involving Finn

​

Three minutes later, Bailey was also booked for the Pitmen as the centre-back was penalised by the match official for a foul on Creaney that led to Tamworth wasting a good chance down the right from the resultant kick

​

With the game drifting into added time at the Pitmen seemingly running out of ideas, a final corner kick gave them hope that they could salvage what would have been a well-deserved point from tonight's proceedings. Ibrahim's kick on the left flank was headed clear as Hartley by Creaney, with the right-back sending over a fine cross that was headed tamely into the arms of Singh by Lowe from twelve yards out

​

The Pitmen were left to rue not taking one of the various chances that had come and gone over the ninety minutes as Tamworth took the points back to the Lamb with them. Burr's side had given their visitors an almighty scare, however, and will remain confident that their fortunes are slowly turning for the better as performances continue to improve even if results remain elusive. Saturday sees the Pitmen at home once more, as they face mid-table dwellers Royston Town

​

Hednesford Town: Brooks, Ison, Hartley, Bailey © ▆, Lowe, Clements (Rowe 71), Cuff (Anaebonam 71), Parker (Ibrahim 79), Nesbitt, Bennett ▆, Livingstone      Subs Unused: McQuilkin, Clayton

​

Tamworth: Singh, Curley, Cockerill-Mollett (George 76), Mussa, Collard ©, Hart (Dolman 28), Finn ▆, Bradley, Creaney, Deacon, Fairlamb ▆       Subs Unused: Clement, Howkins

​