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Ryan Wynter

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Ilkeston Town (H) 9.9.25

​The Pitmen show great character and determination to recover from a nightmare opening quarter to the game to claim a point at in-form Warrington Rylands this afternoon

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Having safely navigated their way past step four Basford United in the F.A. Cup last weekend, the Ptmen had afforded themselves a week off between games before their return to league action today. On the pitch, manager Gavin Hurren was without Elliott Johnson, Ahkeem Rose and Jonny Edwards for today's trip north, which saw the Hednesford gaffer gamble on playing some players out of position; the only change of personnel saw Joe Doyle-Charles replacing Rose, playing in the attacking midfield role, which pushed Dan Trickett-Smith into an unfamiliar wide role on the left

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Rylands had made a flying start to the new campaign with only one defeat in their previous six league games going into today's clash; manager Neil Reynolds made two changes to his side from the one that had exited the F.A. Cup last weekend against Guiseley as George Waring and Alex Kiwomya replaced Oliver Southern and Ben Hough. There was a familiar face in the Rylands ranks in the form of defender Matt Regan, who had two short spells with the Pitmen in the 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 seasons

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On a horribly bumpy and overgrown pitch, the Pitmen's apparent thrown-together tactics were ruthlessly exposed by the visitors with the very first chance of the game in the second minute. A free-kick by the corner flag was swung into the box by Alex Hardcastle was scuffed goalwards by Tunde Owolabi and into the path of the in-form Jake Burton, who swept the ball past Tony Breeden from close range and into the roof of the net to open the scoring

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The hosts continued to make all of the early running, with striker Owolabi denied a clear run in on goal by some excellent covering by Ryan Wynter in the fifth minute, sliding in to dispossess the experienced forward as he latched onto a pass from Clive Smith

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Breeden denied the lively Owolabi a glorious chance to double Rylands' lead in the tenth minute as another ball over the top - this time from skipper Dean Furman - played Olowabi clean through on goal, to the right of the penalty area. Breeden came out of his goal and made a superb low block down to his right to deny the striker from close range, with Wynter making a brilliant goal-line clearance to deny Owolabi on the rebound after tracking back behind Breeden. The ball fell to Owolabi once more, who tried to trick his way past the forest of Hednesford legs in front of him but could only turn his third shot in quick succession wide of the post

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The Pitmen were at sixes and sevens, struggling to get themselves out of their own half as Rylands looked to press home their early advantage. Burton and Owolabi linked up once more in the thirteenth minute to send Kiwomya away down the left as he took advantage of Jamie Morgan's lack of positioning, only to be pulled back by a late offside flag against him in the build-up

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In the sixteenth minute, Doyle-Charles won a free-kick for the Pitmen to the right of the Rylands penalty area after a trip on him from Regan. Chris Hussey came across to take the resultant kick and swung in a clever ball that completely caught goalkeeper Luke Pilling out, looking to find a gap at the near post that the stopper had not covered but saw his effort drift narrowly wide of the upright

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Burton was to turn provider for the hosts midway through the first half as Warrington doubled their advantage. A quick break down the right saw Furman and Kiwomya involved, playing Burton into acres of space behind Joel Taylor. His cut back across the face of goal was simply begging to be turned home, with Guy Hall obliging as he tapped home from just a few inches out at the far post. Far too easy for the hosts, who had ruthlessly taken advantage of the Pitmen's absolutely dreadful start to the game

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Owolabi almost got in behind the Hednesford defence once more two minutes later as Hardcastle's through ball played him in once more, only on this occasion Breeden was alert to the danger and made the smothering save before Owolabi could get his shot away

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Looking to finally get a foothold in a match that was quickly getting away from them, the Pitmen finally forced Pilling into a save of note on twenty-six minutes as Morgan made a dart into the box down the right to latch onto Dom McHale's pass, getting past Regan but electing to shoot from a tight angle rather than pull it back to Jake Jervis, with Pilling making the save down at his near post

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It just wasn't happening for the Pitmen, with Hurren having to make the difficult and bold decision to make an early tactical substitution just after the half-hour mark as Dan Turner came on in place of Kieron Freeman - this saw Doyle-Charles restored to his natural DM role and Trickett-Smith moved back inside to his preferred attacking midfield position. Why this wasn't the set-up before the game, only Hurren will be able to tell as it had been blatantly clear from the off that the players hadn't been happy with it

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Turner's introduction up front paid immediate dividends for the visitors, as the former Chester striker's quality on the ball coming in from the left gave the Rylands defenders real issues. On thirty-five minutes, he and Taylor linked up out wide, wth Taylor looking to pick up Turner's reverse pass and cross from the left, only for his ball in to be turned behind by Adam Caddick for a corner kick to the Pitmen

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The Pitmen got themselves back into contention with six minutes of the first half remaining as Jervis struck his first goal of the season; Turner was the provider, turning both Regan and Waring with some neat footwork just inside the Rylands penalty area before laying it off to Jervis, whose first-time effort from eighteen yards out had enough on it to beat Plling and nestle in the far corner of the net

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The visitors finished the half strongly as they looked for an equalising goal, with Turner once again looking to break past Smith on forty-two minutes with more neat footwork and pull the ball back from the byeline, only on this occasion to find the boot of the covering Waring rather than the looming Jervis

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Skipper Joss Labadie went close to levelling matters once more as we headed into added time at the end of the first half, unleashing a swerving, dipping effort from twenty-five yards out that was pushed away by Pilling to his right

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The Pitmen could be thankful for still being in contention at the break, having been completely outplayed by the hosts in the opening half hour of play in what had probably been their worst spell of football so far this term. However, Turner's introduction and Jervis's late goal had given them a platform to build on in the second half, particularly with Hurren having now fixed his poorly-judged tactical issues from the start of the game

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The hosts were dealt a blow very early on in the second half as goalscorer Burton - who had grabbed his sixth goal in eight games - was forced off with a knock barely two minutes after the restart and replaced by Hough

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McHale and Morgan worked the right flank well a minute later, with Morgan getting himself into space and sending over a dangerous low cross that was eventually cleared by the Rylands defence in front of the incoming Labadie

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Taylor had to admit defeat on fifty-one minutes after picking up a knock inside the Rylands half, running onto a Trickett-Smith pass but pulling up with what looked to be a hamstring issue. He was replaced by Ollie Harrison, forcing the Pitmen into another tactical shift to a three-man central defence of Harrison, Hussey and Wynter

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Hussey's quality deliveries into the box were causing the home side issues, particularly with the giant Harrison now on the pitch to aim at. On fifty-four minutes, the defender's deep ball into the box from the right flank was flicked into the air by Harrison at the far post before being cleared by Regan ahead of Turner

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Hurren took another tactical gamble shortly before the hour mark as the giant figure of Nathan Blissett was introduced to the play, with the 6ft 7" striker replacing Trickett-Smith to make it a 3-3-4 formation for the visitors

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A minute later, Rylands made their second change of the afternoon as the hard-running Kiwomya - the nephew of former Ipswich Town striker Chris - was brought off and replaced by former Burnley youngster Ryan Tioffo

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A rare foray into the Hednesford half from the hosts on sixty-one minutes saw Tioffo win a corner off Wynter, with Hall's deep ball into the box eventually turned well wide of goal by Hough after a bout of pinball inside the Hednesford box

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Three minutes later, Labadie stung the palms of Pilling once more as his shot from the edge of the box was pushed behind for a corner by the former Ashton United stopper

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Hussey's resultant corner from the left was aimed at Blissett at the far post, with the substitute having the ball nicked off his head by a flying punch away from danger from Pilling at the last moment

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Pilling was called into action once more on sixty-seven minutes as he collected Harrison's headed ball towards goal after Labadie had clipped in a free-kick to the far post from the right onto the head of the big defender

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Three minutes later, Hurren made his final outfield change of the afternoon as the pacy Niall Watson came on in place of Jervis to play wide on the left flank for the visitors. At the same time, Rylands also elected to make a change as Charlie Martin came on in place of Owolabi, who had tired in the second half after giving the Pitmen a hard time in the first period

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Rylands really should have wrapped the game up with a gilt-edged chance handed to them by a Doyle-Charles mistake on seventy-two minutes; the Pitmen looked to try and pass their way out of defence through Wynter and Doyle-Charles, only for the midfielder to scuff his attempted pass straight into the feet of Caddick, whose pull back to Tioffo was blocked and cleared as far as Hardcastle; his turn and shot was brilliantly turned away from goal by the dive of Breeden, pushing it away down to his right and denying the hosts a certain goal. The ball ran to Hall, whose follow-up effort from sixteen yards out was also pushed away by Breeden, down low to his right once more

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The home side looked to put the game to bed on seventy-four minutes as Hall picked up the ball on the left and swung in a cross onto the head of Tioffo, whose header looked to be heading for the far corner of the net until a breathtaking flying save from Breeden saw the veteran stopper get enough purchase on the ball to push it away from goal to his left. A brilliant stop from the Hednesford goalkeeper

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Rylands very much had their tails up at this point, with a quick throw from Hardcastle catching the Pitmen out on seventy-seven minutes as he played Hall into acres of space in behind Morgan. The former FC United of Manchester left-back played a delightful low ball across goal towards Tioffo, who somehow failed to turn the ball home at the far post with what would have been a tap-in as it skipped just past his right foot and out of play

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This was the wake-up call the Pitmen needed, as they spent much of the remainder of the game camped in the Warrington half in search of a leveller. McHale's trickery on eighty minutes saw him drift in from the right and take three players out before his attempted effort was turned behind by Hall for a corner kick. Hussey's ball in lacked that certain quality on this occasion, however, with Pilling gratefully claiming the ball inside his six-yard box

 

Blissett's introduction paid off for the Pitmen on eighty-four minutes as the big man used his height to its full advantage to grab his first goal of the season and bring the game level once more.  Rylands failed to clear Hussey's initial corner kick, with the ball worked back out to the defender on the left-hand side of the box. The veteran took the ball past Martin and stood up a fine cross from the byline that was powerfully headed into the net by a forceful finish from Blissett, six yards from goal

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Despite there being the thick end of ten minutes remaining, you got the distinct sense that both management teams were happy to take the point at this juncture; the Pitmen had flattered to deceive for much of the game, whilst Rylands were content to quell any late pressure put on them by the Pitmen. There was to be a late Rylands rally in the final moments, with Hall's corner kick played into the path of the impressive Waring in added time, only for Breeden to brilliantly claim the inswinging ball off the head of the defender

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A point apiece was probably a fair reflection on the game, although Rylands will certainly feel that they could have taken the game away from the Pitmen in the first half after, frankly, an appalling first quarter of the game from the visitors. However, the Pitmen had shown plenty of pleasing character and resilience to get themselves back into the game, and maybe with a little more pressure on the Rylands defence late on could even have nicked all three points. It's a quick turnaround of games once more this week, as Hednesford return to Keys Park on Tuesday night to face one of their most frequent rivals in recent years in the form of Ilkeston Town

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Warrington Rylands: Pilling, C. Smith, Regan, Furman ©, Waring, Caddick, Hardcastle, Burton ▆, (Hough 47), Kiwomya (Tioffo 60), Owolabi (Martin 70), Hall       Subs unused: K. Smith, Akpo

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Taylor (Harrison 51), Freeman (Turner 32), Wynter, Hussey ▆, Trickett-Smith (Blissett 59), Labadie ©, Jervis (Watson 70), McHale, Doyle-Charles       Sub unused: Brown

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