The Pitmen's winning run comes to an end this afternoon as an impressive Warrington Rylands side grab a second-half equaliser to earn themselves a point at Keys Park

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Six successive wins in November had propelled Gavin Hurren's side to the top of the table by four points going into today's round of games. Hurren made two changes to his starting XI from the one that had earned a 1-0 win at Ashton United last weekend as Joe Doyle-Charles came in for Joss Labadie and skipper Dom McHale returned to the side ahead of Dan Turner 

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Fourth-placed Rylands had been league leaders before the Pitmen had de-throned them last month, after the Blues had hit a ropey run of recent form that had seen them lose consecutive games. Manager Neil Reynolds also made two changes to his side after a 3-1 defeat at Stockton Town last Saturday as skipper Dean Furman came in for Adam Caddick and the influential Ben Hardcastle replaced Jake Burton. Ex-Hednesford defender Matt Regan was the notable name amongst the Rylands ranks, playing at left-back up against McHale

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The visitors looked to use their attacking strength to good effect in the third minute as Alex Kiwmoya and Guy Hall combined to set the ball back to Furman, whose strike from twenty-five yards out drifted well wide of Tony Breeden's left-hand post

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Two minutes later, McHale's trickery drew a foul out of Regan out on the Hednesford right as the pair tussled for possession on the touchline, with Regan blatantly taking the playmaker out but somehow failing to pick up what felt should have been a blatant yellow card offence from referee Mr Wall. After a significant bout of treatment, McHale gingerly got back to his feet and came back onto the field of play; in the interim period, Chris Hussey came across to take the free-kick and floated in a delightful cross to the far post, where former Stafford Rangers stopper Luke Pilling managed to punch clear ahead of the incoming Ollie Harrison

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A good run from Ahkeem Rose down the left in the tenth minute saw him latch onto an up and under from Harrison, drilling the ball back across the face of goal where Dan Trickett-Smith was beaten to the ball by Regan, turning it away for a corner kick and denying the midfielder a tap-in from six yards out

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Rose looked to exploit space in behind the Rylands defence on thirteen minutes, making a burst in on goal after a good through ball from McHale but was never truly in control of the ball and allowed Pilling to make a smothering save before he could get a shot away

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Gibson should probably have given the hosts the lead in the seventeenth minute as the prolific striker ran onto a long punt forward from Doyle-Charles, getting in behind Gamble and striking a low shot at goal from just inside the box that drifted just wide of Pilling's right-hand post

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Smth had to be alert to clear the danger for Rylands on twenty-one minutes, hacking the ball off the line after Hussey's corner kick was flicked on at the near post by Regan and nearly into his own net

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Harrison picked up what could only be described as a ludicrous first yellow card of the afternoon a minute later as the big defender came across his defence to ease the dangerous Kwomya off the ball as the pair challenged for a long raking pass forward. Despite clearly winning the ball, the inconsistent Mr Wall deemed it to be a foul and booked Harrison for the challenge. Ben Hardcastle took the resultant free-kick and clipped it to the far post, where George Waring tamely headed high over the crossbar from six yards out

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Waring was similarly off target from the next Warrington set-piece on twenty-five minutes as Ben Hardcastle's corner from the right was headed over the crossbar again by the Curzon Ashton loanee

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Joel Taylor further added to the significant amount of added time already incurred from McHale's earlier injury on twenty-seven minutes as he went down on the left flank after a clash with Smith

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Ben Hardcastle went close for the visitors on thirty-one minutes as the talented midfielder was played through on goal by a slide-rule pass from his brother Lewis, with the former Ashton United man dragging his low shot just wide of Breeden's right-hand post from eighteen yards out

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The Pitmen had been a little pedestrian in the final third so far, but struck the game's first blow in thirty-three minutes as Gibson made it four goals in ten game since joining the club; Hussey's deep free-kick from the halfway line was flicked on by Harrison on the edge of the box to Gibson, who brilliantly controlled the bouncing ball before striking a fine low shot beyond Pilling and into the far corner of the net from the corner of the six-yard box. A typical poacher's goal from Gibson and one that ends his mini goal drought of four games without a strike

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There were muted calls for a penalty from the Ryalnds players in thirty-six minutes as Harrison Wall was played in on goal by Lewis Hardcastle's pass before taking a tumble under Taylor's challenge. Mr Wall was unimpressed wth the ease in which the former Blackburn Rovers youngster had gone to ground and allowed the game to continue

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McHale looked to pick out the willing running of Gibson once more four minutes later with a wonderful raking pass through the eye of a needle, which was cut out by the toe of Furman to deny the Hednesford goalscorer what would have been a clear run on goal

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With time ticking down towards half-time break, Trickett-Smith was presented with a half-chance for the hosts just before the whistle as Rose brought down a Doyle-Charles cross and laid it off to Trickett-Smith, whose first-time effort from just outside the penalty area flew high and wide of goal

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Other than Gibson's strike, it had been a fairly mundane and forgetful first period, with good chances at a premium at both ends as the two sides had essentially cancelled each other out. Rylands made a change at the break with Regan being replaced by the experienced Scott Holding down the left

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Holding's introduction seemed to have a galvanising effect on the Rylands side as they came out strongly at the start of the second half and grabbed a quickfire equaliser through Kiwomya; the move came about initially from a Hednesford corner kick after some good work from Taylor down the left - Trickett-Smith's ball in was cleared by Lewis Hardcastle and into the path of Furman, whose long punt forward was flicked on by Ben Hardcastle and into the pacy Kiwomya, in space behind the retreating Hednesford defence. The former Chelsea youngster showed great composure to hold off Simeon Maye and draw Breeden out of his goal before slotting home from sixteen yards out

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This equaliser gave Rylands a real shot in the arm, as the away side went in search of a second goal in quick succession. On fifty-one minutes, Wood made a run down the right, cutting inside and evading a couple of challenges with some fancy footwork before drilling his shot just wide of Breeden's left-hand post from the edge of the box

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​Taylor - man of the match last week against Ashton - continued his return to full fitness and form with another fine run down the left on ​fifty-four minutes, taking on Smith and swinging in a cross that was headed backwards by Furman and narrowly past his own post for a corner kick to the hosts

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On fifty-seven minutes, Rylands made their second change of the afternoon in defence as full-back Smith was replaced by the more attacking presence of former Chester forward Jake Burton

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Just sixty seconds later, Breeden was called upon to make a fine save down low to his right as he palmed away a shot from Burton after he had been played through on goal by a cute pass from Lewis Hardcastle

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The Pitmen made a double personnel change shortly after the hour mark as Taylor was forced off with a knock and replaced by Wolves loanee Alfie White, with Max Sheaf also coming on in place of Maye. This saw Morgan switch to an unfamiliar left-back role to cover for Taylor and accommodate White

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The visitors continued to be a major threat on the counter-attack, with Holding playing the ball down the left flank midway through the second half and finding Kiwomya clean through on goal once more, only for the assistant on the Wimblebury side of the ground to flag the striker offside in the build-up

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Two minutes later, Rose was handed a glorious chance to put the Pitmen ahead as he got on the end of a delightful swinging cross from McHale on the right, heading the ball downwards towards goal but being denied by a superb instinctive stop from Pilling on his line, somehow getting enough behind the ball to divert it away and deny the hosts a certain goal

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The resultant corner was cleared as far as McHale on the right, who made a darting run across the face of goal before striking a rising shot from the edge of the penalty area just over the crossbar. Close

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On sixty-nine minutes, goalscorer Gibson was sacrificed by Hurren as the Pitmen looked to make a shift up front with the introduction of Turner in his place; this saw Rose move to the number nine role, with Turner playing off the left flank

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​Rose was a continual threat to the Rylands' defence with his pace and power, striking another effort at goal with nineteen minutes remaining after initially  picked up McHale's ball on the right and driving into the penalty area - a melee ensued as Warrington struggled to clear their lines, with Rose seizing on the rebound six yards out and striking the crossbar with his first-time shot

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With fourteen minutes remaining and the game still finely poised, the Pitmen made another attacking change as the physical threat of Jonny Edwards came on in place of Trickett-Smith, with the Pitmen moving to a 4-2-4 formation as Edwards partnered Rose up front

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A beautiful touch from Turner created space for the striker to create a chance for himself on seventy-seven minutes, as he brilliantly took Breeden's long ball out of the sky and beyond Burton, steadying himself sixteen yards out but lacking any real power in his angled shot as Pilling made an easy save

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The Pitmen were now largely dominating proceedings, looking to move the ball quickly across the pristine Keys Park turf and make the pitch as big as possible in the closing stages. On eighty minutes, Sheaf was on the end of a patient move from the hosts, picking up Turner's pass but lifting his effort from twenty yards out high over the crossbar

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​More probing from McHale two minutes later saw the playmaker take a couple of touches on the right flank and tease his way past Holding before sending over a low cross towards Rose at the near post, forcing Pilling into a save low down in front of the striker

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Mr Wall's horribly inconsistent and bipolar afternoon continued on eighty-six minutes as he somehow failed to send Hall off for what looked to be a cynical challenge on Rose from behind to stop the former Grimsby man from breaking into acres of space in front of him. A bout of pushing and shoving followed from both sets of players, with the referee finally deciding only to book Hall for the challenge on Rose and book both McHale and Gamble for their part in what followed

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Pilling kept his side in contention on eighty-eight minutes as he made another fine save to deny Sheaf, pushing the substitute's sidfooted effort around the post to his left after Sheaf had hit a first-time effort at goal from twenty yards out that looked to be creeping into the far corner of the net

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With Rylands looking to run the clock down, they made a fourth and final substitution in the first of six added minutes as midfielder Ben Hough came on in place of Wood

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Another moment of madness from McHale blotted his copybook once more deep into added time as he continued to argue with Mr Wall over yet another decision that had gone against the Pitmen, prompting the official to show the Hednesford skipper a second yellow card for dissent as the final act of the afternoon

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In fairness, a draw was probably a fair reflection of the ninety minutes of play, with neither side really doing enough to earn themselves all three points in a game contested between two very good teams, both of whom you would expect to be in the end-of-season mix at the top of the table. Attention turns to next Saturday and a trip to horribly out-of-form Ilkeston Town, although Hurren will now be without both McHale and Doyle-Charles due to needless and unprofessional red cards picked up by the experienced pair in the past week which will force the Hednesford gaffer into a rethink

Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Taylor (White 62), Maye (Sheaf 62), Harrison ▆, Hussey, Trickett-Smith (Edwards 76), Doyle-Charles, Gibson (Turner 69), McHale © ▆▆ (95), Rose     Sub unused: Parke

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Warrington Rylands: Pilling, Smith (Burton 57), Regan (Holding 45 ▆), Furman ©, Gamble ▆, L. Hardcastle (Caddick 74), Wood (Hough 90+1), B. Hardcastle, Waring, Kiwomya, Hall ▆     Sub unused: Moore

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