The Pitmen make it two wins from two at the start of the new campaign tonight as they defeat relegated Warrington Town on their long-awaited return to Keys Park
 
Saturday’s curtain raiser had seen Gavin Hurren’s side get the season off to a winning start with victory at Hebburn Town, with his side returning home to play the first of a home double-header this week. On the pitch, Hurren elected to make one change to the side that had started at Hebburn as Niall Watson came back into the side in place of Akheem Rose, who dropped to the bench
 
Warrington made the relatively short hop down the M6 off the back of a 0-0 draw at home to newly-promoted Cleethorpes Town. Yellows manager Paul Carden made three changes to his side for tonight’s game as youngster Jayden Lloyd, Matty Waters and Enock Lusiama all came in ahead of Liam Brazier, Dontai Gabidon and Scott Butler. One familiar face to Hednesford supporters in the Warrington ranks was that of the experienced Bohan Dixon, who made four substitute appearances for the club way back in the 2011-2012 season
 
It was a delightfully sunny, warm and pleasant summer’s evening in South Staffordshire, with the state-of-the-art pitch that had been installed over the close season looking resplendent. The feel-good factor around Keys Park off the back of promotion showed no signs of abating either, with over 2,000 people in attendance for this midweek encounter, the highest in the division so far. The visitors registered the first sight at goal in the second minute of the game as Lusiama did well to create room for himself on the right, whipping in a cross that Kallan Murphy got enough purchase on to flick goalwards, only to find the gloves of Tony Breeden
 
A marauding run from Jonny Edwards a minute later saw the burly striker drive past ex-Nantwich Town man Troy Bourne and into space, drilling in a low shot that was turned behind by goalkeeper Li-Bau Stowell for a corner kick. Kieron Freeman’s ball in was aimed at the head of Ollie Harrison, whose glancing effort at the far post was hacked off the line by Jack Doyle
 
Freeman was spot on with another flag kick delivery just a minute later, clipping another inch-perfect corner to the far post, where Watson did well to head back into the danger zone and found Edwards, whose first-time effort was held by Stowell down to his right
 
Referee Mr Shepherd didn’t do much to endear himself to the big home crowd as he appeared to bottle the game’s first real flashpoint; Edwards picked the ball up just inside the Warrington half and drove towards goal, turning past Dixon and forcing the veteran midfielder into bundling him over when he appeared to be clean through on goal. Despite strong calls from both Hednesford players and supporters for a straight red card for the former Lincoln City man, Mr Shepherd only cautioned Dixon for the foul and awarded the Pitmen a free-kick twenty-five yards from goal
Freeman and Trickett-Smith stood over the resultant free-kick, with Freeman playing a neat ball into the box that drifted just over the heads of all of the incoming players and straight out of play
 
Watson had started the game well, looking to break down the left at every opportunity; once such run in the eleventh minute saw the Scouser latch onto a long ball forwards from Ryan Wynter, taking it past Lloyd and sending over a dangerous-looking ball that just evaded both Edwards and Dom McHale at the far post
 
Saturday’s goalscorer McHale was keen to get involved and tested Stowell’s reflexes in the sixteenth minute; drifting in from the right in typical McHale style, the Magic man worked the ball onto his favoured left on the edge of the box but scuffed his effort into the ground, making it a comfortable save for Stowell down to his right
 
Warrington went closest of either team to breaking the deadlock on twenty minutes as they struck the woodwork for the first time in the evening; a spell of possession just outside the Hednesford penalty area saw Dixon lay the ball off to Lusiama, whose effort from the right-hand corner of the box beat Breeden but came back off the base of the far post, rebounding back into play where the Pitmen could clear their lines
 
Alert play from Joe Doyle-Charles midway through the first half saw him take advantage of a miscommunication at the back for Warrington, picking the pocket of Stowell and taking the ball past the goalkeeper down the right flank. His chipped cross to the far post was met by an off-balance Edwards, who could only head wide of the far post from close range
 
Four minutes later, a quick break down the right from the hosts saw McHale pick the ball up once more and play a delightful angled ball through to Trickett-Smith, making a run into the box on the opposite side of play. However, the ball was a little too close to Stowell, who was able to beat the former Leek Town man to it and make the save
 
More dawdling in defence from Warrington almost presented McHale with a chance on twenty-eight minutes as Doyle was slow to clear his lines and allowed the playmaker to block his clearance. However, the defender managed to scramble back and block McHale’s follow-up effort on the edge of the box before as the former Scarborough Athletic man pondered his next move
 
On the half hour mark, more trickery from McHale down the right saw him drift past Waters and send over a cross to the far post, where Watson did brilliantly to nod the ball back into the danger zone for the incoming Trickett-Smith, who blazed over the crossbar with a wild first-time effort on the half-volley from ten yards out
 
There was a half-hearted shout for a Hednesford penalty kick two minutes later as Edwards took a tumble just inside the Warrington box under pressure from Bourne; despite the striker’s pleas, Mr Shepherd awarded the Pitmen a corner kick instead. Freeman’s resultant in swinging corner very nearly drifted straight in, however, with the ball just dipping wide of Stowell’s far post
 
The visitors enjoyed a decent spell of possession at this juncture in and around the Pitmen’s penalty area but found Harrison in typically uncompromising form at the back for the Pitmen, just as he had been on Saturday. Successive long throws from the left flank were both dealt with by the giant centre-back, heading each ball in away at his near post to further cement what was to be yet another man of the match display
 
Freeman’s delivery from corner kicks was causing Warrington significant problems at the back, with another brilliant delivery from the former Welsh international on forty minutes almost dropping into the net direct from the flag kick, only for it to drift narrowly over the crossbar and onto the roof of the net as Stowell scrambled to cover
 
With just a minute of a competitive first half remaining, another one Freeman’s expertly-taken corner kicks from the left was met by the head of Harrison once more, coming in late at the back post to head straight into the hands of Stowell from close-range
 
The final action of the half saw another Freeman corner partially cleared by the Yellows defence as far as McHale standing on the edge of the Warrington penalty area. The midfielder looked to catch Stowell out with a first-time snapshot that flew just over the crossbar and into the packed Heath Hayes terrace
 
The Pitmen had largely bossed the play in the first half, playing some neat and proficient attacking play on the counter-attack as well as looking solid at the back. Warrington, however, could make a strong case for holding a half-time lead, having gone closest to breaking the deadlock courtesy of Lusiama’s strike that came back off the post
 
As had been the case at Hebburn at the weekend, the Pitmen came flying out of the traps at the start of the second half; Trickett-Smith warmed the palms of Stowell just a few seconds after the restart as he cut inside from the right and curled an effort towards the goal, forcing the former .. goalkeeper into a flying save to tip it over the crossbar for a corner kick
 
Barely sixty seconds later, the Pitmen grabbed the evening’s opening goal as Harris lost the ball cheaply to Doyle-Charles on the Hednesford right -  the midfielder’s cross was headed goalwards by Edwards but cleared off the line by Harris. The ball dropped kindly to the incoming Watson, who lashed the ball into the roof of the net from eight yards out to register his first goal of the season
 
The hosts went in search of another quickfire goal three minutes later as Watson was played through on goal by Freeman’s threaded pass; on this occasion, however, Stowell was equal to Watson as he managed to get a hand to the ball and divert it away from goal, denying the Hednesford goal scorer a chance to roll the ball into the empty net
 
Back came Warrington after the shock of conceding, with Lusiama getting the better of Harrison down the left on fifty-four minutes and crossing towards the incoming Murphy, who was just caught on his heels a touch and could only toe-poke his effort wide of goal at the far post
 
The visitors made the game’s first substitution two minutes later as Brazier returned to the fray as he replaced Melhado
 
Breeden had to be alert to a long punt forward from Bourne on fifty-nine minutes, aiming his ball at the run of Lusiama in behind Wynter, only to be denied by the veteran stopper’s alertness to come out of his goal and claim it ahead of the striker
 
Shortly after the hour mark, Carden made an attacking change to his side as former Altrincham striker Gabidon came on in place of defender Waters
 
The Pitmen responded with an attacking change of their own on sixty-four minutes as Dan Turner made his second home debut for the club as he replaced McHale
 
The former Port Vale striker was straight into the action and felt that he had a strong case for a free-kick on the edge of the Warrington penalty area just a couple of minutes after coming on, holding off the attentions of Bourne before taking a tumble under pressure from the centre-back. Once again, Mr Shepherd turned a deaf ear to the Pitmen’s protests and the game continued
 
A minute later, Hurren moved to make his second change of the evening up front as the hard-running Rose replaced Edwards as the main striker up top
 
The substitutions were coming thick and fast at this point, with the Pitmen making a further change of personnel on seventy-one minutes as Trickett-Smith was withdrawn and replaced by the more defensively minded Simeon Maye
 
Doyle followed Dixon into Mr Shepherd’s notebook on seventy-four minutes as he was rightly booked for a crude challenge on Doyle-Charles in the centre circle that left the experienced midfielder on the deck
 
Within sixty seconds, the Pitmen made what was to be their final change of the game as the giant figure of Nathan Blissett came on up front in place of the hard-running Watson, who received appreciative applause from the Keys Park crowd for a job well done
 
With fourteen minutes of the game remaining, the Pitmen looked to have made the points safe as they grabbed what appeared to be a decisive second goal of the evening; inevitably, the goal was to come from a Freeman corner kick, as the midfielder’s ball in was flicked towards goal by Blissett but denied by a block on the line. The ball ran kindly to Johnson, who managed to force the rebound into the net despite the best efforts of Harris to keep the ball out 
 
Dixon’s game was finally run for Warrington with ten minutes remaining as the 35-year-old was brought off and replaced by young midfielder Reece Daly, a summer signing from Chester
 
Doyle-Charles went close to adding a rare goal to his career total on eighty-two minutes, picking up Turner’s pass down the left and drifting inside before firing inches wide of Stowell’s left-hand post with a well-struck low shot
 
Turner should have added a lick of gloss to the Pitmen’s performance as he fluffed a great chance to grab the hosts a third goal on eighty-eight minutes. Played clean through on goal by Maye’s pass, Turner streaked away from the Warrington defence and rounded the onrushing Stowell but elected to take an extra touch, allowing Tweedley to track back and somehow clear off the line and deny Turner a certain goal
 
Warrington were handed a lifeline in the second of seven added minutes, however, as substitute Gabidon reduced the deficit; Daly took the ball forwards from the left, drifting inside unchallenged before unleashing a low shot that beat Breeden down to his right but came back off the post. Gabidon followed the ball in and managed to get enough on the ball to turn the rebound into the net, despite Breeden’s best efforts to maintain his clean sheet
 
However, the Pitmen’s experienced pros ensured that there was to be no late comeback from Warrington as their excellent game management navigated the final few moments of added time, chalking up back-to-back victories that puts them joint top with FC United of Manchester in the early standings as the only two sides with 100% records. Another home game looms large on the horizon at the weekend as Workington – savaged 6-0 by Stockton Town this evening – make the long journey down the M6 to Keys Park
 
Hednesford Town: Breeden, J. Morgan, Johnson ©, Wynter, Harrison, Freeman, Trickett-Smith (Maye 71), Doyle-Charles, Edwards (Rose 67), McHale (Turner 64), Watson (Blissett 74)     Sub unused: Brown
 
Warrington Town: Stowell, Lloyd, Waters (Gabidon 61), Dixon ▆ (Daly 80), Bourne, Doyle ▆, Melhado (Brazier 56), Tweedley, Lusiama, Harris ©, Murphy      Subs Unused: Roper, D. Morgan

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