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Chris Hussey

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Hebburn Town (H) 10.2.26

The Pitmen remain in contention at the top of the Northern Premier League table despite only picking up a solitary point against a battling Whitby Town side at a rain-lashed Keys Park this afternoon

 

Last weekend's draw at Gainsborough Trinity had moved Gavin Hurren's side level on points with league leaders Hebburn Town at the top of the table, with Hebburn's trip to Keys Park looming large on Tuesday night. Hurren made two changes to the side that had started at Northolme as the fit-again Ollie Harrison replaced Elliott Johnson and Dan Trickett-Smith came in ahead of the suspended Max Sheaf in midfield. Jermaine Hylton - who had missed the last nine weeks of action due to a dislocated shoulder - returned to the squad as a substitute

 

Whitby's recent form had seen the Seasiders start to slip down the table, with Gary Liddle's side only three points above the relegation zone in sixteenth place ahead of play today. Liddle made two changes to his side from the one that had themselves been beaten 3-1 by Hebburn a couple of weeks ago as Alex Nelson and Ben Farrar came in for Adam Gell and Nathan McGinley

 

The heavy rain that had fallen across the country had seen countless games called off due to a waterlogged pitch; no such issues for the Keys Park pitch, however, with the state-of-the-art surface easily dealing with the ongoing deluge of wet weather that continued to fall throughout the afternoon. The hosts looked to move the ball quickly on the sodden turf in the second minute through Omari Sterling-James, who earned a free-kick thirty yards from goal; a quickly taken kick played Montel Gibson in, only for an offside flag to deny the striker a clear run in on goal against on-loan Sunderland goalkeeper Isaac Allan

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Sterling-James was involved again from a set-piece for the Pitmen in the ninth minute, taking ownership of a free-kick on the left flank ahead of Chris Husey and delivering a ball into the box that was headed over the crossbar by a looping Harrison effort from eight yards out

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The game's first booking came the way of Whitby's Frankie Whelanon twelve minutes as he was shown a yellow card by referee Mr Hales after bringing Gibson down on the halfway line. Tony Breeden's deep free-kick, however, sailed over the heads of everyone in the Whitby penalty area and ended out of play for a goal kick

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Some quick feet from Sterling-James on the left flank bought the Pitmen a free-kick two minutes later, forcing Connor Smith into a foul just outside the Whitby penalty area. Hussey's ball in, however, was far too easy for Whelan, who headed the danger away from the incoming Harrison at the far post

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An audacious effort from Sterling-James had the Keys Park crowd on their feet on eighteen minutes as the forward picked the ball up in space inside the Whitby half, taking it forward before looking to lob Allan from thirty yards out. With the young goalkeeper frantically backpedalling, Sterling-James's effort sailed over the head of the stopper but onto the roof of the net

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Midway through the first half, Gibson did well to bring the ball under his control on the left, working it onto his right foot before laying it off to Ahkeem Rose, whose effort drifted well wide of Allan's right-hand post

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​A minute later, Allan had to be alert to the danger posed by Gibson's pace as he smothered a through ball from Trickett-Smith at the feet of the striker after he had escaped the tight Whitby offside trap. The rebound fell to the feet of Sterling-James, who fired wide with a hurried first-time effort

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Just after the half-hour mark, the impressive Sterling-James tested Allan with a low effort from twenty-five yards out that the stopper gathered comfortably inside his six-yard box

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Allan made a much more impressive stop to deny the Pitmen's top scorer Rose two minutes later after Jamie Morgan had made a strong run down the right and swung in a fine cross for the striker, whose header towards goal was tipped over the crossbar by Allan for a Hednesford corner kick

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Gibson was frustrating the home fans as the half wore on by being caught offside on regular occasions; on thirty-eight minutes, he looked to check his run down the left but was still flagged by the assistant on the Wimblebury side as he darted onto a pass from Liam Kinsella

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Ryan Wynter picked up a bizarre yellow card shortly before the break as he was booked by Mr Hale for using a towel to dry the ball illegally as he looked to launch a long throw from the right

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Gibson's luckless first period continued in first half added time as he got on the end of a cross from Joel Taylor but glanced his effort wide of the near post after Taylor had done well to get to the byeline and cross

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It hadn't exactly been a classic forty-five minutes of action,​ it must be said, with the Pitmen ponderous and slow in their build-up play, whilst Whitby had been happy to soak up the Hednesford pressure and catch the hosts offside on several occasions with their high line of defence

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Looking to make a quick start to the second half, the Pitmen went close to breaking the deadlock on forty-eight minutes as Trickett-Smith was on the end of a quick-footed move from the Pitmen involving Morgan and Rose, striking a half-volley at goal from eighteen yards out narrowly over the crossbar

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The Pitmen continued to turn the screw early on with back-to-back corner kicks on the left, with Hussey's deep corner kick into the box aimed at Harrison on fifty-one minutes but headed away by Aaron Haswell

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Smith followed Whelan and Morgan into the referee's notebook on fifty-five minutes as the former Hartlepool United winger was shown a yellow card for a foul on Taylor. Hussey's ball into the box was hugely disappointing, however, as he got far too much on it and sent the ball high over the heads of everyone in the box and out of play on the far side

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Whitby's first change of the afternoon came a minute later with a positive attacking change as the experienced Matty Tymon came on up front ahead of Farrar

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Rose did well to battle his way past Haswell on fifty-eight minutes, showing some neat footwork to escape the attentions of the full-back down the Hednesford right before seeing his low cross cleared behind by Whelan for a corner kick

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Shortly after the hour mark, the Pitmen made their first change of the afternoon as Hylton returned to the pitch on the left-hand side of the attack as he replaced the out-of-sorts Gibson

 

Whitby also elected to make a change a few seconds later as ex-Darlington midfielder Jarrett Rivers was introduced by Liddle in the centre of the park in place of Charles, who had got no change out of Taylor and Hussey all afternoon long

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Hussey was the latest player to incur the wrath of Mr Hales midway through the second half as the veteran defender was booked by the official for pushing Watts over midway inside the Hednesford half

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Trickett-Smith was denied by a brilliant Allan save with twenty minutes of the game remaining as the stopper pushed the playmaker's well-hit low drive from the edge of the box way from goal with a one-handed parry away to his right

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Rose felt that he had a claim for a penalty kick on seventy-three minutes as he tumbled to the floor under a challenge from Haswell after the striker had entered the box down the right. Mr Hales immediately turned away Rose's protests, however, and the visitors could clear their lines

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A minute later, Whitby had what was to be their only real chance of the afternoon through Tymon, who controlled the ball well on the edge of the box before turning and shooting at goal, but could only strike his effort straight into the arms of Breeden

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The Pitmen made their second change of the afternoon with ten minutes of the game remaining as the ever-reliable and consistent Morgan was surprisingly replaced by club captain Joss Labadie

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Some neat one-touch play from the hosts three minutes later saw Rose and Kinsella play the ball across to Hylton, who initially brought the ball down inside the box but was denied a clear shot at goal by a covering challenge from Smith as he looked to sort his feet out

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The Pitmen were guilty of more sloppiness at a set-piece on eighty-seven minutes as Rose won a free-kick right on the edge of the Whitby penalty area; Sterling-James overruled Husey and Trickett-Smith to take the set-piece, but struck his effort straight into the Whitby wall with no real venom or direction in the shot

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With a minute of normal time remaining, both teams elected to make a substitution apiece as the willing running of Dan Turner was introduced by the hosts ahead of Trickett-Smith, whilst Whitby brought on Gell in place of Chimalilo

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A point each was probably a fair result in retrospect, as neither side had deserved to take the win in what had been a poor ninety minutes of football. There was no doubt the conditions would have played their part in that, but the home side's pedestrian and painfully slow brand of football that limits the number of chances they create is starting to frustrate the home support, who feel that the Pitmen's title challenge is being compromised by Hurren's ultra-conservative approach to tactics. Tuesday night now becomes a must-win game against league leaders Hebburn if the Pitmen are to establish themselves as a genuine title challenger at the end of the season or fall back into the play-off chasing pack that is starting to close in behind them

Hednesford Town: Breeden ©, Morgan (Labadie 80), Taylor, Hussey ▆, Harrison, Wynter ▆, Trickett-Smith (Turner 89), Kinsella, Gibson (Hylton 62), Sterling-James      Subs unused: Johnson, Parke

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Whitby Town: Allan, Smith▆, Haswell, Nelson, Whelan ▆, Dawson, Chimalilo (Gell 89), Hawkins ©, Farrar (Tymon 56), Watts, Charles (Rivers 63)      Subs unused: Wilson, McGinley

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