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12.4.2016

Vanarama National League North

Hednesford Town

Worcester City

Murphy (3)

(0) 0

(1) 1

Attendance

MoTM

Current Form

Next Match

333

Adam Thomas

D L L D D L D L W L

Solihull Moors (A) 16.4.16

The Pitmen now require a miracle in their bid to avoid the drop as an early goal from Jordan Murphy seals three crucial points for Worcester that essentially maintains their step two status and leaves the home side six points from safety with three games remaining

Manager Frank Sinclair had bought himself some time with the impatient Hednesford faithful on Saturday with a late double from substitute Tom Peers earning the Pitmen all three points over Tamworth. The Hednesford manager was struggling with injury issues going into tonight's game, however, as Jack Fitzwater was ruled out due to injury and was replaced by Phil Trainer, whilst Peers was rewarded for his brace on Saturday with a start ahead of Paul Ennis. Winger Shelton Payne was due to line up amongst the substitutes but was injured in the warm-up and was replaced by Francino Francis

Visitors Worcester were still not safe in sixteenth place, only five points above the drop zone after a 3-2 defeat at Aggborough against in-form Stockport County on Saturday. Blues manager Carl Heeley was forced into three changes of his own from the side that had started at the weekend as Danny Jackman replaced ex-Hednesford striker Kyle Perry, Murphy was preferred to Deon Burton and Tom Sharpe came in for Shaun Donnellan

In front of an ever-decreasing Keys Park crowd of only 333, the natives were left even more restless than they had been before kick-off as Worcester stole into the lead with their first attack of the evening in the third minute. A long ball forwards from Connor Gater was flicked on by former West Brom striker Lee Hughes and into the path of Murphy, who shook off a challenge from Adam Thomas before firing past the advancing Dan Crane from the edge of the penalty area

Murphy turned provider for veteran Hughes three minutes later as his neat control and reverse pass sent the striker in behind the Hednesford defence, only for the ball to run away from the former Coventry City striker and Crane made the save

Worcester's strong start to the game continued with the tricky Daniel Nti testing Crane in the tenth minute, making an unchallenged run into the home side's penalty area before shooting straight into the hands of the Hednesford stopper

The Pitmen's first move of intent into the Worcester third of the pitch came in the thirteenth minute as Danny Glover chested down a pass from Ben Bailey and played Sean Williams into space, only for the midfielder to lose his footing at the crucial moment before he could shoot from fifteen yards out

There was a break in play in the eighteenth minute as Crane took a goal kick and went to ground holding his calf after clearing upfield. After three minutes of treatment from physio Gavin Blackwell, Crane gingerly got back to his feet but continued to struggle with his movement as the game restarted

Worcester looked to take advantage of Crane's lack of movement, with Gater looking to lob the stopper from fully thirty-five yards on twenty-three minutes after winning a fifty-fifty clash with Jonathan Royle and shooting from long-range, only for Crane to hobble back and claim the ball

Tyler Weir also tried his luck from long-range three minutes later as Kennedy Digie's clearance was volleyed back at goal by the left-sided player from twenty-five yards out but saw his effort drift wide of the target

Crane was eventually forced to admit defeat with the calf strain that he had picked up earlier as another spell of treatment failed to work its magic for the goalkeeper, who was replaced on twenty-eight minutes by Lloyd Ransome

At the other end, Worcester goalkeeper Nathan Vaughan was called into action on thirty-one minutes to make a save from Glover after the striker had been played into space just inside the Blues penalty area by a smart pass from Adam Thomas

Veteran defender Wayne Thomas headed over the crossbar for Worcester three minutes later as Gater's free-kick was whipped in from the left and found the head of the former Kidderminster man at the far post, but Thomas was always stretching to reach the ball and could only direct it over

With seven minutes of the first half remaining, a slalom like run from Adam Thomas saw the winger beat three Worcester players as he made up thirty yards of space before playing Peers in on goal, only for an offside flag on the Wimblebury side to pull the young striker back before he could shoot at goal

Wayne Thomas was shown the first yellow card of the evening by referee Mr Smallwood on forty-one minutes for deliberately handling the ball to deny the Pitmen a quick break down the left from Truelove

With just a minute of the first half remaining, on-loan Jack Truelove was allowed to make a run all the way to the byeline down the left-wing and pick Peers out in the six-yard box - however, the striker failed to test Vaughan as he headed tamely wide from just six yards out

Looking for a response from his misfiring side in the second half, Sinclair made what has now become a regular feature of his tenure with a half-time attacking change as Modou Cham replaced Trainer, who had looked off the pace and had been a passenger during most of the first period

The hosts made a bright start to the second half, with Vaughan called upon within four minutes of the restart to deny Glover as the striker held off Alex Gudger's challenge to control a pass from Adam Thomas and shoot from fifteen yards out

Cham's first involvement saw him drive a low shot into the side-netting on fifty-two minutes after a Williams corner kick was cleared to Royle, whose initial shot was deflected into the path of the substitute, standing at a tight angle to the right of goal and shooting wide with a first-time effort

A surging run from Peers was halted by Wayne Thomas three minutes later as the centre-back hauled the striker down twenty yards from goal in full flight. Glover stepped up and struck the resultant free-kick over the Worcester wall but also cleared the crossbar with his rising shot

The introduction of Cham was proving to be a big plus for the hosts as the inside forward made constant inroads into the Worcester third of the pitch with his pace; on fifty-seven minutes, the youngster made a run down the right and got the betteƒr of Weir before pulling the ball back into the path of Peers. The striker hit a first-time shot at goal from ten yards out that Vaughan turned away at his near post with a smart save

Vaughan was proving to be the far busier of the two goalkeepers in the second half, making another stop just after the hour mark to hold Glover's shot on his line after Ngamvoulou had exchanged passes with Cham on the right and crossed for the former Worcester man

Williams was denied by man of the match Vaughan from a free-kick two minutes later, palming the midfielder's shot away from goal down to his left-hand side after the former Halifax man had curled his effort around the Worcester wall

Midway through the second half, Mr Smallwood incurred the wrath of the home players, officials and supporters as he appeared to send Wayne Thomas off for a second bookable offence after he had raised his hands to Glover and appeared to slap him. Despite calling the player across and appearing to take the yellow card out of his pocket, the referee changed his mind and gave the veteran a ticking off instead

A long throw from skipper Ben Bailey was headed into the arms of Vaughan by Digie on seventy minutes as the Kidderminster Harriers loanee got the better of Gater at the near post to flick the ball goalwards from eight yards out

The hosts were struck with yet another injury blow two minutes later as Truelove appeared to pick up a knock after coming out worse from a challenge with Murphy and was replaced by Francis. This saw Digie moved out to an unfamiliar left-back role for the remainder of the game

Cham's run and cross from the right on seventy-six minutes saw him stand up a cross to the far post, where Vaughan pushed the ball away from the head of Glover but only into the path of Peers, who dragged his first-time effort wide of goal

Worcester had soaked up some heavy pressure from their hosts and seemed content to play on the counter-attack; on seventy-nine minutes, a superb threaded pass from Burton played fellow substitute Alun Webb in on goal, with Cham chasing back and doing just enough to put the former Loughborough University man off, with Webb scuffing his shot straight into the arms of Ransome from twelve yards out

Gater's cross-cum-shot from the left flank was tipped over the crossbar by Ransome for a corner kick to the visitors on eighty-one minutes, with Wayne Thomas heading high over the crossbar from Sharpe's resultant flag kick

With six minutes remaining, Digie's headed clearance dropped into the path of Murphy on the edge of the Hednesford penalty area, with the Worcester goalscorer executing a dipping volley from the edge of the penalty area that Ransome palmed away from goal. The ball dropped kindly for Hughes, who shot well wide when well-placed from eight yards out

A succession of Hednesford corner kicks late on saw Williams deliver dangerous balls into the Worcester penalty area, with Bailey heading into the Heath Hayes terrace from one such cross on eighty-seven minutes as he beat Jackman to the ball

In the final minute of the game, Glover got on the end of a flowing move through the centre of the pitch but saw his powerfully-struck shot blocked by Weir. The ball ran to Adam Thomas, who showed some nifty footwork to create a yard of space for himself but drove his angled shot wide of the far post

In the third minute of added time, another Williams corner dropped in the Worcester penalty area and was stabbed goalwards by Adam Thomas once more, only for Weir to hack the ball away before Peers could react and turn the ball home from close-range

Despite their assertive second-half performance the Pitmen are condemned to defeat once more, leaving them six points from safety with only three games remaining. Sinclair's team could be relegated on Saturday if they fail to beat league champions Solihull Moors at Damson Park, a tough proposition for a team with only one win in their last fourteen games

Hednesford Town: Crane (Ransome 28), A. Thomas, Truelove (Francis 72), Bailey ©, Digie, Royle, Peers, Williams, Glover, Ngamvoulou, Trainer (Cham 45)      Subs not used: Ennis, Robinson

Worcester City: Vaughan, Minihan, Weir (Burton 57), Gudger, W. Thomas , Jackman ©, Nti (Webb 68), Sharpe, Hughes (Morris 89), Gater, Murphy       Subs Unused: Ologu, Ross

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