The Pitmen’s title hopes took a huge blow this afternoon as they are outplayed, outmuscled and outgunned by an in-form Workington side that claimed a crucial win that lifted them out of the relegation zone
 
Having failed to beat bottom-of-the-table Stocksbridge Park Steels last weekend, Hednesford manager Kelvin Davis made two attacking changes to his side for today’s long trip up the M6 to Cumbria as Dan Trickett-Smith and Jermaine Hylton came back into the side ahead of the unwell George Williams and Omari Sterling-James, who was away on international duty with St. Kitts & Nevis
 
Workington’s remarkable run of recent form had pushed to the very fringes of safety just weeks after Billy Barr’s side had looked resigned to the drop, with the Reds occupying the final relegation spot ahead of play today. Barr made one change of his own from the side that had beaten fellow strugglers Hyde United 1-0 last weekend as Josh Galloway replaced Dan Hopper
 
In front of a fine four-figure crowd at the soon-to-be-demolished Borough Park, the Pitmen almost got themselves off to a flying start with a double chance in the second minute of play; Joel Taylor stood up a cross  from the left and found Montel Gibson, whose powerful headed effort from six yards out came back off the post and into the path of Hylton, whose follow-up half-volley from twelve yards out was cleared off the line by Jordan Little
 
The Pitmen were making all the early running, with Hylton a constant threat to Cieran Casson down the left flank with his trickery. Another good piece of wing play from the former Motherwell man in the fifth minute saw him link up well with Joel Taylor and cross low into the box, with Little clearing his lines inside the six-yard box before Ahkeem Rose could seize upon the cross
 
More good play from Hylton in the seventh minute saw him tease his way past Casson once more and drive into the box before he looked to pick out Rose at the far post with a teasing cross that was cleared by Jack Dickinson
 
Workington’s first real foray into Hednesford territory came in the tenth minute as Dickinson sent Galloway into space down the left – he beat Jamie Morgan for pace and crossed deep to the far post, where Chris Hussey denied Allan a free header at goal with a timely headed clearance
 
Veteran striker Matty Tymon – who had recently returned to Workington from Whitby Town – was penalised by referee Mr Clark on thirteen minutes for a blatant shirt pull on Ollie Harrison, handing the Pitmen a free kick in the process. Tymon was probably a little fortunate to avoid a yellow card for the challenge that had stopped the big man from getting to the ball
 
Hussey was handed a chance to swing the ball into the box on the left a minute later after Taylor had been brought down on the left-hand touchline by Kai Nugent. The veteran defender’s ball into the box had a little too much on, it, however, with the ball sailing over the head of Harrison at the far post and was cleared by Dickinson
 
Skipper Joe Doyle-Charles picked up the game’s first booking of the afternoon on fourteen minutes as the combative midfielder was shown a yellow card by Mr Clark for pushing over Galloway to prevent a Workington break down the left
 
Reds goalkeeper Alex Mitchell had to be alert to the danger posed by a through ball from Hylton to Gibson in the sixteenth minute, coming out of goal to claim the pass before Gibson could reach it as it skipped off the bobbly turf
 
Somewhat against the run of play, Workington grabbed the lead on seventeen minutes as the hosts took full advantage of some flaky Hednesford defending to open the scoring; a deep cross on the left flank from Dickson was headed down towards goal by Tymon, with Jake Allan reacting quickest at the far post to turn the ball home before anyone in mint green could react. A sloppy goal to concede from the Pitmen’s perspective
 
Nugent followed Doyle-Charles into the referee’s notebook on twenty-one minutes as the former Carlisle United midfielder was booked by Mr Clark for scything down Liam Kinsella in the centre circle
 
Then hosts were forced into an early change on twenty-four minutes as Dickinson came off worst in a 50-50 challenge with Taylor, injuring his knee in the coming-together and limping off after a period of treatment; he was replaced by Keelan Leslie
 
Taylor was also feeling the after-effects of the coming-together with Dickinson, and despite limping on in an attempt to shake off the knock was also forced off on twenty-five minutes, with Simeon Maye coming on in his place. This saw a positional shift in defence for the away side, with Hussey moving out to left-back and Doyle-Charles dropping into an unfamiliar centre-back role alongside Harrison
 
Doyle-Charles did well to see off the attentions of Isaac Whitehall on twenty-seven minutes before being brought down by the former Blackburn Rovers man in midfield, handing the Pitmen a free-kick thirty yards from goal. Hussey’s ball into the box was once again aimed at Harrison, but was perhaps a little too straight and was headed away by Little at the far post
 
Three minutes later, Workington looked to break quickly down the left as Nugent played the ball into the path of Allan, only for the pass to have a little too much on it for the striker, allowing Hussey to come across and clear the danger
 
The pair were involved in an angry altercation midway inside the Hednesford half on thirty-one minutes as Hussey took exception to a challenge on him from Allan, resulting in a bout of pushing and shoving between the pair before Mr Clark broke up the disagreement
 
Gibson felt that he had a legitimate shout for a penalty kick on thirty-three minutes as he entered the penalty area down the left before going to ground under a challenge on him from Casson. However, Mr Clark was unimpressed with the ease with which Gibson went down and continued with play as Casson cleared his lines
 
Maye was given a talking-to by the referee on thirty-six minutes as the combative midfielder had hauled Nugent down on the halfway line. However, Brad Carroll wasted the subsequent free kick as he overhit his quickly taken ball into the path of Allan
 
Tony Breeden had had very little to do so far other than pick the ball out of the net early on, but was called upon to make a regulation save on forty-one minutes as the veteran fielded a header from Allan inside his six-yard box after Casson’s right-wing cross was brought down by the big striker before he nodded towards goal from close range
 
The Pitmen’s final note-worthy action of the half came in the final minute as Hussey swung in a free-kick from the left that was caught in the gusty wind blowing in across the pitch, lifting it over the heads of all of the players in mint green and out on the far side of the pitch for a goal kick
 
With the game deep in added time at the end of the first half, the hosts doubled their lead and left the Pitmen with a mountain to climb; a long, rangy free-kick from Mitchell was flicked on by Allan to Steve Swinglehurst, who dangled a leg out at the ball and made enough of a connection to divert it past Breeden from twelve yards out
 
This late goal for the Reds was an absolute killer for the Pitmen, who had been uninspiring and uncreative so far, lacking any real cutting edge in the final third despite what appeared to be a bright start to the game. The likes of Trickett-Smith and Rose had been completely marked out of the game, leaving Hylton and Gibson to fight for scraps against a big, organised Workington defence. At the other end, the home side had shown a potency in front of goal that the away side had lacked, with Allan a constant threat to what was now something of a makeshift Hednesford defence that had looked shaky and disorganised with balls coming into the box from wide areas. Workington made a half-time substitution as skipper Carroll – who had picked up a knock towards the end of the first period – was replaced by Tom Stephenson. Casson took on the captain’s armband for the second half in Carroll’s absence
 
A storming run from Galloway down the right just ninety seconds after the restart saw him beat Hussey for pace and send over a low, bouncing cross that skipped across the face of the Hednesford goal before drifting away for a throw-in on the far side of the pitch
 
With their tails up, Workington went in search of a game-clinching third goal as good hold-up play from Allan on fifty-one minutes saw him turn and play Nugent through on the inside left position, only for Breeden to spot the danger and smother the pass in front of the midfielder
 
Two minutes later, the lanky Allan controlled the ball well on the edge of the penalty area, holding off Harrison before turning and shooting at goal, only for Harrison to get a leg across the face of the shot and block it
 
Trickett-Smith’s disappointingly ineffective afternoon was brought to an early halt on fifty-five minutes as the playmaker was taken off by Davis and replaced by the returning Dom McHale on the right flank
 
The Pitmen had resorted to set-pieces in a bid to push themselves up the pitch, working the ball down the left flank on fifty-seven minutes which led to a long throw from Hussey that was flicked on at the near post by Gibson but comfortably into the arms of Mitchell
 
More unconvincing defending from the Pitmen saw Stephenson handed a sight at goal shortly before the hour mark as the substitute advanced on goal unchallenged before striking a shot from the edge of the penalty area that was eventually blocked by Morgan
 
The Pitmen’s hapless afternoon was summed up by a Hussey on sixty-one minutes as the defender’s inswinging free kick from wide of the right struck the solitary one-man wall in front of him and went out for a corner kick. Hussey’s resultant flag kick caused issues at the far post for the hosts as Swinglehurst failed to clear the danger and had to be reliant on Stephenson behind him to finally hack the ball away from Gibson’s clutches
 
Swinglehurst was involved at the opposite end of the pitch midway through the second half as a wayward clearance from Breeden fell to the midfielder, whose ambitious shot from fully thirty yards out sailed harmlessly wide of the right-hand post and into the crumbling Borough Park open terrace behind Breeden’s goal
 
Tymon was similarly off target for the hosts on sixty-six minutes as he shanked an effort from twenty yards out well wide of Breeden’s left-hand post after he had been afforded too much time and space to size up his shot
 
Before play could restart, the Pitmen made a further attacking change in a bid to turn their fortunes in the final third as the lanky figure of Jake Jervis replaced Hylton
 
Workington went close to killing off the Pitmen on sixty-eight minutes as they struck the woodwork through Stephenson – Harrison’s unconvincing header away dropped to the substitute, whose looping effort over the head of Breeden came back off the crossbar before being cleared by Hussey
 
Rose’s indifferent afternoon in front of goal continued with a glaring miss for the Pitmen’s top scorer on seventy-four minutes as a patient build-up from the visitors saw McHale supply a cross into the path of the striker, who somehow lifted his first-time shot over the crossbar from close range
 
Allan was denied a good chance for Workington with fifteen minutes of play remaining as he made a run into the box to collect a Nugent pass but saw his attempted shot scuffed into the shins of Harrison before the big man cleared his lines
 
Whitehall picked up the latest in a collection of bookings from Mr Clark for a foul on Maye in midfield on seventy-six, although in fairness the yellow card was for an accumulation of a series of fouls throughout the afternoon from the midfield man
 
With ten minutes of play remaining, Nugent made a burst into the box down the Workington left and took the ball past Morgan before taking a tumble just inside the penalty area as the pair clashed. However, the referee was unconvinced by the contact made and allowed play to continue
 
The Pitmen rolled the dice one last time at this juncture as Dan Turner came on in place of Gibson up front, with Rose moving up front alongside Jervis and Turner playing off the left flank. Workington also elected to make a change at this point as the experienced Dave Symington came on in place of Nugent
 
Tymon tried his luck from range once more on eighty-four minutes, striking a first-time volley from fully thirty yards out that dropped safely into the arms of Breeden
 
Workington’s fourth substitution of the afternoon came a few seconds later as the hard-running Galloway was brought off to generous applause from the home fans as he was replaced by Hopper
 
The hosts finally put a gloss finish on a confident performance with a third goal of the afternoon on eighty-five minutes; it was two of the substitutes that combined as Symington took the ball forward before playing the overlapping Leslie in down the left, with Leslie firing an angled shot beyond the reach of Breeden and into the far corner of the net
 
A frustrated McHale – who had struggled to get involved in the game since coming on – looked to get a shot away from just outside the Reds' penalty area on eighty-seven minutes, working the ball onto his left foot but lifting his effort high and wide of goal
 
McHale went agonisingly close to grabbing a consolation goal for the Pitmen in the first minute of added time as he worked his way across the face of the Workington penalty area before striking a powerful left-footed shot that skipped inches wide of Mitchell’s right-hand post
 
Deep into four added minutes, Workington made their final change of the game as goalscorer Swinglehurst was replaced by Charlie Barnes for the remaining seconds
 
A fine victory for Workington that lifts them clear of the bottom three for the first time in many months, but a defeat that now leaves the Pitmen’s title challenge on a knife-edge, with Hebburn Town winning 4-1 against Lancaster City and FC United of Manchester remaining above them in the table with a game in hand on them. Good Friday sees the Pitmen return to their sanctuary of Keys Park, where they face their third relegation-haunted side in succession with the visit of nineteenth-placed Prescot Cables

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Workington: Mitchell, Casson, Dickinson (Leslie 24), Whitehall ▆, Little ▆, Swinglehurst (Barnes 90+3), Allan, Carroll © (Stephenson 45), Tymon, Nugent ▆ (Symington 80), Galloway (Hopper 84)    Subs unused: none

Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Taylor (Maye 25), Hussey, Harrison, Doyle-Charles © ▆, Trickett-Smith (McHale 55), Kinsella, Gibson (Turner 80), Rose ▆, Hylton (Jervis 66)     Sub unused: Tideswell

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