The Pitmen maintain their 100% record at the start of the new season today as they move to the top of the Northern Premier League with victory over Workington at Keys Park

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Having kicked off their home campaign with a 2-1 win over Warrington Town on Tuesday night, manager Gavin Hurren shuffled the pack somewhat with three chnages to his starting XI; in came the fit-again Chris Hussey - playing in an unfamilar left-wing role - ahead of Niall Watson, whilst club captain Joss Labadie made his Hednesford debut in midfield as he replaced Kieron Freeman. Up front, Akheem Rose was handed a second start of the campaign as he came in for Dan Trickett-Smith

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Workington made the long journey down to Keys Park off the back of a 6-0 hiding at Stockton Town in midweek, leaving the Reds at the foot of the table going into today's set of fixtures. Manager Darren Edmondson made four changes of his own as Charlie Barnes, Hayden Atkinson - a midweek loan signing from Carlisle United - Romeo Park and Steven Rigg all came in for Tom Dawson, Will McGladdery, Nathan Reid and Steve Swinglehurst

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After packing out Keys Park in midweek, there was another hugely impressive turnout of just shy of 1,800 from the home fans, eager for their side to continue their fine start to life back at step three. The Pitmen looked to get Hussey on the ball as much as possible in the early stages, with the 36-year-old playing a one-two with Elliott Johnson in the third minute before sending over an early cross that evaded both Rose and Jonny Edwards inside the penalty area and was cleared by Keelan Leslie

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Dom McHale was looking to get back onto the scoresheet after his goal last weekend at Hebburn, working a chance for himself on the edge of the Workington penalty area in the seventh minute as he brought the ball inside from the right flank and drilled in a low shot that lacked power, dribbling wide of goalkeeper Alex Michell's left-hand post

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Referee Mr Walker - somewhat of a regular official for the Pitmen's games in the Northern Premier League in the past couple of years - handed Luke Ellis a stern warning in the ninth minute after the former Holker Old Boys midfielder had charged into Ryan Wynter and brought the defender down as he looked to clear his lines

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Another huge benefit to Hussey's return to the side is his ability to send over inch-perfect set-pieces; a minute later, his inswinging corner kick from the right was nodded up in the air and towards goal by Ollie Harrison, dropping towards Edwards before Workington hacked the ball away from inside their own six-yard box

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Workington seemed keen to play the Pitmen on the counter-attack, with skipper Dave Symington looking lively down the left for the visitors in the early stages. He linked up well with Barnes in the twelfth minute, doubling up on Jamie Morgan down the flank between them before Harrison cut out the midfielder's low cross into the box, looking to pick out the late run of Park

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Three minutes later, Hussey looked to pick out Harrison once more with another corner kick played deep to the far post, where Harrison rose above Atkinson but headed wide of goal. There was a strong suggestion that the ball came off the back of the young defender and should probably have been another corner kick to the Pitmen, but Mr Walker awarded Workington a goal kick

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A quick break from the visitors in the seventeenth minute saw Leslie do well down the left before playing Symington into space twenty-five yards from goal, with the former Carlisle United man shooting high and wide with a wild effort from range

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Superb one-touch play from the Pitmen a minute later saw Labadie play Hussey into acres of room down the left, with Hussey's inviting cross from the byeline somehow not turned into the net by Edwards at the far post as the ball flashed right across the face of Mitchell's goal

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Symington earned his side a free-kick just outside the box on twenty minutes after being dragged to the floor by Harrison; the midfielder took the free-kick himself but saw his curling effort at goal deflected off the side of the Hednesford wall and claimed easily by Breeden inside his own six-yard box

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Breeden had had very little to do in the opening quarter of the game but had to be alert to claim a looping free-kick from Symington a minute later, grasping the inswinging cross at the far post to deny Atkinson a free header

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A typically bustling run from Rose midway through the first half saw the striker take the ball into a pocket of space  down the left, cutting inside before shooting across goal with a low driven effort from fifteen yards out that was narrowly wide of the mark

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A rare mistake at the back from the Pitmen almost let Workington in on goal on twenty-six minutes as Harrison and Morgan left the ball to each other, allowing Barnes to pounce on the loose ball and play Symington into acres of room. Elliott Johnson did brilliantly to come across from left-back and jockey Symington out wide before Morgan and Harrison managed to get back into position and block his angled shot

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Two minutes later, later, Symington went close for Workington as he drove in a low shot from just outside the Hednesford penalty area, taking the ball on his left foot and firing just wide of Breeden's right-hand post

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More Hussey corners came and went for the Pitmen around the half-hour mark, with one corner plucked out of the air by Mitchell on twenty-nine minutes and another headed down by Wynter and back into the danger zone before being cleared by Ellis three minutes later

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Morgan and McHale linked up well down the right for the hosts on thirty-four minutes, with McHale's clever backheel putting Morgan into space behind the Workington back line; his attempted cross to Rose lacked height, however, and allowed Jack Dickinson to clear for the men in lime green

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Harrison went within a whisker of opening his Hednesford account for the season on thirty-seven minutes as the big man rose highest to meet another wonderfully-delivered corner from Hussey at the far post, glancing it goalwards from ten yards out but the ball skipped wide of goal

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With five minutes of a fairly attritional first period remaining, Labadie and McHale linked up to set the ball to Simeon Maye on the edge of the box, with the midfielder seeing his effort take a nick off a Workington defender and dropping just wide for another corner kick to the home side. Hussey was right on the money once more as he delivered from the right, finding the head of Harrison once more; his knock-down fell to Edwards, who saw his first-time effort on the penalty spot blocked by the Workington back line, looking to push back out of their own box

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Edwards probably will have felt that he should have done better with a good chance that dropped to him on forty-four minutes, taking a touch and turning well before driving his effort narrowly over the crossbar after another long-range effort from Maye had been deflected straight into his path, fifteen yards from goal

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With the final action of the half, Hussey spotted up a free-kick out on the left-hand touchline and curled the ball in to the far post, where Wynter arrived late to head firmly at goal, forcing Mitchell to claim the ball standing on his goal line. The offside flag had already gone up, however, due to Wynter being in an offside position

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As had been the pattern from the first two games this term, the Pitmen had been solid, organised and disciplined at the back, but had perhaps lacked the cutting edge so far up front against a Workington side that had dealt with Hussey's delivery into the box well. The visitors had continued to play on the counter-attack, but chances had been very scarce at the opposite end of the pitch; you felt that if you offered them a point at half-time they would have taken it

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If the first half had been similar to the first two games on the season, then the first five minutes of the second half were a perfect replica as the Pitmen ocne again struck within a few moments of the restart; on fifty minutes, a spell of pressure in and around the Workington penalty area saw Edwards try and dribble his way into the box but found his way blocked by Leslie as he took a tumble; with half-hearted shouts for a penalty still ringing around Keys Park, Rose took the ball on and did brilliantly to bamboozle Atkinson with some clever play on the right-hand byeline, taking the ball past the defender before he himself appeared to be brought down by a clumsy challenge from the youngster. Before Mr Walker could put his whistle to his lips, however, the ball had made its way across goal to Maye, who made a late run into the six-yard box and tapped the low cross home. With many on and off the pitch expecting play to be called back for a penalty kick, Mr Walker simply awarded the goal for Maye, much to the delight and slight bewilderment of the home players and supporters

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Edwards - still on the hunt for his first goal for his new club - should have broken his duck two minutes later as he somehow put Hussey's brilliant left-wing cross wide of goal at the far post as he stretched to reach the ball ahead of Mitchell

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No matter, as Edwards finally grabbed that all-important maiden strike on fifty-five minutes after he earned his new side a penalty kick; taking the ball into the box to the right of the Workington penalty area, Edwards looked to get goal side of Dickinson and forced the defender into making a clumsy challenge, bringing the burly striker down in the process. Mr Walker was right behind play and had no hesitation in awarding the hosts a spot-kick. Edwards took responsibility for the penalty and confidently fired straight down the centre of Mitchell's goal from twelve yards out to double the Pitmen's lead in quick-fire time

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Before play could restart, the Pitmen elected to make their first change of the afternoon as the hard-running Rose was brought off and replaced by Trickett-Smith in a tactical switch that saw the hosts move to one up front

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McHale picked up the Pitmen's only booking of the afternoon on fifty-eight minutes after he was flagged offside and impeded Leslie as he looked to take the free-kick quickly, picking up a yellow card for his actions

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A minute later, Hurren looked to get more minutes into the legs of striker Dan Turner as the former Chester man was given a run-out down the right as he came on in place of McHale

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Good play from the Pitmen down the left on sixty-one minutes saw Johnson and Hussey link up well, taking the ball past Barnes and into space for the veteran to run into. His into the area bounced up and away from the advancing Edwards, who just couldn't get his toe to the ball twelve yards from goal

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Edwards was looking a real threat as the lone striker, making a burst through on goal a minute later as he latched onto Trickett-Smith's pass but was pulled back for a tight offside call against him by the assistant on the main stand side

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Ellis followed McHale into Mr Walker's notebook on sixty-five minutes as he was booked for a mistimed challenge on Trickett-Smith in the centre circle after the substitute had nicked the ball away from him

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With the Pitmen looking to keep all of their squad options fit and firing ahead of another busy week of games, Hurren made two further personnel changes on sixty-eight minutes as Harrison was replaced by Watson and Nathan Blissett came on up front in place of goalscorer Edwards

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With Hussey now playing at centre-back alongside Wynter, Trickett-Smith assumed responsibility for the corner kicks, swinging in a fine ball from the left on seventy-two minutes that was eventually cleared by the Workington defence after Wynter had nodded the ball back into the danger zone at the far post

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The new 'eight second' rule for goalkeepers to be allowed possession of the ball came back to bite Breeden on seventy-five minutes as the stopper was penalised by Mr Walker for deliberately taking too long in kicking the ball out of his hands, awarding Workington a corner on the right-hand side. Edmundson made his first change of the afternoon before the kick could be taken, sending on summer signing Reid ahead of the luckless Park

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Symington took the resultant corner and floated it into the six-yard box, where Rigg looped his header up and over the Hednesford crossbar under pressure from Wynter and Blissett

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Neat approach play from Workington in seventy-eight minutes saw Symington involved once more as he sent Rigg into space down the left, only for an offside flag against Rigg to pull play back once more

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This was to be Rigg's final contribution to the game as Workington made a double change with nine minutes remaining; Rigg was replaced by James Bell and Dawson came on up front in place of Josh Galloway

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The late changes on both sides seemed to affect the flow of the game as it became scrappy and disjointed in the final minutes; Ellis looked to break past Hussey on eighty-eight minutes but lost possession of the ball and chose to pull the defender back illegally

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A minute later, Barnes did well down the Workington right, getting into space and crossing for Dawson, who did well to get ahead of Wynter but headed well wide from ten yards out

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Another authoritative three points for the Pitmen, one that puts them two points clear at the top of the table with FC United of Manchester not in action today. After two successive home games, it's now two challenging away games this week as Hurren's men travel up to goalless Prescot Cables on Tuesday night before making their longest trip of the season to Morpeth Town, another side like Workington with no points so far this term

Hednesford Town: Breeden, J. Morgan, Johnson ©, Wynter, Harrison (Watson 68), Labadie, Rose (Trickett-Smith 56), Maye, Edwards (Blissett 68), McHale ▆ (Turner 59), Hussey    Sub unused: Brown
 
Workington: Mitchell, Barnes, Leslie, Casson, Dickinson, Atkinson, Symington ©, Ellis ▆, Rigg (Bell 81), Park (Reid 75), Galloway (Dawson 81)    Subs unused: Swinglehurst, Chapman

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