The Pitmen give their slim chances of avoiding the drop a shot in the arm with a first win in five games at doomed 1874 Northwich this afternoon - although the away side's performance against a side that played most of the game with ten men failed to offer any inspiration to the travelling supporters

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Last weekend had seen the Pitmen without a game after their home clash against Vauxhall Motors had been called off due to a waterlogged pitch. Manager Paul Moore had once again called on his northern contacts to bring in young striker Eden Bailey from Mossley to add to his flagging striking options, whilst having overseen the departures of Ahmed Ali, Callam Mendez-Jones and Hayden Reeves. Bailey came straight into the side as one of five changes to the side that had performed so poorly last time out at Runcorn Linnets; Michael Williams came in for the suspended Jack Kelly, Bailey replaced Nathan Delfouneso up front, recent signing Joe Berks was also handed a debut in place of the departed Ali, Danny Edwards made his first start ahead of Joe Thompson in attacking midfield and skipper Sam Griffiths was restored to the back line as he was preferred to Mike McGrath

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Hosts 1874 Northwich - looking doomed to relegation back to step five with only seventeen points on the board and only nine games remaining - were in the midst of a winless run dating all the way back to October and had lost their last four games in a row. Joint managers Damien Crossley and Matt Woolley made one change to their side from the one that had been soundly beaten by champions-elect Leek Town last weekend as Tinashe Chakwana came in for Kacper Mialkowski

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The Townfield pitch was heavy and bobbly after a week of rain across the UK had left pitches across the country saturated. Playing up the steep slope, the Pitmen went to work quickly and could have grabbed an almost immediate goal within the first thirty seconds of play; Williams, Bailey and Jake Jervis all combined down the right for Jervis to send over a deep cross to the far post, where Jai Verma arrived to fire in an angled shot back across goal that was palmed away by goalkeeper Matt Wonnacott

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Within seconds, however, Northwich were presented with a glorious chance on the counter as Kieran Boucher went wandering outside his penalty area and allowed Chakwana to pick up the loose ball and play it to Joel Jones, who scuffed his effort straight at Boucher from the edge of the area as the goalkeeper just did enough to recover his position

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What was to prove to be the game's pivotal decision came in just the fourth minute of play as the hosts were reduced to ten men.  A clever ball over the top from Edwards played Jervis in on goal, only for the striker to be denied a chance to score by Wonnacott, who diverted the ball away from goal with his hand just outside his penalty area. Referee Mr Metcalf had no choice but to send the stopper off for the offence, and with no reserve goalkeeper on the bench the hosts were forced into putting player/co-manager Woolley - normally a midfielder - in between the sticks for the remainder of the game

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After the hullabaloo of the red card had finally settled, the Pitmen lined up their resultant free-kick from twenty yards out, with Verma taking responsibility for the set-piece as his low shot took a nick off the side of the 1874 wall and slowly dribbled past a wrong-footed Woolley and into the far corner of the net. A soft, soft goal but the part of the luck required when you are in the mess that Hednesford are currently in

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It had been a whirlwind of a start, with the Pitmen now looking to control the tempo of the game with the extra man on the park and stretch the ten men of 1874 in search of more goals to reduce their goals against column. Verma was seeing plenty of the ball in the early stages, picking up Rowe's pass down the left on ten minutes and turning inside of Ewan McGeady's challenge before seeing his low shot blocked by the boot of Matty Fenton

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On thirteen minutes, Rowe and Verma combined once more down the left, with Verma opting to go down the flank and stand up a cross from the byeline to the far post, where Jervis met the ball with a fierce volley that was brilliantly pushed away at his far post by the stand-in Woolley

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Another player seeing plenty of the ball was Edwards, who was busy and inventive in the withdrawn role behind Bailey in the opening quarter of the game. On sixteen minutes, he sprayed the ball out to Verma once more with fine vision, spotting the winger in space on the left to run into. After teasing his way past McGeady once more, Verma looked to pick out James McQuilkin on the edge of the penalty area but saw the ball nicked away by the outstretched leg of Fenton

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Verma was looking much more like the version that had enchanted the Keys Park faithful upon his arrival a few months ago, dancing past two challenges down the wing on twenty minutes before crossing low into the box, where Woolley once again did well to smother the ball ahead of Bailey inside the six-yard box

 

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Northwich weren't down and out just yet, with the likes of Chakwana and Joel Jones keeping the error-prone Hednesford defence on its toes with regular counter-attacks into enemy territory. A series of corner kicks on twenty-five minutes tested Boucher and his defence in the air, with the stopper finally managing to claim the third flag kick on his line ahead of Fenton

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Rowe was seemingly enjoying his temporary role at left-back in place of Kelly, getting himself up and down the line well to support Verma where possible. The pair doubled up on McGeady on twenty-eight minutes as Verma fed the young full-back down the left, with Rowe's cross headed back across goal by Jervis before Northwich managed to clear their lines as Bailey failed to take advantage

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A quick break down the middle from the Pitmen on thirty-two minutes saw Edwards involved once more as his pass out to the right found Jervis, who powered his way past Isaac Noble but saw his low cross cleared once more with no red shirt in a goalscoring position

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Three minutes later, Verma and Rowe were at it again as the full-back's throw-in played Verma into space down the left flank once more, with Verma taking the ball along the byeline before cutting it back towards Edwards, whose tame effort was blocked by a covering defender and cleared

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Bailey had really struggled to make an impact on his Hednesford debut but was presented with a chance to break into the box on thirty-eight minutes as Edwards played him through down the right, holding off Fenton before cutting the ball back into the path of Edwards once more. The new signing from Newcastle Town looked to turn the ball home but was denied by a fine saving challenge from defender Michael Ibeto

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With the first half starting to come to a close, Jervis looked to get in on goal with a minute remaining as McQuilkin's clever free-kick thirty yards from goal played the striker in, only for the assistant on the main stand side to flag the former Plymouth Argyle man offside

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The final action of an interesting first half saw McGeady pick up the game's first yellow card from Mr Metcalf as he hauled Verma down in full flight to stop the winger from escaping down the left flank

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Despite being ahead at the break, the Pitmen had failed to really build on their early fortune and had struggled to breach a stubborn and well-organised 1874 defence that had done a good job in protecting stand-in keeper Woolley. Moore may have pondered making a more attacking change at the break to force a second goal out of the hosts through either Delfouneso or Thompson but elected to stick with the same XI at the start of the second period

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The visitors looked to make a quick start to the second half as a long, raking ball forward from Josh Endall on fifty minutes was met by the towering figure of Jervis, whose flick-on sent Bailey in behind the Northwich defence only to be pulled back for a tight offside call against the young striker

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A minute later, the Pitmen handed the home side a cheap corner kick as Griffiths rolled the ball back to Boucher, who completely skied his clearance and scuffed the ball behind. However, with the hosts not completely comfortable sending too many players up for a corner kick, Boucher managed to redeem himself with a confident claim from Oliver McFadyen's cross

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1874's second yellow card of the afternoon came on fifty-two minutes as Joel Jones was cautioned by Mr Metcalf for a foul on Griffiths as the pair challenged for the ball

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McQuilkin wasted his first sight at goal of the afternoon on fifty-four minutes as Rowe launched a long throw from the left, level with the penalty area, that was headed out as far as the veteran midfielder, who volleyed his first-time effort high and wide of Woolley's goal

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Bailey's indifferent afternoon continued with a glaring miss in front of goal on fifty-eight minutes; Jervis did brilliantly to take the ball down the right, holding off the challenge of Beto before pulling the ball back into the path of the former Port Vale man. With the goal at his mercy, Bailey elected to take a touch to steady himself, rather than just slot the ball home first time, which gave McGeady enough time to divert the tame effort away from goal. A poor, poor miss it has to be said

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Verma was not quite as effective down the left as he had been in the first half but did test Woolley once more on sixty-three minutes as he held off a blatant shirt pull from McGeady after getting past the defender, but struck a weak low effort that was straight at the auxiliary stopper at his near post

A minute later, Rowe's quickly-taken throw-in found Edwards, who swiftly turned on a sixpence and drove in a low shot that once again lacked any pace and was easily fielded by Woolley

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Midway through the second half, the men in red made their first change of the afternoon as Tom Thorley came on in midfield in place of Berks, who had struggled to impose himself in the centre of the park on his debut

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On sixty-nine minutes, the visitors made their second substitution of the game as they looked to tighten things up with the introduction of Thompson ahead of the disappointing and out-of-sorts Bailey, who had really struggled to make an impact up front on his debut

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On seventy-two minutes, the Pitmen quickly worked the play from right to left via Thorley and McQuilkin and into the path of Verma, who turned past McGeady and pulled the ball back to Edwards, who yet again failed to get any purchase on his shot as he sidefooted effort from ten yards out was saved by Woolley

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The home side made a double change of their own with fifteen minutes remaining as Noble was replaced by Tom Fagan and McFadyen came off in place of Jamie Nicholson

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Fagan's first real contribution to the game was to pick up 1874's third yellow card of the game on seventy-nine minutes as he clattered into Edwards and was booked for the late challenge by Mr Metcalf. Edwards' resultant free-kick found the head of Endall at the far post, whose glancing header back across goal drifted just wide of the post

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Jervis was left exasperated by Woolley's reactions on eighty-three minutes as he played a quick one-two with Thompson on the edge of the area before firing in a low shot that looked destined for the far corner of the net, only to be denied by a brilliant fingertip save from the 'goalkeeper'

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The Pitmen made their final substituion of the afternoon with five minutes remaining as young Joe Morley was sent on to add pace to the ranks in place of Edwards

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The hosts thought that they had found a way back into the game on eighty-eight minutes as they worked the ball down the right through Nicholson and Joel Jones, with Jones's cross sliced past Boucher by Endall as the big defender attempted to clear his lines at his near post ahead of Fenton. Northwich's celebrations were cut short, however, by an offside flag from the official on the main stand side in the build-up and the goal was disallowed, much to the fury of the 1874 bench who told the assistant what they thought of his decision in no uncertain terms

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Thompson took 'one for the team' a few seconds later as he blatantly kicked the ball down the left-hand touchline to stop 1874 from taking a quick throw-in and was rightly booked for time-wasting by Mr Metcalf

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A timely and much-needed three points from the Pitmen, who essentially condemn Northwich to the drop and in turn give themselves a chance to close the gap on the sides above them in the table. Trafford's third defeat in a row - a 2-0 loss at Widnes - brings the Pitmen within five points of their closest rivals, with Tuesday night's home game against fellow strugglers Vauxhall Motors another must-win. Three points for the hosts there makes things interesting with only six games remaining; anything less and it's most likely we will be looking at the potential for a PPG reprieve once more to save the Pitmen's dire season

 

1874 Northwich: Wonnacott ▆ (4), McGeady ▆, Noble (Fagan 75 ▆ ), Fenton, M. Jones, Ibeto, McFadyen (Nicholson 75), Woolley, J. Jones ▆, Partington, Chakwana      Subs Unused: McCann, Sodhi, Costa

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Hednesford Town: Boucher, Williams, Rowe, McQuilkin, Griffiths ©, Endall, Verma, Berks (Thorley 64), Bailey (Thompson 69 ▆), Edwards (Morley 85), Jervis      Subs Unused: McGrath, Delfouneso

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