The Pitmen finally earn their first win of the season at the eleventh attempt this afternoon as they blitz fellow strugglers AFC Rushden & Diamonds with a goal-laden second-half display at the RACE Stadium

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Tuesday night's disappointing defeat at the hands of Bromsgrove Sporting had left the Pitmen desperately in need of that first win to bring them closer to the pack just above them in the table. Manager Steve Burr had once again used his contacts book to good effect in midweek, bringing in the vastly experienced defender Keith Lowe and midfielder Samir Nabi to add to his ranks. Lowe came straight into the side as one of two changes to the side that had started against Bromsgrove as he replaced Ben Bailey, whilst Ryan Nesbitt made his first start of the club since his recent switch from Redditch as he replaced Martin Riley

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Rushden - sitting directly above the rock-bottom Pitmen in the Southern Premier League Central table - had suffered a 7-0 defeat at home to Coalville Town in midweek, leaving Andy Burgess's men just three points above the Pitmen going into today's game. Burgess made wholesale changes to his side for today's trip to Staffordshire as new signing Hamilton Bunga, fellow new acquisition Nehemiah Richard-Noel, Matthew Fors Fossen and Jordan Hines all came into the side in place of Josh Going, Courtney Lashley, Jenson Cooper and Morgan Worsfold-Gregg

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On a mild early October afternoon, Diamonds started the better of the two sides with a half-chance inside the first three minutes as Miguel Ngwa made a run down the right flank, whipping in a cross that was turned behind by Lowe at his near post, denying Hines a chance

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Two minutes later, Joe Cuff's first involvement saw the talented winger making a typically jinking run down the right and into the penalty area, where his angled drive was parried away down at his near post by Rushden stopper Dean Snedker

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Hednesford's top scorer Leroy Lita had the ball in the net on seven minutes as he raced onto a Chris Clements through ball, taking it around the dive of Snedker and slotting into the empty net, only to be denied by an offside flag against him from the assistant on the Wimblebury side

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The Pitmen enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening quarter of the game without really pressing home their advantage, with Cuff and Lita working hard to drag the visiting defence all over the pitch in search of openings. On twelve minutes, Cuff won a corner kick after he had exchanged passes with Lewis Ison on the right and cut inside once more, only for a covering tackle from Jesse Akubuine to clear the danger before Lita could snap up a half-chance

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On sixteen minutes, a Rushden corner kick was hacked clear by the authoritative presence of Lowe, who sent Todd Parker clear with a no-nonsense lump out of defence. The midfielder covered over fifty yards of space as he took it from his own half to the Rushden penalty area before finally running out of room and losing the ball to Bunga

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Just after the twenty-minute mark, a superb threaded pass from the excellent Parker looked to send Lita away in behind the Rushden defence once more, only for Snedker to smother the ball ahead to the veteran forward before he could get a shot away from twelve yards out

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Bennett finally put the hosts in front on twenty-five minutes with a superb strike to open the scoring; Lita was fouled right on the edge of the Rushden box by Fossen, taking the free-kick quickly and playing Adam Livingstone into space. The Scotsman pulled the ball back into the danger zone from the left but saw his cross cleared to Bennett by Akubuine. The former Portsmouth man took a touch just inside the penalty area before unleashing a brilliant curling shot that beat Snedker to his left and nestled in the far top corner of the net. A superb strike, which was Bennett's first goal of the season

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With the goal advantage boosting their confidence on the ball, the hosts continued to press at a disjointed and low-confidence Rushden defence, with Bennett having another long-range effort blocked on the half-hour mark after Livingstone and Lita had combined to lay the ball off to him twenty yards out, only to see Akubuine in the right place to divert the shot away from goal

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Livingstone was growing into the game, seeing more and more of the ball as the half wore on; on thirty-four minutes, his trickery down the left saw him beat Bunga for pace as he skinned the full-back before running into Agemoh-Davies after cutting inside. The pair both required a lengthy amount of treatment before the game could restart

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The same two players clashed again three minutes later as neat approach play from the hosts saw Portman, Lita and Livingstone all involved as the ball was worked from left to right, eventually ending up back at the feet of Livingstone, who was fouled by Agemoh-Davies right on the edge of the box. Cuff stepped up to take the resultant free-kick and curled his low shot just wide of the foot of Snedker's right-hand post

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With six minutes of the first half remaining, Agemoh-Davies was still feeling the effects of the earlier challenge on Livingstone and finally had to yield as he was replaced by Worsfold-Gregg

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Lita was denied by Snedker once more a minute later as the striker raced into Cuff's long, raking ball forwards but saw his low, driven shot from a tight angle saved by the legs of the stopper

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Two minutes before the break, another quick counter from the Pitmen saw Ryan Nesbitt and Bennett link up to play Cuff into acres of space down the right; the winger took a couple of touches before firing narrowly over the crossbar with a rising shot from the edge of the penalty area

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It had been a solid, competent and confident first forty-five minutes from Hednesford, who had controlled play well against a Rushden side low on confidence going forwards. You did feel, however, that the hosts would need another goal in the second half to feel more secure and see off any backlash from Rushden

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With their very first move forwards after the restart, the Pitmen grabbed their crucial second goal through Nesbitt, who made a run in behind the Rushden defence to reach a long kick forwards from Tiernan Brooks, nipping in ahead of Fossen and bobbling a low shot goalwards, just doing enough to wrongfoot Snedker and send the ball slowly rolling over the goal line, despite Snedker's best attempts to keep the ball out

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Snedker had to be alert to deny the Pitmen a quickfire third goal on fifty-two minutes as good approach play involving Livingstone and Nesbitt set up the midfielder for a shot, whose effort from twelve yards out was held by the stopper at his near post

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Lowe made his way forwards to get involved at the other end of the pitch four minutes later, meeting an inswinging Parker corner with a firm header from eight yards out that was straight at Snedker

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Lita seemed to be destined to not grab the goal that his efforts deserved, as he fluffed another good chance on the hour mark after Parker had won the ball from Richard-Noel in the centre circle before sending the striker away on goal down the left. However, Lita's shot lacked any real power and made for an easy save for Snedker at his near post

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Three minutes later, Lita was fortunate that an offside flag saved his blushes as Nesbitt's run and low cross to the far post was turned the wrong side of the woodwork by the striker when it looked easier to score

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Rushden's only effort of note in the whole game so far came on sixty-five minutes as Richard-Noel cut in from the left and laid the ball off to Ngwa, who turned well but got his laces underneath the ball and lifted it high over the crossbar from twenty yards out

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A minute later, Lowe was again off-target from a Cuff cross out on the right as he headed inches wide of Snedker's right-hand post after arriving late in the Rushden six-yard box 

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The hosts made a double change on sixty-seven minutes as Clements came off and was replaced in midfield by James McQuilkin, whilst goalscorer Nesbitt came off in favour of Sam Wilding. This saw Cuff move up front to partner Lita for the remainder of the game 

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Rushden also chose to make a change at this juncture as former Northampton Town striker Jack Connor came on to add to the flailing Diamonds ranks as he replaced Hines up front

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Bennett could not repeat his goal heroics from the first half on seventy-two minutes as  the Pitmen were awarded a free-kick just to the right-hand side of the Rushden penalty area, with the midfield man taking the resultant kick but striking a daisy-cutter of a shot well wide of goal

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Three minutes later, a good run and cross from Connor saw the substitute make progress down the left before whipping a dangerous cross that skimmed off the head of the incoming Richard-Noel and out of play on the far side of the pitch

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On eighty minutes, Brooks was called upon for the first time in the afternoon to make a save as Ngwa made a move across the face of the Hednesford penalty area before striking a curling effort that was plucked out of the air by the Notts County loanee

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A minute later, Livingstone got the better of Worsfold-Gregg down the left, leaving the substitute in his wake before standing up a cross to the far post for Cuff, whose flicked effort dropped just wide of Snedker's far post

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Lita finally got the goal he had deserved all afternoon long with the Pitmen's killer third goal on eighty-two minutes; Brooks's long kick-out was missed by Fossen, whose air-shot allowed the ball to run over his boot and into the path of the veteran, taking the ball into the penalty area before striking a confident low shot underneath Snedker from fifteen yards out

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Two minutes later, ace marksman Lita was at it again as he added to his goal tally in double-quick time with a similar goal to the one he had just scored. Brook's long punt forwards was flicked on by Cuff this time and into the path of Lita, who once again made a darting run in behind the Rushden defence before turning the ball past Snedker from a slightly tighter angle

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There was no stopping Lita, as unbelievably he completed a hat-trick in just under four minutes with another powerful strike on eighty-six minutes; Ison's long ball forwards to Livingstone on the left was played back into the path of the striker, who got the better of Akubuine before hammering a shot beyond the despairing dive of Snedker from twenty-five yards out

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Before play could restart, Cuff was afforded generous applause from the Keys Park faithful after another brilliant display from the winger as he was replaced by new boy Nabi for the final minutes

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It had been a breathless end to the afternoon's entertainment, with the Hednesford players warmly applauded off by the majority of the near-600 crowd after their finest performance of the season by far, finally shaking the monkey off their back to record that crucial first win of the campaign. Victory lifts them above Rushden, off the foot of the table and four points behind Barwell in twentieth position. Hednesford take a break from league duty next Saturday when they make the short hop across to Walsall to local rivals Rushall Olympic in the third qualifying round of the F.A. Trophy

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Hednesford Town: Brooks, Ison, Portman, Clements (McQuilkin 67), Lowe, Parker, Cuff (Nabi 87), Bennett ©, Lita, Nesbitt (Wilding 67), Livingstone       Suns Unused: Bailey, Clayton

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AFC Rushden & Diamonds: Snedker, Bunga, Hughes, Fossen, Akubuine, Richard-Noel (Cooper 88), Hicks ©, Agemoh-Davies (Worsfold-Gregg 39), Tee, Ngwa, Hines (Connor 68)      Sub Unused: Pinto-Leite

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