The Hednesford supporters were given a strong dose of deja vu this evening as Hednesford almost mirrored their performance against Royston Town at the weekend with a similarly bi-polar display against fellow strugglers Barwell at the RACE Stadium

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Saturday's 3-3 draw against Royston had seen Steve Burr's men throw away a commanding 3-1 lead in the second half, leaving the Pitmen a full six points from safety going into tonight's relegation six-pointer. Burr made two changes to the side from the one that had started against the Crows as Joe Cuff came in for the injured Zac Hartley and Stanley Obinna Anaebonam replaced Ryan Nesbitt

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Barwell - sitting five points above the Pitmen in the table in twentieth place - had boosted their survival hopes on Saturday with a 3-1 win at Redditch United, moving within a point of safety in the process. Manager Ian King made only one change to his side for their second away game in four days as Melis Bushaj came back into the side ahead of Max Brogan

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On a cool evening and in front of 460 hardy spectators, the Pitmen made a flying start to proceedings as they looked to shake off the disappointment of Saturday's result, with Cuff going close to an immediate opener for the hosts in the second minute. Obinna Anebonam laid the ball back to Adam Livingstone down the left flank, with the Scotsman's deep cross headed into the path of the winger by Sid Kerr - his low driven shot from an angle beat ex-Hednesford goalkeeper Andy Wycherley at his near post but was the wrong side of the woodwork for the former Stafford Rangers man

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The Pitmen took the lead three minutes later, however, as top scorer Leroy Lita plundered his ninth goal of the season in typically swashbuckling style as Livingstone picked up a superb pass from Chris Clements out on the left wing and whipped in a low cross into the feet of the onrushing Lita, who showed great composure to stroke the ball past Wycherley from twelve yards out with a delightful first-time finish 

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The home side continued to probe and push the Bartwell defence as they looked for a quickfire second goal, with Obinna Anaebonam's run and cross on eight minutes drifting away from both Lita and Cuff as it harmlessly ran away from goal

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More good play from Obinna Anaebonam on twelve minutes saw the winger drift inside from the left, dragging two Barwell players with him before his attempted lay-off to Kyle Bennett was smothered away by another ex-Hednesford man, Kyle Rowley

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Barwell's first sight at goal came courtesy of the final ex-Pitman in Barwell colours as new boy Shaquille Master saw his own corner kick on fifteen minutes headed back to him by skipper Brady Hickey, allowing Master to try his luck from an acute angle that Tiernan Brooks tipped away from danger

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Obinna Anaebonam made Wycherley work for the ball three minutes later as Ben Bailey's long ball forward was headed into his path by Kerr, allowing the former Shelbourne man to take the ball inside and shoot from thirty yards out with a bobbling effort that Wycherley saved with ease at his near post

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Cuff and Lita combined once more to create a great opening for the Pitmen on nineteen minutes as a long kick forward from Brooks caught out the Barwell back line, who allowed the ball to bounce in behind them and for Cuff to get on the end of it - he lobbed the ball over the onrushing Wycherley with his knee and found Lita, whose follow-up header cleared the crossbar as Deen Master came across to challenge him

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A deep corner kick from Todd Parker midway through the first half on the left picked out the late-arriving Lewis Ison at the far post, only for the defender's stooping header to flash just wide of the woodwork from six yards out

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Barwell's best chance of snatching a leveller came on twenty-six minutes as winger Beck-Ray Enoru picked up a Rowley pass down the right for the Canaries, taking the ball past Clements before drilling a low shot from the edge of the penalty area narrowly wide of Brooks's left-hand post

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More good approach play from the Pitmen on the half-hour mark saw Cuff and Ison link up down the right before playing Lita through, only for a foul by the striker on Rowley in the build-up to pull play back before he could take the ball past Wycherley

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A rare corner kick from Barwell four minutes later saw Rowley rise highest to meet Hickey's cross from eight yards out, but the former Walsall Wood man was way off-target with his effort and saw the ball drift harmlessly away into the Heath Hayes terrace

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Wycherley had to be at his best to deny Lita on thirty-seven minutes as Obinna Anaebonam broke quickly down the left flank as he outpaced Micah Edwards before slipping the ball through to Lita, whose angled drive from the edge of the penalty area was turned away by the left hand of Wycherley, denying the veteran a tenth goal of the season with a fine stop

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Cuff should probably have doubled Hednesford's advantage on forty-two minutes as another huge kick from Brooks was inadvertently headed into the path of the winger by Kerr, only for Cuff's goalbound shot to take a deflection off Deen Master and come crashing back off the crossbar

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In the first minute of added time at the end of the first period, Lita made another darting run into the penalty area to latch onto a fine pass from Parker but could only turn his first-time shot wide of goal with only Wycherley to beat

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It had been another impressive first-half display from the hosts, who had created a host of good chances and were deserving of their lead at the break against a Barwell side that had struggled to create any real chances of note and work Brooks in any way. However, there had been plenty of warnings from Saturday about sitting back on their first-half lead, which was something that then hosts once again failed to heed

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It was a cagey start to the second period, with the Pitmen keen not to allow Barwell a way back into the game as they had allowed Royston to do so three days previously. Ison fired in a cleverly-crafted free-kick between himself and Bennett on forty-nine minutes but fired wide of goal from twenty-five yards out

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Barwell striker Jahvan Davidson-Miller gave Brooks a momentary worry on fifty-two minutes as the former Mickleover man exchanged passes with Shaquille Master down the left before cutting inside and curling a dangerous rising shot inches over the crossbar from sixteen yards out

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More Barwell pressure saw good link-up play involving Hickey and Shaquille Master once more on fifty-five minutes, only for the final ball to Bushaj to lack sufficient pace and allow Lowe to make a timely interception on the edge of the Hednesford box

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Lita and Rowley got into a tangle just inside the Barwell penalty area just before the hour mark, with Lita holding out for a penalty kick as he felt that the former Rugby Town man had pulled him down inside the box. Referee Mr Warner took a look at the incident but play continued as Barwell looked to clear their lines

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Bennett looked to replicate his fine strike at Hitchin ten days ago with another curling free-kick from the left on sixty-two minutes, whipping in a dipping, swerving effort from the touchline that was flapped at by Wycherley but just missed both the far post and the incoming head of Lowe

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However, the Pitmen once again let themselves down badly as they handed Barwell a huge gift with which the Canaries grabbed themselves an equaliser just sixty seconds later. The experienced Clements was at fault as he looked to steer a long forward ball from Edwards back to Brooks, but made a complete hash of it as he tried to be a little too clever in shielding the ball from Davidson-Miller and only succeeded in ending up in a heap on the floor as he had his pocket picked by the striker. The striker's lay-off to Hickey on the edge of the box saw the Barwell skipper confidently fire past a horribly exposed Brooks with a first-time shot as the Hednesford defence desperately trying to get back into position

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Barwell had their tails up and could have turned the game on its head two minutes later as Kerr rose highest to meet Hickey's right-wing corner kick, but headed well wide of the far post as Lowe pressurised him

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Brooks made a superb stop on sixty-nine minutes to deny the free-running Enoru after the midfielder had seized upon Livingstone's loose backpass to run straight through the Hednesford central defence, only to be denied by a timely smothering stop from the on-loan stopper at the feet of the player before he Cameroonian could shoot

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With twenty minutes of the game remaining, the Pitmen made a double change in midfield as the disappointing duo of Clements and Bennett were both hauled off and replaced by Olamide Ibrahim and Luke Rowe respectively

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Rowley had picked up a knock earlier in the game that had seen him treated for a fair amount of time, with the centre-back going down once more for an even longer spell clutching his leg as he clashed with Lita inside the Barwell penalty area. Despite it looking like he was to be replaced, Rowley elected to return to the field of play, albeit with a heavy limp

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Lita had been a constant threat to the Barwell defence with his movement and pace and almost gave Hednesford the lead on seventy-five minutes as Livingstone's floated ball into space found Lita in behind the retreating Barwell back line. The striker took a touch before attempting to squeeze his shot between Wycherley and the goalkeeper's near post, forcing the stopper into another fine save to turn the ball behind for a corner kick. With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps a cross to the unmarked Cuff in the centre may have been a better option

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From the resultant corner kick, Barwell managed to clear the ball as far as Rowe, whose long diagonal ball found Parker in acres of space down the left - his cross was met by the head of Lita on the six-yard line; his glancing effort was a touch too high and cleared the crossbar as he beat Hickey to the cross

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With eleven minutes remaining, Livingstone's cross was headed into the path of the incoming Cuff by Rowley, with the ball sitting up nicely for the winger to fire in a first-time shot that Wycherley did well to save down by his post. Cuff managed to get to the rebound and cut the ball back across goal, but a touch off a Barwell defender took the ball away from Lita as he looked to nod it into the net from close range

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However, another moment of high comedy from the Pitmen gifted Barwell the lead a minute later as the visitors took the lead in dramatic circumstances through Hickey once more. Substitute Rowe was the man at fault on this occasion as he miscontrolled a pass from Bailey thirty yards from goal and only succeeded in playing the ball into the path of Hickey, who spotted Brooks off his line and executed a superb first-time lob over the head of the young stopper and into the net. A brilliant instinctive strike from the Barwell skipper but another terrible moment for the Pitmen, who were once again masters of their own downfall

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Willed on by the increasingly exasperated home supporters, the Pitmen looked to drag themselves level once more with some thunderous, direct balls into the Barwell penalty area at every opportunity possible. On eighty-three minutes, Livingstone's cross was cleared as far as Parker on the right flank, who exchanged passes with Cuff before sending over a fine cross into the path of Obbinna Aneabonam. The winger's attempted shot cannoned back off Edwards and away from danger before it could find its way through to goal

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With four minutes remaining, man of the match Lita pounced once more to level the game at 2-2 as a free-kick wide on the left from Cuff was floated into the six-yard box, where Lita was on hand to guide the ball past Wycherley with a clever backwards glancing header that evaded the reach of the former AFC Telford United stopper and found the far corner of the net

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With the crowd willing the home side on in the closing stages of the game, the Pitmen remained camped in the Barwell third of the pitch as they searched for that elusive winner. Lita was denied a dramatic hat-trick in the final minute of the game as neat build-up play from Ibrahim and Cuff set up the striker on the edge of the penalty area, turning past substitute Roger Lee before shooting from twenty yards out and forcing a brilliant save from Wycherley, who was at full stretch down to his right to palm the ball away from goal

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In the final minute of the four added on, Brooks sent every man in white into the Barwell penalty area as he swung in a free-kick from the halfway line, looking for the head of Lowe or Bailey but only finding the grateful clutches of Wycherley at his far post

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Another week, another two points dropped for the Pitmen, who will once again be smarting at a third home game in succession that they have not earned the points from that they probably felt that they had gained at various points in the ninety minutes. Burr's horribly inconsistent outfit take a break from league duty on Saturday when they play host to league rivals Stourbridge in the first round of the F.A. Trophy

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Hednesford Town: Brooks, Ison, Livingstone, Bailey ©, Lowe, Clements (Ibrahim 70), Cuff, Parker, Lita, Bennett (Rowe 70), Obinna Anaebonam      Subs Unused: McQuilkin, Clayton

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Barwell: Wycherley, Edwards, D. Master, Pepe Ngoma, Rowley (Lee 90), Kerr, Enoru, Bushaj, Davidson-Miller (Nassunculo 89), Hickey ©, S. Master      Subs Unused: Lawson, Ward, Brailsford

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