Gavin Hurren's unbeaten run as Hednesford manager comes to a shuddering halt this evening as his side are on the end of a sound defeat to free-scoring Bootle at a chilly Keys Park

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Having seen his side struggle to a 1-1 draw at home to Wythenshawe Town at the weekend, Hurren made three changes to his side for tonight's third home game in succession, bringing Saturday's goal hero Manny Duku back into the side ahead of Jake Jervis, Omar Holness back into midfield ahead of Sion Spence and Blaine Rowe in at right-back as Kory Roberts missed out

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Inconsistent Bootle sat just below the Pitmen in the Northern Premier League West table after a 2-0 home defeat to Mossley on Saturday. Manager Mike McGraa made four changes of his own for the long trip down from Merseyside as James Cooper, Kenzie O'Neill, Danny Mitchley and ex-Hednesford midfielder Sean Williams replaced Jay Roberts, Conor Harwood, Courtney Duffus and Sean Smith

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On another cold evening in South Staffordshire, Jack Rose was called upon to make an early save for the hosts, turning a low driven shot from Andy Scarisbrick away from a goal down to his right in the fourth minute after a cross from O'Neill on the left dropped to the forward after a mistake from Ollie Harrison. O'Neill pounced on the rebound and struck a first-time shot at goal that Elliott Johnson did brilliantly to divert away from goal on the goal line

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Rose was called upon again to make a good save in the eighth minute, denying Williams a goal on his Keys Park return as the Bootle midfielder drove in a long-range effort at goal that had the experienced stopper flying across his goal to claw the ball away down to his right

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The Pitmen simply hadn't got started as yet, relying on the height of Duku to get to the long punts forward to win anything in the Bootle third of the pitch. Dom McHale seized upon one ball from Duku in the eleventh minute but was perhaps a little over-elaborate with his skill and lost it at the crucial moment rather than shot at goal

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Referee Mr Hinton gave Harrison a ticking off on fifteen minutes after the centre-back and hauled Scarisbrick down just inside the Hednesford half of the pitch to stop the striker from breaking on the counter-attack, avoiding a yellow card on this occasion

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From the resultant free-kick, Williams looked to pick out the lanky Scarisbrick in the six-yard box with an angled ball over the top, but an offside flag against the former Prescot Cables man in the build-up put paid to any shot at goal for the midfielder

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Trickett-Smith and McHale linked up once more on twenty minutes as they looked to create an opening for Bearne, only for the pass to fall a little short for the winger as he darted in behind the Bootle defence, allowing Tom Hannigan to clear the danger

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Three minutes later, Sam Hughes made a superb smothering block to deny Bearne a clear run at goal as a pass from Holness looked to pick a way through the Bootle defence, only for Hughes to stick a leg out and deny Bearne a one-on-one with goalkeeper Tony Thompson

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A corner kick from Dan Trickett-Smith in the twenty-fifth minute was cleared as far as Bearne on the left, who laid the ball back to Joe Doyle-Charles on the edge of the box - his low ball back across goal found Harrison, who could not sort his feet out and lost possession in front of goal. Bootle looked to break quickly through Ben Hodkinson, who was crudely brought down by Dan Sparkes on the halfway line, earning the left-back a yellow card from Mr Hinton

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Bearne looked to be the Pitmen's best chance of breaking down a stubborn Bootle defence, leading Hughes a merry dance on twenty-eight minutes with some trickery on the edge of the penalty area and crossing low into the danger zone but seeing Will Bell clear his lines

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A minute later, Bearne drifted down the left and away from Hughes after a ball from Sparkes, clipping a low cross into the box from the byeline that was easily dealt with by Hannigan

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Rose was proving to be much the busier of the two goalkeepers, making another save on thirty-two minutes as O'Neill's run and cross down the left was scuffed goalwards by veteran striker Danny Mitchley, with Rose making an easy save to his right

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Barely sixty seconds later, Bootle got their noses in front with a very similar goal to the one scored by Wythenshawe Town at the weekend; Woolley was given time and space to play Hodkinson into acres of space down the right, with the Pitmen again forlornly appealing for offside against the forward as he took the ball into the box before finishing past the advancing Rose from twelve yards out

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Sparkes can count himself lucky to still be on the pitch two minutes later as he pushed Mitchley over to stop the former Marine man from reaching a long crossfield ball. Mr Hinton opted to give the left-back a final warning and awarded Bootle a free-kick thirty yards from goal, booking Woolley for taking his protests a little too far in trying to get Sparkes sent off

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Bootle continued to look the more likely to add to their advantage, with Hodkinson going close once more on thirty-eight minutes as he got on the end of a long pass from Hughes out on the right, cutting inside and gliding past Sparkes before curling in a shot at goal that Johnson brilliantly headed away from danger

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Williams followed Sparkes and Woolley into the referee's notebook on forty minutes as he was shown a yellow card by Mr Hinton for a foul on the flying Bearne. Trickett-Smith's ball in from the left was met by the flick of Bearne at the near post but was easily claimed by Thompson

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With two minutes of the first half remaining, the Pitmen got themselves back on level terms as Bearne once again drew a foul out of Hughes on the left, allowing Trickett-Smith to whip the ball into the box, where Johnson was on hand to guide his header beyond Thompson from six yards out for a fourth goal of the season for the skipper and send the hosts in at the break at 1-1

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It had been a topsy-turvy first period from the Pitmen, who had struggled to cope with the long ball, counter-attacking style of Bootle whilst not getting to get their own game going in the final third of the pitch. Trickett-Smith, McHale and Duku had yet to impose themselves on the game so far and would be looking for better in the second period. Before play could restart, the already-booked Sparkes was taken off by Hurren and replaced by Joel Taylor at left-back

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Mitchley looked to test Rose just two minutes after the restart with an ambitious effort from fully thirty yards out that sailed well wide of the woodwork but did have the stopper scrambling back towards his goal line

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Bearne looked to get himself in on goal sixty seconds later as Trickett-Smith nodded the ball into the path of the winger, who went down under a challenge from the onrushing Thompson but was told to get back to his feet by Mr Hinton

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The game was to hinge on two key moments in quick succession on fifty-two minutes as firstly McHale picked up a loose clearance in midfield before threading a fine through ball into the path of Trickett-Smith, who got goal side of the Bootle defence but saw his goalbound effort pushed away by the dive of Thompson. Bootle quickly cleared their lines upfield with Woolley again playing a fine ball through the Hednesford defence and into the path of Scarisbrick, who rounded the despairing dive of Rose before turning the ball home from ten yards out

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Hurren left much of Keys Park scratching their heads in bewilderment before play could restart as he made the odd decision to take off Trickett-Smith and bring on Jake Jervis, moving to a two-striker system but removing one of his most creative players in the process

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Bearne - now playing on the right flank after an earlier tactical tweak - got past James Cooper on fifty-six minutes and looked to pick Duku out with a cross but was brought down by the left-back before he could do so and the Pitmen were handed a free-kick. Bearne took the kick himself but got too much on his cross and the ball was cleared by Bell at the far post

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Scarisbrick could not add to his goal with a scuffed effort just after the hour mark, pulling his shot wide of Rose's left-hand post after he had held off the attentions of Harrison just inside the Hednesford penalty area

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A minute later, Williams went agonisingly close to adding to Bootle's tally as he took the ball across the face of the Hednesford penalty area, working the ball onto his right foot before firing across the face of Rose's goal but missing the far post by a matter of inches

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Yet again, the Pitmen were flattering to deceive in the final third, with simple passes not sticking a lot of heads dropping when things weren't coming off for them. Taylor looked to get them going on sixty-four minutes with a marauding run and cross from the left that was just out of the reach of Jervis on the penalty spot

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O'Neill handed the Pitmen a good chance to get the ball into the box on sixty-nine minutes as he and Bearne clashed on the Hednesford right, with the Bootle man bringing Bearne down. Once again, however, the ball in was too strong for anyone in white to reach and Hannigan was able to easily head away at the far post under no pressure at all

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Rowe had struggled all night long to contain the lively O'Neill and was brought off on seventy-one minutes as Spence came on for him; this saw another shift in formation as Holness moved to right-back and Spence dropped into the anchor role in the centre of the park

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Four minutes later, O'Neill took advantage of a dawdling McHale in midfield to win the ball well and take it into the Hednesford half, playing Williams into acres of space down the left - his cross was met by Hodkinson at the far post via a deflection off the heel of Harrison, but a wild effort from the Bootle forward saw him sky his effort over the crossbar

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On seventy-six minutes, Spence probably should have done better with a chance that opened up for him as McHale played him into space just outside the Bootle box. The substitute appeared to get caught in two minds as to what to do and could only drag his low shot straight at Thompson from eighteen yards out

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​Rose's indifferent evening continued to go downhill as he was very much culpable for the third Bootle goal of the night with ten minutes remaining; a quick break from the visitors saw Hodkinson pick the ball up down the right before laying it back to Hughes. whose up-and-under cross seemed to catch Rose out under the floodlights as the stopper's flailing attempt at a punch away dropped straight into the path of O'Neill, who slid the ball into an unguarded net from twelve yards out

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Back came the Pitmen, with it all to do in a short amount of time left in the game; McHale went close on eighty-one minute as he picked up Bearne's short corner from the right and fired narrowly over the crossbar from just inside the penalty area

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The Magic Man did get himself on the scoresheet, however, two minutes later as a throw-in on the right from Holness found the playmaker on the edge of the box once more, with McHale giving Thompson the eyes before firing a low, driven effort beyond the stopper's reach and into the corner of the net to narrow the deficit

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Bootle looked to protect their narrow lead in the minutes that remained with a change on eighty-four minutes as the much-travelled Conor Harwood came on in place of the tiring Mitchley up front

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This was followed shortly afterwards by Bootle's  final change of the evening on eighty-seven minutes as midfielder Jack Lenehan replaced the excellent Woolley in the centre of the park

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As the Pitmen looked to press home a late equaliser, they committed that all-too-common crime of leaving the back door open to a counter and were hit by another Bootle sucker-punch in the final minute of normal time as Hughes' pass out to O'Neill played the winger into acres of space down the left, with the former Runcorn Linnets winger cutting inside before curling a shot beyond the reach of Rose and into the far corner of the net from eighteen yards out. Again, you have to ask questions about the positioning of such an experienced goalkeeper to allow a shot to beat him from such an angle

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Bearne - the only player in an attacking role who could really come out of tonight's debacle with any credit - forced Harwood into a later foul on the edge of the Bootle box, again taking the kick himself but getting far too much on his ball as it sailed high and wide of the far post and out of play

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Bootle made a late, late change of personnel deep in the five added minutes as Duffus was given a very brief run-out by McGraa as he replaced goalscorer O'Neill

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Yet another dreadful, dull and characterless defeat for the Pitmen on their own pitch - a fifth of the season already in all competitions and we have only just moved into December. The Pitmen's bi-polar form and attitude has been clear for all to see in the last fortnight - a battling win at Trafford, a goal-laden win against Clitheroe last week but two really poor home performances in the past four days and only a barely-deserved point from them to show for it. Hurren has very little time again to work with the players and get his message across as the rapid rate of games continues with another home game against Stalybridge Celtic on Saturday followed by a long trip to in-form Avro next Tuesday night

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Hednesford Town: Rose, Rowe (Spence 72), Sparkes ▆ (Taylor 45), Doyle-Charles, Harrison, Johnson ©, Trickett-Smith (Jervis 53), Holness, Duku, McHale, Bearne      Sub Unused: Gwilt, Brown

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Bootle: Thompson ©, Hughes, Cooper, Hannigan, Bell, Williams, O'Neill (Duffus 90), Scarisbrick ▆, Mitchley (Harwood 84), Woolley ▆ (Lenehan 87), Hodkinson     Subs Unused: J. Roberts, Smith

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