The Pitmen reserve arguably their most complete performance of the season to date as they dominate today's New Year's Day local derby to record three points over fellow play-off chasers Chasetown

​

Hednesford made their shortest trip of the season off the back of Boxing Day's fine victory over Stafford Rangers, moving Gavin Hurren's side back within striking distance of the top five in the process. On the pitch, Hurren made just the one change to his XI from the side that had started last week's game as winger Jack Bearne came back in on the left flank ahead of Dan Sparkes, who dropped to the bench. Zidan Sutherland had linked up with Stafford on a month's loan between the two games to gain more match time, joining Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen at Marston Road. The Pitmen had also confirmed earlier in the day that Blaine Rowe had joined Southern Premier League Central side Stourbridge on a six-week loan after losing his place recently to Jamie Morgan

​

Fourth-placed Chasetown came into the first game of 2025 in superb form, having only lost one of their last eight games in all competitions. Manager Mark Swann also made one change from the side that had beaten Hanley Town 2-0 on Boxing Day as Joe Dunne replaced Jordan Evans on the left. As expected, Swann elected to start with many of the vastly experienced ex-Hednesford men in his squad, naming Kris Taylor, Sam Wilding, Joey Butlin, Tom Thorley, Danny Glover and George Cater in the starting XI as well as having Joe Thompson on the bench

​

In front of Chasetown's largest-ever crowd for a league game, the hosts made a quick start to the game as they looked for an early goal through Cater; a typically bustling run through the middle from the winger saw him strike a firm effort at goal from twenty-five yards out that drifted over Ryan Brown's crossbar

​

Dan Trickett-Smith responded for the Pitmen in the eighth minute with a well-struck shot from long-range, firing in a swerving effort at goal that stopper Curtis Pond pushed away after good play from Bearne had set him up

​

Joe Doyle-Charles picked up the game's first booking in the eleventh minute for a foul on former Hednesford manager Glover ten yards inside the Hednesford half - it seemed a harsh one on second viewing as barely any contact was made

​

The visitors edged ahead with the opening goal of the afternoon two minutes later, although the scorer of the goal was to be a man in a blue shirt in the form of Chasetown defender Mitch Clarke; good work down the right saw Jamie Morgan and Jake Jervis involved as they played Dom McHale into space on the flank. In typical McHale style, he left Jordan Evans behind with some clever footwork, driving to the byeline and cutting the ball back across the face of goal, where Clarke unfortunately diverted the ball past his own goalkeeper and into the net from close range as he looked to cut out the Magic Man's cross

​

Back came the hosts as they looked to strike back immediately through Cater, whose run in behind Morgan on sixteen minutes saw him drift into the box on the left-hand side to pick up a Glover knock-down but had his attempted shot blocked by Ollie Harrison

​

A minute later, Butlin perhaps should have done better as a free-kick from Taylor caused all sorts of issues in the Hednesford box, culminating in the ex-Walsall Wood and Hereford striker heading wide of Brown's left-hand post from six yards out

​

Midway through the first period, Thorley drew ironic cheers from the huge away following as the veteran ex-Hednesford midfielder was shown a yellow card for a cynical foul on the flying Bearne thirty yards from goal. From the resultant Trickett-Smith free-kick, Bearne once more sent over a fine cross from the left that was cleared back to Trickett-Smith, whose follow-up volley was inches away from finding the corner of the net as was deflected wide of goal for a corner kick

​

Trickett-Smith assumed responsibility for the resultant flag kick and sent over another dangerous ball in that was cleared as far as McHale just outside the penalty area. The playmaker fired in a powerful low effort from the edge of the penalty area that had Pond scrambling across his goal to palm away to his left  for another corner kick to the away side

​

The clouds had been rolling in over the South Staffordshire skies for a couple of hours, with a sudden and heavy downpour dumping a significant load of water on the artificial turf at this point in the game, drenching all of the supporters standing in the open areas and sending others running for cover. On the pitch, the Pitmen started to take control of the tempo of the game, keeping a tight line against the threat of Glover's knock-downs towards Cater and Butlin running off him

​

On thirty-three minutes, another long, raking Taylor free-kick from the halfway line was flicked on by Glover once more and into the path of Dunne, who looked to take on Morgan but was brilliantly dispossessed by Harrison as both he and Morgan closed down the space for the winger to shoot and cleared their lines

​

Bearne was having a superb game for the Pitmen, linking up well with Joel Taylor down the left at every opportunity to create a double attacking threat with the left-back looking to make overlapping runs beyond skipper Oli Hayward. The pair linked up well on thirty-four minutes as the Pitmen streaked forward on the counter, with Taylor pulling the ball back to Jervis on the edge of the box, whose attempted shot flew high and wide of Pond's crossbar

​

More Bearne magic two minutes later saw him drift inside from the left, leaving two Chasetown players in his wake before firing well wide with a wildly struck effort
 

With six minutes of the first half remaining, another one of the ex-Hednesford contingent for Chasetown ended up in the referee's notebook as Butlin was shown a yellow card for a foul on Doyle-Charles after the pair challenged for a long punt forward from Clarke

​

With a couple of minutes remaining in the first half, Glover tested the reflexes of his former goalkeeper Brown as he latched onto Cater's lay-off on the edge of the box, taking the ball into the inside right position and firing in a low shot across goal that was pushed away by the young stopper to his right

​

In the final minute of the half, Bearne left Hayward behind once more with another superb run and cross that was deflected off the heads of both Taylor and Clarke and eventually ended up in the hands of a grateful Pond

​

It had been a fine first-half display from the Pitmen, deservedly holding the lead through Clarke's own goal but largely nullifying the Chasetown threat with a battling, organised team display that has rarely been seen this term. Bearne had been simply sensational, running rings around the Scholars at times and causing all sorts of issues with his pace and movement

​

With the stormy weather now clearing at the start of the second half, there was a frantic start to the game at both ends of the pitch. An early corner for the Scholars saw Taylor send over a ball into the box that was headed over by Clarke at the far post before a quick break from the Pitmen saw Bearne make another great run and play Jervis in, only for a tight offside flag against the striker denied him a clear shot at goal

​​

The Pitmen were forced into their first substitution of the afternoon just ten minutes into the second half as Jervis pulled up holding his leg, slumping to the ground just inside the Chasetown half and was taken off as a precaution by the visitors after a spell of treatment, with Manny Duku came on in his place

​

It proved to be a masterstroke bringing the Dutchman on at this juncture, as the experienced striker matched his late goalscoring cameo against Stafford with yet another strike off the bench to make it 2-0 on fifty-nine minutes. Trickett-Smith's inswinging corner kick was met by the head of Duku six yards from goal, glancing the ball beyond the despairing dive of Pond and firmly into the net to make it eighteen goals for the season from only eighteen starts

​

The Pitmen were now in a dominant position and could control much of the possession, breaking on Chasetown at will through the likes of Bearne and Duku down each flank. A great run from the substitute on sixty-two minutes saw him take Harrison's pass forward down the right, nudging Evans out of the way as he got on the end of the pass and took it into the penalty area where his shot was blocked by Clarke

​​

Midway through the second half, Chasetown made their first change of the afternoon as the talented Jack Langston came on in place of Butlin in the attacking midfield role as the home side looked to create something for their shot-shy front men

​

Two minutes later, Swann made another attacking change to his misfiring side as Max Chimenes came on in place of Evans to play down the Chasetown left flank

​

Thorley - not exactly known for his goalscoring prowess over the years - got on the end of a deep Taylor corner kick on seventy-two minutes but weakly headed at goal from six yards out and made it easy for Brown to claim the ball at his far post

​​

Trickett-Smith - who has been in imperious form since Hurren's appointment - settled the game as a contest a minute later with another coolly-taken goal; McHale and Duku linked up down thre right, with Duku sending a superb cross-field pass over to the playmaker on the edge of the penalty - he chested the ball down ahead of the hapless Hayward before sliding the ball past the oncoming Pond from eight yards out to make it eleven goals for the season and two in two over the festive period

​

McHale picked up the game's final booking of the afternoon with fifteen minutes remaining for a bout of dissent right in front of the two benches. This proved to be his last involvement as he was replaced by Sparkes almost immediately, leading to a reshuffle of positions that saw Bearne move to the right flank

​

Trickett-Smith's goal proved to be his last contribution to the afternoon's entertainment as well as the former Leek Town playmaker was taken off to rapturous applause from the away fans on seventy-eight minutes and replaced by Jacob Gwilt. This came just seconds after Chasetown had made a further change, with Thorley being replaced by Joey Buckley

​

A minute later, the experienced Danny O'Callaghan was the last player in blue to come on for the hosts as the former Stourbridge and Rushall Olympic midfielder replaced Cater

​

Dunne went close to reducing the deficit with ten minutes of the game remaining, drilling in a low shot from the corner of the Hednesford penalty area that was a foot or so wide of Brown's left-hand post and had the stopper diving full-length across his goal

​

Bearne wasn't quite finished yet though as he looked to cap his man of the match performance with a goal; on eighty-one minutes, a brilliant run from the halfway line saw him leave three Chasetown players in his wake as he drove towards goal, firing in a powerful effort from eighteen yards out that was deflected wide by the boot of Clarke for a corner kick to the Pitmen. Before play could restart, the popular Thompson was brought on for Wilding for Chasetown's final change of the afternoon

​

With eight minutes remaining, Omar Holness was given a late run-out by Hurren as the Jamaican midfielder came on in place of the outstanding Maye, whose return to fitness had seen him clock up another important eighty-plus minutes of action

​

The game simply drifted away in the latter stages, as both sides were resigned to their relative fates. As it moved into six added minutes at the end of the second period, Josh Endall made a late appearance in central defence as the lanky defender replaced Doyle-Charles

​

There was, however, still time for Bearne to be denied his goal deep into added time; after winning the ball deep in his own half from a dawdling O'Callaghan, Bearne streaked into the Chasetown penalty area and unselfishly laid the ball off to Duku, whose goalbound shot took a deflection and ended back at the feet of Bearne, turning the loose ball home at the far post with a scuffed effort. However, the winger was deemed to have been in an offside position when Duku struck his shot and the goal was unfortunately disallowed

​​

A superb display and a richly-rewarded three points for the visitors, who make it consecutive wins over their two local rivals in the festive period to lift them to within two points of the Scholars in the league table. Saturday sees them play host to fourth-placed Nantwich Town at Keys Park, knowing that a win over the in-form Dabbers lifts them into the top five for the first time since the first three weeks of the season and gives them a genuine springboard to push on in the second half of the season

​

Chasetown: Pond, Hayward ©, Evans (Chimenes 67), K. Taylor, Clarke, Wilding (Thompson 81), Butlin ▆ (Langston 65), Thorley  ▆(Buckley 77), Glover, Cater (O'Callaghan 78), Dunne       Subs Unused: None

​​​

Hednesford Town: Brown, Morgan, J. Taylor, Doyle-Charles ▆ (Endall 90), Harrison, Johnson ©, Trickett-Smith (Gwilt 78), Maye (Holness 82), Jervis (Duku 55), McHale ▆ (Sparkes 75), Bearne    Subs Unused: None

​​​​​