Hednesford fell to their second defeat in a week, dropping out of the play-off places in the process as they crashed to Chesham United this afternoon. Chesham's win sees them move above the Pitmen and into the play-off places themselves

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There were two changes to the side that lost to Stourbridge on Tuesday night, with Rob Smith bringing in Kyle Patterson and Jamey Osborne in place of the suspended Marvin Robinson and the injured Chris Clements respectively. Fans favourite Decio Gomes had to be content with a place amongst the substitute's bench as he returned to Keys Park for a third time from Rushall Olympic this week

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The home side have been one of the surprise packages of the season so far, having won promotion to step three last season. One of their strengths so far this term has been their home form, having remained unbeaten at The Meadow so far this term. A 3-2 defeat, however, to Cirencester Town in midweek had extended their number of games without a win to four this month with manager Andy Leese making two changes to his side as Sam Ledger and Steve Obeng returned to the side in place of James Kyriacou and Dave Fotheringham

 

Chesham's fearsome home form was underlined as early as the second minute of the game with the opening goal inside the first two minutes of the game; the Pitmen looked to have cleared their lines as they dealt with Chesham's first foray into the Hednesford half, as the ball was cleared to the Chesham left. Aaron Gayle picked the ball up, before squaring the ball to Steve Wales. Wales saw Dan Crane off his line and expertly curled the ball over the keeper's head and into the far top corner of the net

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Jay Denny was quick to respond for the Pitmen, jinking inside and firing low across goal in the eighth minutes, but missing by a foot or so

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Two minutes later, Patterson almost justified his selection with an equaliser, but fired wide of goal after a clever ball from Gavin Hurren

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This was followed by a run and shot from Simon Brown on ten minutes, who raced down the right wing before cutting inside and firing across the face of goal and out of play

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Despite a flurry of chances for the Pitmen, it was Chesham who had the ball in the net on fourteen minutes; Chris Elsegood slotted a Wales free-kick past Crane at the near post, only to be denied by an offside flag

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At the other end, the Pitmen felt they should have been awarded a penalty midway through the half. Osborne's trickery saw him get away from Steve Obeng, with the Chesham defender seemingly bringing the teenager down just inside the area. Despite heated protests both on the pitch and from the stands, the referee waved away the appeal and continued with the game

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Osborne was to play very little more of the game, as he was forced to limp off just after the half-hour mark. Alfie Carter was introduced in his place

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Skipper Liam Francis almost equalised on thirty-nine minutes, reaching Darren Campion's corner kick first, but headed over the crossbar

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A minute later, hotshot Danny Quinn nearly continued his purple patch in front of goal as he was first to Carter's right-wing cross at the near post, but missed the target by inches

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The Pitmen were made to pay for totting up their missed chances, as Chesham snatched a second goal just before half time. Leon Archer made progress down Chesham's left-hand side, before holding the ball up and playing in the onrushing Wales. The midfielder tried his luck with an identical effort to his early goal, and again found the far top corner with another curling shot that gave Crane no chance

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The weather took a turn for the worse at half time, as the temperature dropped and a mist descended on The Meadow. The Pitmen's mood seemed to mirror the weather, as the early stages of the second half saw the visitors start sluggishly. Chesham skipper Danny Talbot floated in a fiftieth-minute free-kick that was hit over the bar by Ledger

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Both sides struggled to make any inroads up front, as the defences stood firm for most of the second half. Talbot was denied by a brilliant tackle from Liam Francis on the hour mark, whilst Patterson was wasteful with a wayward shot following good play from Simon Brown

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On seventy-five minutes, the game sparked back into life with Pitmen defender Cheyenne Dunkley testing Chesham keeper Shane Gore - the ball found the young defender unmarked after a Campion corner kick was only partially cleared by Chesham. Gore's save fell to Carter, who forced the keeper into another good save low to his right-hand side

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The Pitmen sensed a comeback, and with nine minutes remaining, they grabbed a lifeline. Hurren's ball through to Patterson saw the striker streak away from the Chesham defence, leaving him one-on-one with Gore. The Chesham stopper made a superb save to deny Patterson in the first instance, but only succeeded in deflecting the ball straight to the onrushing Quinn, who calmly slotted into the empty net from eighteen yards out

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The final few minutes were all Hednesford, as they searched in vain for a leveller. Quinn was central to the action, as he almost grabbed a second goal with four minutes remaining with a low shot that was well saved by Gore

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Wales could have completed his hat-trick late on, as Chesham took advantage of the gaps at the back for the Pitmen to break quickly, but his audacious long-range effort from fully fifty yards dipped wide of goal with Crane struggling

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The Pitmen will be disappointed to have had much of the ball in this game but failed to use it well. Chesham move above the Pitmen in the Zamaretto League table and leave the Pitmen looking for a response to two indifferent results as they return to Keys Park next weekend to face struggling Bashley

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Chesham United: Gore, Elsegood, Ledger, Lambert, Bartley (Kyriacou 19), Talbot © ▆, Obeng, Wales, Archer (Fotheringham 76), Gayle (Bangura 81), Potton ▆       Subs Unused: Gudgeon, Maxwell

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Hednesford Town: Crane, Woolliscroft, Campion ▆, Dunkley, Francis ©, Hurren, Brown, Denny, Patterson, Quinn, Osborne (Carter 34)        Subs Unused: Orbell, Gomes, Bailey, Gibson

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