On an evening that will be remembered for many years to come, the Pitmen run amok with a devastating display of finishing to demolish Clitheroe at Keys Park and make it back-to-back league wins in the past four days

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Gavin Hurren's first game in charge had seen his side beat Trafford amidst horrendous weather conditions at the weekend, with the new Hednesford manager making just one change to his side for his first home game in charge as Ryan Brown replaced Jack Rose in goal. Manny Duku had recovered from his virus sufficiently to take his place amongst the substitutes and Blaine Rowe returned to the squad after serving a one-match ban at the weekend. Joel Taylor (virus), Simeon Maye (hamstring), Josh Endall and Rob Stevenson (both concussion) were all still missing from the squad however

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Clitheroe's season had been one of huge inconsistency so far, despite Jimmy Bell's side starting the season as one of the more fancied sides to do well after last season's seventh-placed finish. Bell made two changes to his side from the one that had earned a battling point at home to Nantwich Town on Saturday as Louis Potts and Ross Dent came in for Luke Gill and Veron Parny

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It was a bitterly cold evening in South Staffordshire, although the Keys Park pitch was immaculate despite the recent wet and snowy weather that Storm Bert had thrown at it. Clitheroe's preparations for the game were thrown into disarray before they had even arrived as delays on the M6 saw them arrive late to the ground, with the kick-off put back fifteen minutes to allow for the visitors' late arrival

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The Pitmen looked to take advantage of any sluggishness in the Clitheroe ranks with a quick start to the game; Dan Trickett-Smith and Dan Sparkes linked up down the left in the third minute with Trickett-Smith playing a fine ball through the Clitheroe back line for Sparkes to run onto, pulling the ball back into the six-yard box from the byeline that Burton initially spilt and had to be turned behind by Mark Hughes for a Hednesford corner kick

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Trickett-Smith's resultant corner kick in the third minute was played back to him by Elliott Johnson, with the playmaker playing the ball back for Sparkes to swing in a deep cross that was headed straight into the arms of Hakan Burton by Ollie Harrison at the far post

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Clitheroe's first foray into the Hednesford third of the pitch came in the sixth minute as Jacob Hanson made a good overlapping run down the right to take on a Potts lay-off, crossing into the box towards Sefton Gonzales but seeing Kory Roberts in commanding form to clear the danger at the far post

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Gonzales - the man who took the Pitmen to pieces in last season's corresponding fixture with all four goals in a 4-0 Clitheroe win - did well to hold the ball up in the tenth minute as lay the ball off to Dent, whose first-time effort from twenty yards sailed high over Brown's crossbar as Harrison rushed him into a shot

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Dom McHale was his usual mercurial self, making a typically marauding run into the Clitheroe box in the thirteenth minute with one of his swashbuckling runs through on goal but his low cross towards Jervis was cleared by Sam Olawumi

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Two minutes later, Jack Bearne made a darting run in behind the Clitheroe defence as Trickett-Smith's lofted pass sent him clear, only for a late offside flag from the assistant on the Wimblebury pulled the winger back. How the assistant could have given that when he was nowhere near level with the play, only he will know

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Full-back Dylan Dwyer was struggling to contain McHale and only succeeded in bringing the magic man down eighteen minutes as the former AFC Telford United man danced past him once more twenty-five yards from goal. Sparkes and McHale had a long conversation about the free-kick, with the left-footed Sparkes stepping up and a wonderful curling, dipping effort that beat Burton for pace at his near post as it flew past the stopper and into the top corner of the net. A brilliant strike and Sparkes' first-ever Hednesford goal

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Potts picked up the game's first yellow card of the evening from referee Mr Cartwright on twenty-one minutes, presumably for something said to the official after the home side had been awarded a free-kick that the former Ashton United striker took exception to

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With the game's opening goal in their pockets, the home side continued to attack in waves with Jervis showing some excellent skill to the left-hand corner of the penalty area on twenty-five minutes to play Bearne in through the gap, only for the winger to have his cross turned behind by a timely block from Hanson

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Bearne was played through again on twenty-five minutes as Trickett-Smith's awareness saw him quickly take a free-kick and play the winger through on goal down the left. Rather than take the ball any further, however, Bearne elected to shoot at goal from an angle and tamely hit a bobbling effort into the side-netting from fifteen yards out

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Bell was unhappy at the referee allowing Trickett-Smith to take this free-kick quickly and made his feelings known before play could restart, earning him a yellow card in the process

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The first real chance of the evening for the visitors fell to Potts a minute later as he was played through on goal by Hughes' fine threaded free-kick, beating Brown with his first-time shot but being denied an equaliser by Johnson's timely goal-line clearance

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Brown required some treatment from therapist Adam Paget on twenty-eight minutes as the young stopper went down holding his hamstring after playing a free-kick out. With no stopper on the bench to come on, the former Kidsgrove man was strapped up and play could continue

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Potts looked to be Clitheroe's best chance of getting back into the game, picking up a loose ball twenty-five yards from goal on thirty-three minutes and turning well past Johnson but firing into the Heath Hayes terrace with a wild effort

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The hosts doubled their advantage two minutes later as Jervis made it two goals in two games since his return with an almost carbon copy of this goal at Trafford on Saturday; Bearne was the architect once more with another run down the left, taking on Hanson with his quick feet before drilling a low cross into the near post where Jervis got goal side of Hughes to toke-poke the ball past Burton from close-range

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The home fans were left in joyous bewilderment at what they had just seen three minutes later as McHale added to his showreel of audacious goals with a breathtaking third goal for the Pitmen. Trickett-Smith's hopeful ball down the right was picked up by the playmaker, who made a charging run to the byeline but appeared to have run the ball out of play in the process. However, no official flag or whistle was forthcoming, with McHale dancing past no fewer than three bemused red shirts as he brought the ball back across the face of goal before firing past Burton and into the far corner of the net. Brilliantly random from the playmaker for his tenth goal of the season

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Bearne's impetuous nature was to earn him yet another yellow card on thirty-nine minutes as Mr Cartwright booked the winger for stupidly kicking the ball away in frustration after Clitheroe had been awarded a free-kick

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Gonzales looked to fire in a reply for the visitors on forty-two minutes, collecting a long cross-field ball from Dwyer on the edge of the Hednesford box but curling his effort narrowly over the crossbar from eighteen yards out

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Bearne should have grabbed a fourth for the Pitmen two minutes before the break as Jervis turned provider on this occasion with a run to the left-hand byeline before pulling the ball back to the winger, who somehow failed to turn the ball home at the far post as he sidefooted his effort just wide of Burton's woodwork from just three yards out​​

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It had been a fantastic, controlled display from the Pitmen in the first half, scoring three very different goals and showing a clinical nature in front of goal to give them a healthy lead at the break. Despite this commanding lead, there was still some nervousness on the terraces about the Pitmen's inability to hold onto a three-goal lead, particularly with last week's defeat at Stalybridge Celtic in mind

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Any concerns about the home side's ability to hang onto their lead were extinguished within ten minutes of the restart as they blitzed Clitheroe with a quickfire double strike. On fifty-one minutes, Johnson's long, raking ball out of defence found the run of Jervis, who produced a dazzling backheeled flick to play McHale through on goal in front of him. The in-form McHale needed no second invitation, leaving Olawumi in his wake with a neat flick before firing past Burton from the edge of the box

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Things turned from bad to worse for the hosts just four minutes later as a comedic own goal put the hosts five goals to the good; Jervis got in behind the Clitheroe defence to latch onto Omar Holness's pass, firing in an angled shot that Burton did well to push away at his near post. The ball looped up and into the path of the retreating Olawumi, who completely misjudged his intended clearance and could only watch in horror as he sliced the ball into his own net from sixteen yards out

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Hurren could now afford to give some of his fringe players a run out with such a commanding lead, bringing on Rowe, Jacob Gwilt and Duku before the game could restart as Roberts, Holness and McHale were given well-earned rests

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The Pitmen weren't done just yet in this purple patch and added a sixth goal to their night's tally on fifty-eight minutes; Duku raced off into space down the right as he got on the end of Trickett-Smith's raking pass, spotting Bearne in acres of space unmarked on the far side of the box and expertly chipping the ball into the path of the winger, who side-footed the ball past the onrushing Burton and into the unguarded net from ten yards out

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On sixty-three minutes, Clitheroe made a double change of personnel as Jake Connelly replaced Hanson at right-back and Gill came back into the side as he replaced Potts

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It was perhaps inevitable that the pace of the game would now drop, with both sides now settled on where the points were going and substitutions starting to affect the overall shape and play of both sides

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Midway through the second half, the Pitmen made their fourth change of the evening as the pacy and enthusiastic Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen came on in place of Sparkes; this saw Gwilt dropping to left-back to cover for the former Braintree Town man's departure

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Bell was to regret his earlier yellow card as he took his protestations a little too far with Mr Cartwright on sixty-six minutes and was promptly shown a second yellow card and sent to the stands, much to the amusement of the jovial home supporters in the Heath Hayes terrace

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Brown had been under-utilised all evening long but was called upon to keep his clean sheet intact on sixty-nine minutes as he made a save down to his left to deny Olawumi after the defender had gambled on a long ball forward from the back and struck a low shot at goal from the edge of the penalty area

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Clitheroe's final change of the evening came on seventy-one minutes as Gonzales - who had struggled to get himself into the game after being effectively marked out of it by Harrison and Johnson - was replaced by Javaun Splatt

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Hughes was the first Clitheroe player to have his name taken by Mr Cartwright on seventy-three minutes as he brought Bearne down in full flight to hand the Pitmen a free-kick

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The Pitmen's final change of the evening came seconds later as Zidan Sutherland was given more valuable minutes up front as he replaced the excellent Jervis

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Sutherland went close to another quickfire goal just two minutes after coming on as he got on the end of Duku's cross from the right but slipped at the worst possible moment and could only scuff his shot straight into the arms of Burton from twelve yards out

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Another chance fell at the feet of the Hednesford substitute on seventy-seven minutes as Rowe's long throw caused confusion in the Clitheroe ranks and fell at the feet of Sutherland, whose initial shot was blocked before his well-struck rebound from thirteen yards out flashed just wide of the right-hand post

 

The chances kept falling for Sutherland to break his duck, as a quick counter from the Pitmen on eighty-two minutes saw Bearne send the striker clear of the Clitheroe defence with a fine pass in behind the retreating visiting defence. With Burton off his line, Sutherland attempted a cheeky lob over the head of the stopper from twenty-five yards out that narrowly dipped just over the crossbar

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Sutherland did turn provider for Bearne however on eighty-six minutes, latching onto Duku's flick header before playing the ball around the corner and into the path of the winger, who streaked clear of the hapless Olawumi before sliding the ball past Burton from fifteen yards out

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...And still, there was time for more as top scorer Duku got in on the act on eighty-eight minutes with the Pitmen's eighth goal of the night. Bearne once again found himself with all the freedom in the world down the left, taking his time to pick out Duku on the edge of the box. The Dutchman took a touch and turned onto his right foot before firing beyond the reach of Burton and into the net with a looping shot

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Dwyer was booked for Clitheroe before the game could restart, again for what was presumably dissent as the Clitheroe players complained about the lack of decisions handed to them by Mr Cartwright all evening long

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Brown had been robbed of his clean sheet bonus at Newcastle Town a couple of weeks ago courtesy of the last kick of the game by Tim Grice's goal and once again this proved to be the case as he was beaten deep into the five added minutes, only this time it was one of his own players that was to do so. A hopeful cross into the box from Connelly on the left was met by the head of Johnson, whose intended clearance looped up and over the outstretched arms of Brown and into his own net to hand the visitors a consolation goal

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A memorable, goal-laden evening for most of the 778-strong crowd to enjoy, handing Hurren two wins in two since taking over as manager to take into the next three league games, all taking place at Keys Park which potentially gives the Pitmen a real springboard to move up the table and into the top four. This starts on Saturday as struggling Wythenshawe Town make their first-ever trip to Keys Park

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Hednesford Town: Brown, Roberts (Rowe 56), Sparkes (Alamu-Tajudeen 64), Spence, Harrison, Johnson ©, Trickett-Smith, Holness (Gwilt 56), Jervis (Sutherland 73), McHale (Duku 56), Bearne ▆    Sub Unused: None

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Clitheroe: Burton ©, Hanson (Connelly 63), Dwyer ▆, Olawumi, Hughes ▆, Hayes-Green, Poilly, High, Gonzales (Splatt 71), Potts ▆ (Gill 63), Dent      Subs Unused: Parny, McConville

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