Rob Smith's honeymoon period following his Keys Park return lasted all of one game as his side are ruthlessly exposed by a rampant Coalville Town side amidst atrocious conditions at Owen Street this evening

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Coming off a morale-boosting victory over Sutton Coldfield Town at the weekend, Smith was forced into a change to his side after Luke Rodgers was ruled out after limping off at half-time against Sutton Coldfield - Jordan Nadat was brought back into the side to partner Danny Glover up front in the Pitmen's only change to the starting XI

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Coalville were in the midst of a fine run of form in recent times, having won three of their last four games. Saturday's win over Marine had moved the Ravens into the heady heights of second place in the table, just behind early pace-setters Shaw Lane. Striker Nat Watson was plundering goals at a rapid rate and was amongst the top scorers in the league at the early stages of the season

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Hurricane Aileen had spent the day wreaking havoc across the country, with the wind and rain swirling around Coalville at kick off. The Pitmen were given an early warning of what was to come in the third minute, as Cleveland Taylor's cross was headed narrowly wide by Tom McGlinchy

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A minute later, McGlinchy got away from Sam Oji and unleashed a low drive that was easily saved by James Wren on what was to become a busy night for the Hednesford stopper

 

The Pitmen failed to heed the warnings and fell behind in the eighth minute; former Barwell man Steve Towers struck an unstoppable shot from twenty-five yards out that beat Wren and found the top left-hand corner of the net. A fine strike, but questions should be asked about the way the Pitmen stood off Towers to allow him time to pick his spot

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The Pitmen offered a brief response with Matt Martin's cross turned goalwards by Danny Glover, only for Danny Jenno to deny Glover another goal by deflecting the ball wide of goal. Two minutes later, a cross from Tyler Lyttle was headed down by Glover into the path of Lawrie, whose goalbound shot was deflected away from goal by team-mate Nadat

 

The Pitmen were made to pay for the chances wasted, as Coalville doubled their advantage through Watson. A low driven cross from Blair Anderson found Watson at the far post, who had the simple task of tapping home from close range

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Joe Ballinger almost reduced the deficit on the half-hour mark as he headed Tom Thorley's cross goalwards, but being denied by a superb save by Matthew Coton in the Coalville goal

 

Two minutes later, the Pitmen were handed a lifeline as Jenno brought Glover down in the penalty area. Glover dusted himself down and confidently dispatched the penalty kick to make it 2-1 with a powerful strike past Coton

 

However, the Pitmen's good work was unravelled once more six minutes later, as more defensive woes cost them dearly once again this season. A low cross from the combative midfielder Jermain Hollis was turned into his own net by Sam Oji, - his second own goal of the season to date after his own goal at Shaw Lane

 

Half time saw the Pitmen make a change at left back, with Martin spared more torture at full-back by being replaced by Alex Melbourne after a tortuous first-half display

 

The incessant rain died off a touch at half time, but the incessant nature of Coalville's attacking threat continued into the second half. On forty-nine minutes, a neat piece of play involving Watson, McGlinchy and Dan Creaney saw the Coalville striker played through on goal, with Creaney scoring his first goal for Coalville with ease by side-footing past an exposed Wren

 

Things got even worse for the hapless Pitmen three minutes later, as Creaney notched a quick-fire double for the hosts with a fine header beyond Wren after a superb cross from Anderson

 

The Pitmen could only muster up a series of half chances as they searched for a consolation goal, with Glover the pick of a poor side with his non-stop running and hassling of the Coalville back line. Neat play from Glover on sixty-two minutes saw him create an opening for Melbourne, but his cross-cum-shot was blocked

 

Smith had seen enough from his misfiring side, and made a double change of personnel on sixty-seven minutes with Conor Levingston coming on for Joe Fitzpatrick and Chekaine Steele replacing the disappointing Nadat

 

Three minutes later, the two recent substitutes combined to create an opening with Levingston playing Steele in on goal, but the ball ran away from the winger on the wet pitch before he could strike at goal

 

Neat play from Steele saw the youngster get himself down the wing and cross for Glover on seventy-five minutes, but Glover's shot was high and wide of goal

 

Coalville substitute Ollie Bassett fired his shot inches wide of goal on eighty-three minutes, closely followed by a header from Ben Bailey that was easily fielded by Coton

 

Glover was to have the final say on a dreadful evening for the visitors in added time, as he headed Lawrie's inswinging cross home from close range to score his fifth goal of the season

 

Smith will have been left with plenty to ponder, learning a lot more about his new side tonight than he did on Saturday after a generous win over Sutton that had papered over the obvious cracks in the squad. Expect some comings and goings from the Hednesford management team before they make the long trip up the M6 to Workington on Saturday afternoon

 

Coalville Town: Coton, Bryant, Taylor, Jenno ©, Freeman, Towers, McGlinchy, Hollis, Creaney (Pegg 76), Watson (McDonald 75), Anderson (Bassett 66)   Subs Unused: Pick, Hannis

 

Hednesford Town: Wren, Lyttle, Ballinger, Bailey ▆, Oji, Fitzpatrick (Levingston 67), Lawrie, Thorley ©, Glover, Nadat (Steele 67), M. Martin (Melbourne 45)      Sub Unused: Mutton