A breathtaking, epic F.A. Cup first-round tie eventually goes the way of visitors Gainsborough Trinity after 120 minutes and eighteen penalty kicks could not separate the two sides at Keys Park this afternoon

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The Pitmen's build-up to today's tie had been, shall we say, less than ideal, having failed to beat either Hanley Town or Atherton Collieries at Keys Park in the past ten days. This was followed by the bombshell news on Thursday afternoon that the club had sacked manager Steve King after a breakdown in the relationship between himself and the board. This saw the vastly experienced Martin Hunter - a former England age group coach and ex-Norwich City assistant manager - step in as interim boss alongside Junior Lewis and Andy Turner to prepare for today's tie. On the pitch, there were four changes to the side that had started last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Atherton as Jack Rose, Kory Roberts, Simeon Maye and Manny Duku all returned to the side ahead of Ryan Brown, Blaine Rowe, the cup-tied Ollie Harrison and Rob Stevenson

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Gainsborough - currently sitting in one of the relegation spots in the Northern Premier League - were making their first appearance in the first round since 2017-2018 after an impressive 4-0 hammering of local rivals Boston United in the previous round. Holy Blues manager Russ Wilcox elected to stick with the same starting XI that had beaten the Pitmen's league rivals Clitheroe 4-1 in the F.A. Trophy last weekend as he looked for a similar result against their step-four hosts

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The tie had captured the imagination of supporters of both clubs, with nearly 4,000 people crammed inside Keys Park to make it the club's second-highest attendance at the ground since moving in over twenty-nine years ago. And what a start the 3,300-plus home supporters were given, as the home side swept into an early lead through the F.A. Cup's top scorer this season, Duku. The hosts broke quickly through the centre of the pitch as Duku nodded a bouncing ball down into the path of Dom McHale, who in turn sent Dan Trickett-Smith away down the left with a fine reverse pass. As the playmaker entered the Gainsborough penalty area he unselfishly squared the ball to Duku, who finished beyond the reach of Trinity goalkeeper Dylan Wharton from twelve yards out with a calm sidefooted finish

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The early goal boosted the home side's confidence as they continued to push Gainsborough back into their own half in search of another early goal. On eight minutes, McHale was a little too tricky for skipper Jordan Cogill in the eighth minute as his quick feet drew the foul from the defender and earned the Pitmen a free-kick in a dangerous position and Cogill an early yellow card from referee Mr Richardson. After some debate between Trickett-Smith and Jack Bearne, Trickett-Smith took the resultant kick but drove his effort just wide of Wharton's left-hand post

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The away side almost found a way back into the tie from nowhere in the twelfth minute as the stocky figure of Fraser Preston went close to equalising for Gainsborough. Picking up a through ball from Javelle Clarke, Preston turned past Simeon Maye before unleashing a left-footed effort from the edge of the box that clipped the top of the crossbar on its way out

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Two minutes later, good approach play from Trinity saw the lively Clarke play a one-two with Declan Howe and make a run into the box before Roberts managed to divert the ball behind for a corner kick. However, an inswinging ball from Jordan Helliwell sailed over the crossbar and straight out of play as he looked to pick out Cogill at the far post

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Wharton had to be alert to the danger twice in quick succession on nineteen minutes, punching Trickett-Smith's corner away from goal and back to the midfielder, whose recycled cross to Bearne saw the winger cut inside and fire in a low shot that the Gainsborough stopper saved down to his right

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The Pitmen put clear daylight between themselves and Gainsborough midway through the first half as Omar Holness conjured up what will most likely be one of the strikes of the round; picking the ball up on the right-hand corner of the Trinity penalty area after a one-two with McHale, the Jamaican international cut inside and unleashed a wicked curling, dipping shot that beat Wharton at his far post and found the far top corner of the net. A superb strike from Holness and a timely first-ever goal for the club

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There was a shout for handball against Cogill inside his own penalty area on twenty-six minutes as Joel Taylor's cross towards Duku appeared to strike the arm of the defender as he looked to chest the ball down. Despite the Pitmen's pleas, both Mr Richardson and his assistant waved away the protests and the game continued

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It had been an incredibly impressive opening half hour from the hosts, who had dominated play and had created some good openings against their higher-level visitors. McHale continued to showcase his full level of craft, making a jinking run into the box on twenty-nine minutes as he came in from the right but was closed down before he could get a shot away from just inside the Gainsborough penalty area

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A minute later, Taylor made a barnstorming run down the left as Bearne played him into space beyond Aaron Simpson, with the left-back picking Duku out with a fine hanging cross that the Dutchman powerfully headed towards goal, only to be denied by a flying save from Wharton to divert the ball away from goal to his left

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More clever interplay between Clarke and Howe on thirty-five minutes saw Gainsborough make progress down the right as Lewis Butroid found space behind Taylor and crossed towards the incoming Helliwell, who was to be denied a shot at goal by some excellent reading of the ball by Roberts, heading away at the far post

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McHale's run and cross from the right on thirty-eight minutes caused Gainsborough issues, with Cogill eventually hacking the ball away from goal with McHale's cross drifting over Wharton and headed for the far corner of the net

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Jack Rose had been a virtual spectator for much of the first half but was forced into a smart save on forty-one minutes as Helliwell's low shot from fifteen yards out was turned away by the on-loan goalkeeper for a corner low down at his near post. The resultant corner kick from Helliwell was wasteful, however, as a deep ball into the box was easily hacked away by skipper Elliott Johnson

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With the final action of a busy first half, the Pitmen almost made it three-nil as McHale once again earned his side a free-kick wide on the right, with Bearne picking out Trickett-Smith just outside the box and rolling the ball into the path of the former Leek Town man, whose effort was palmed away by Wharton down to his left

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The home side was warmly applauded off by the majority of the crowd after a magnificent opening forty-five minutes from the Pitmen, who had controlled large parts of the game and had been excellent value for their two-goal lead that, in truth, could easily have been more had it not been for the heroics of Wharton in the Gainsborough goal. The visitors had struggled to cope with the movement of the Hednesford front men and had rarely threatened Jack Rose's goal for much of the half. A frustrated Wilcox elected to make a bold triple change at the break as Bobby Johnson, Joe Stacey and Sisa Tuntulwana all came on in place of Butroid, Bailey Conway and Simpson

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Despite expecting a Gainsborough fightback at the start of the second period, the Pitmen started on the front foot and went within the width of the post of going three goals ahead just seconds after the restart as Duku's run and shot across goal beat the dive of Wharton but came back off the base of the far post and back into play

 

Three minutes later, however, McHale put the Hednesford supporters in dreamland as he grabbed the Pitmen's third goal of the afternoon, sidefooting home from twelve yards out after Bearne's cross from the left was headed into his path by Will Lancaster, allowing the attacking midfielder to guide the ball past Wharton to put the hosts into what appeared to be an unassailable lead at this point

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Still, the Pitmen pressed as they looked to put the game to bed, with Trickett-Smith having his run through the heart of the Gainsborough midfield halted by Stacey and earning the home side a free-kick twenty-five yards from goal. Trickett-Smith once again assumed responsibility for the free-kick but weakly struck his effort at goal straight into the arms of Wharton

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The Pitmen's third goal finally forced Gainsborough onto the offensive, with a quickly-taken free-kick from Lancaster on fifty-five minutes rolled into the path of the unmarked Preston, whose fiercely struck effort from twenty yards out was pushed around the post by Rose for a corner kick

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Taylor picked up the game's first yellow card on the hour mark after a foul on the tricky Howe on the Gainsborough right. The resultant free-kick from Helliwell was whipped into the box and headed clear at the far post by Roberts, under pressure from the towering presence of Cogill

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The pressure on the Hednesford defence was starting to crank up, with Lancaster meeting a deep, curling free-kick from Preston at the far post on sixty-three minutes and heading towards goal, only to be denied by some fine defending from Endall as the centre-back headed the ball up and over his own crossbar for a Gainsborough corner kick

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Gainsborough finally got a foothold back into the game as Howe reduced the deficit with a fine finish on sixty-five minutes. Clarke got away from Roberts down the left and played the ball into the feet of Howe, who neatly worked it onto his left foot before calmly slotting past Rose from ten yards out

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The hosts were forced into their first change of the afternoon just after the restart as Maye's injury niggles continued, with the defensive midfielder forced off after picking up a knock in the centre circle and was replaced by Sion Spence

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The game was suddenly starting to swing back in favour of the away side, who were attacking in waves as they took full advantage of Maye now being absent in front of the back line and finding pockets of space they had previously struggled to find. Successive corner kicks on sixty-eight minutes were both smuggled behind by the Pitmen at the near post before Roberts finally managed to clear the danger from a deep Helliwell cross from the right as Cogill once more looked to get on the end of the ball

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On seventy-two minutes, goalscorer Duku was replaced up front as Stevenson came on up front in his place, despite it looking unlikely that the burly frontman would take part in today's game after limping off against Atherton last week

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Sixty seconds later, Rose kept Gainsborough at bay once more with another fine save down to his right to push Clarke's driven shot away from goal, with Elliott Johnson managing to head the rebound away for a corner before Howe could divert the rebound into the empty net

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Things started to get a little uncomfortable for the hosts on seventy-six minutes as the Holy Blues further reduced the deficit through Howe once more. Preston's flick with the outside of his boot found Clarke in space, with the former Brighouse Town man playing Howe in on goal with a right-footed pass that was turned home by the striker first-time from sixteen yards out, stabbing it past the onrushing Rose to grab a quickfire double for the former Ilkeston Town man

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A combination of tired legs and Maye's absence was starting to show for the Pitmen, with passes starting to go astray and the ball coming straight back to them when they could get out of their own third of the pitch. Stevenson was now very isolated up against Cogill and Lancaster and struggled to bring his team mates into the game as he would normally do. However, on eighty-one minutes, Stevenson showed brilliant feet to bamboozle Lancaster inside the Gainsborough penalty area, twisting and turning as he looked to get to the byeline down the left before pulling the ball across the face of goal and forcing Ash Jackson into putting the ball behind for a corner kick

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The away side were committing more and more men forwards for set-pieces, with Lancaster looking to get on the end of a cross from Tuntulwana on eighty-five minutes after a corner kick had been cleared as far as the substitute. However, the cross was slightly overhit and sailed wide of Rose's right-hand post, much to the relief of the home crowd

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With a minute of the game remaining and the Pitmen desperately still clinging on, Jacob Gwilt came on to add some energy to the midfield area as he replaced Trickett-Smith

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Gainsborough were now camped inside the Hednesford half as they looked for the goal needed to take the game to extra time. They were boosted by the

confirmation on the sideline that there would be seven added minutes, handed to them after two lengthy stoppages in the second period. Elliott Johnson brilliantly headed a corner away from goal in the second minute of added time, with Bearne looking to kill some time as he took the ball all the way into the left-hand corner before Gainsborough could regain possession and get the ball back up the other end of the pitch

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However, despite continuing to battle away, the hosts fell just short deep into added time as Gainsborough finally managed to force home an equaliser through Lancaster - and what a strike it was too, as the Gainsborough number five picked up a headed clearance from Elliott Johnson in midfield, advancing on goal with Stevenson unable to close him down as he was allowed to fire in an unstoppable shot from twenty yards out that dipped over the outstretched hand of Rose and ended up nestling into the roof of the net via a deflection off the underside of the crossbar. This sparked wild celebrations from the away fans, who spilt out onto the pitch and goaded some of the more impressionable and dimwitted Hednesford supporters into doing the same. There was a significant hold-up in play as the stewards moved to bring order back to the proceedings, with the players being removed from the pitch for a few moments before returning for the final ninety seconds of play to take the game to extra time.

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In this short period of play, Howe got goal side of Endall to get on the end of Jackson's cross from the left but weakly headed straight at Rose from ten yards out

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The Pitmen elected to make a defensive change before extra time began, as Rowe replaced Endall in a move that saw Roberts move back across to centre-back to partner Elliott Johnson, with Rowe slotting in at right-back

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The ferocious tempo of the game in the latter stages of the second half was replaced by a more sedate one at the start of extra time, with both sides looking to conserve energy for the next half hour of play after a breathless end to normal time. However, McHale had Keys Park rocking once more six minutes into added time as the magic man conjured up his second goal of the afternoon to put the hosts back in front once more. Gwilt's run and cross from the left dropped to the incoming Holness, who did enough to steer the ball into the path of McHale at the far post, with the magic man firing past Wharton from a tight angle after working the ball onto his weaker right foot before slotting home

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Back came the visitors, with Rose once again denying them on 101 minutes as a corner kick from the left from Jackson was headed goalwards by Lancaster, only for the stopper to make another fine save to put the ball behind again for a corner kick

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Extra time also meant that both sides could make a further change to the allotted five, with Dan Sparkes coming on in place of McHale for the Pitmen and Howe being replaced by George Hornshaw for the visitors before the start of the second period

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Once again, however, Gainsborough managed to find a way through the tired and leggy Hednesford defence to level matters once more on 109 minutes as a quick break down the centre of the pitch saw Preston and Helliwell play the ball out to Tuntulwana on the right, with his low cross into the box steered home by Clarke from six yards out with a right-footed finish

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Helliwell had his name taken by Mr Richardson on 113 minutes as he brought Bearne down on the Hednesford right in a bid to stop the winger from working an angle for a cross. With Trickett-Smith now off the pitch, Bearne took the free-kick himself but sent over a tired, underhit ball that was cleared at the near post

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Another free-kick from Bearne four minutes later was played deep into the Gainsborough six-yard box and towards Roberts, who was denied by Wharton and Cogill as they eventually scrambled the ball clear of goal

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And so to penalty kicks, with Hednesford winning the toss and electing to play out the shoot-put in front of the Heath Hayes terrace. Stevenson strode up with the first kick and planted it high to Wharton's right, although the stopper did get a hand on the ball but could not stop it from going in. Skipper Cogill took Gainsborough's first kick but blasted high over Rose's crossbar with a wild effort, much to the delight of the hoards of Hednesford fans gathered behind the goal

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Sparkes sent Wharton the wrong way with the Pitmen's second kick and Tuntulwana also got his side on the board with a well-taken kick to make it 2-1 to the Pitmen. Bearne stepped up to take the Pitmen's next kick but weakly struck his shot to Wharton's left, making it an easy save at a comfortable height for the stopper. However, Bobby Johnson was also off-target with Gainsborough's next kick as he too skied his effort over the crossbar

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Holness calmly slotted past Wharton to make it 3-1 before Stacey - under pressure to score - responded with a confident finish past Rose to keep his side in it. Taylor was next up for the hosts, knowing that a goal here would send the Pitmen through. The left-back sent Wharton the wrong way from twelve yards but also saw his effort drift inches wide of the left-hand post. So close to a winner. Lancaster took full advantage of this miss to score for Gainsborough, firing high past Rose to the goalkeeper's right

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Gwilt kept this composure to make it 4-3 in the final round of kicks, sending Wharton the wrong way before Hornshaw showed great composure to fire past Rose as the home crowd did their best to put the substitute off

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Onto sudden death, where the tiredness really started to show as the less-confident penalty-takers struggled to find the net. Spence stepped up for the Pitmen and saw his effort come back off the crossbar, only to be redeemed by Rose seconds later as the stopper pushed Preston's penalty away to his right

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Elliott Johnson was next up for the Pitmen but the Hednesford skipper also failed to find the net as his low drive was turned away by Wharton down to his left. Once again, however, Rose was to keep his side in it as he brilliantly saved Clarke's penalty to his right

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Rowe stepped up for the Pitmen's eighth penalty but yet again failed to find the net, with Wharton again making the save to push the substitute's low shot away to his left. Rose argued profusely to the officials that Wharton had stepped off his line before the kick had been taken and was booked for his protests

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Helliwell was handed the task of winning it for the Holy Blues, sending Rose the wrong way to make it 5-4 to the visitors and send them into the second round of the competition for the first time since the 1952-1953 season. For the Pitmen, it was very much a case of what could have been, having led twice in the game and also in the shootout before finally succumbing to their higher-level opponents in one of the club's all-time greatest F.A. Cup games. It's been a hell of a ride for Hednesford this season in the World's oldest cup competition, having played ten games, scored twenty-five goals in the process and earning the club a hefty amount of money along the way. Once the dust settles on this game, it's back to the harsh reality of Northern Premier League West action on Tuesday night as the club looks to improve its lowly league position with a first-ever league trip to newly-promoted Congleton Town

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Hednesford Town: Rose ▆, Roberts, Taylor ▆, Maye (Spence 65), Endall (Rowe 90), E. Johnson ©, Trickett-Smith (Gwilt 89), Holness ▆, Duku (Stevenson 72), McHale (Sparkes 105), Bearne   Sub Unused: Alamu-Tajudeen, Sutherland

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Gainsborough Trinity: Wharton, Simpson (B. Johnson 45), Jackson (McLoughlin 119), Conway (Stacy 45), Lancaster, Cogill © ▆, Butroid (Tuntulwana 45), Helliwell ▆, Clarke, Howe (Hornshaw 105), Preston       Subs Unused: Simpson, Sykes

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