A commanding, disciplined performance from the Pitmen saw them claim their second away win of the season over a poor Halesowen side, lifting Liam McDonald's side into the top six after six games played

Suspensions to strikers Tristian Dunkley and Jamie Matthews had left the Pitmen short of numbers and options for this Bank Holiday Monday clash at the Grove, meaning first starts for both Joel Logan and Gurjit Singh up front. New signing Kyle Rowley was also handed a first start by McDonald, replacing Rhys Thompson at right-back. There was no place in the squad for fit-again Lewis Wright, Michael McGrath or Demetri Brown

 Halesowen included several faces familiar to the large Hednesford travelling support, with Jay Denny, Kyle Haynes, Malcolm Melvin, Asa Charlton, Danny Bragoli and Kyle Morrison all lining up against their former club. The Yeltz had had an inconsistent start to this season's league campaign, losing to local rivals Rushall Olympic by a goal to nil at the weekend

On a glorious day in the West Midlands, the Pitmen came out of the blocks quickly and settled into their neat, precise passing game with ease, with the likes of Tom Thorley and Ashley Sammons seeing plenty of the ball in the opening minutes

the tricky Gurjit Singh created the first opening of the afternoon for himself in the fourth minute, drifting in from the left wing before driving a low shot wide of goal from the edge of the penalty area

The Pitmen stole into the lead from the first corner kick of the afternoon on eight minutes, as Ashley Sammons floated in a ball that was glanced into the net by George Carline, who got goal-side of the Halesowen defence to nod the ball home from inside the six-yard box

Clever play from Sammons also mustered a second goal for the visitors two minutes later, as he did well to turn his marker and fire in a shot that found the side netting

The rattled Yeltz responded on twelve minutes through the highly experienced Lee Chilton, whose shot from twenty yards out flew high over Dan Crane's crossbar

Neat interplay from the Pitmen on twenty minutes saw Tom Thorley, Carline and Sammons link up, with Sammons trying his luck with a long-range effort that was narrowly wide of goal

The Yeltz started to get more of the ball as the half wore on, pushing the Pitmen back and enjoying more territorial advantage. A succession of corner kicks as half time approached got the Grove crowd on their side, although the excellent Calum Flanagan and his defence dealt well with the Halesowen aerial threat with ease

Carline somehow conspired to miss a glorious opportunity to double his - and Hednesford's - advantage just four minutes after the restart, heading over the crossbar at the far post after rising highest to head Sammons' deep corner

 The midfielder followed this up with an even more glaring miss on sixty-three minutes, getting on the end of a superb deep cross from Cohen Bramall before heading over the crossbar with the goal gaping

 The large travelling support behind the goal were holding their heads in disbelief once more two minutes later, as a brilliant jinking run from Singh saw the forward hang up a cross for skipper Thorley, who headed over the crossbar from a similar position Carline had found himself just moments earlier

In a bid to add more strength to the forward line, McDonald replaced the tiring Logan with Danny Glover. This was to have an immediate impact, as Glover was instrumental in creating the Pitmen's second goal on seventy-four minutes; Crane's long kick forward was flicked on by Glover, setting Sammons on his way. His low drive looked like it was a simple save for Daniel Platt in the Halesowen goal, but the stopper made a real hash of the save and allowed the ball to creep into the net after a fumble

Singh's game ended with a standing ovation from the Hednesford supporters a minute later, with Sean Geddes replacing him in midfield to add more guile to the dominant Hednesford attack

A flowing move down the Hednesford right created the Pitmen's killer third goal on seventy-six minutes, with Glover laying the ball into the path of Simeon Maye. His run and low cross found Glover, who made a charge into the box to toe-poke the ball home from close range

Flatt had to be at his best to keep the scoreline respectable as the game entered the final ten minutes, saving well from both Carline and Sammons as the Pitmen ran riot in the final third

And yet that elusive first clean sheet of the season remains exactly that as Kaiman Anderson pushed his way through the centre of the Hednesford defence to fire past Crane on eighty-eight minutes to grab a consolation goal

The Pitmen will be delighted with the performance, and more importantly, the result, after two frustrating home games that have threatened - but failed - to deliver the kind of scoreline from today. The Pitmen take a break from league action this coming weekend with the visit of Evo-Stik Division One side Belper Town in the F.A. Cup 1st Qualifying Round

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Halesowen Town: Platt, Haynes (Chiriac 70), Griffiths, Denny, Sho-Silva, Charlton ©, Melvin (Colley 83), Bragoli, Anderson, Delaney (Clarke 63), Chilton      Subs Unused: Morrison, King

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Hednesford Town: Crane, Rowley, Bramall, Maye, Flanagan, Mutton, Singh (Geddes 74) Thorley ©, Logan (Glover 68), Sammons, Carline       Subs Unused: Ransome, Francis, Thompson

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