The Pitmen leave it late to earn themselves their first point of 2001 as Keith Russell's last-minute goal denies Hayes a first win in six games at a chilly Church Road this afternoon

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Having seen their New Year's Eve game at home to Dover Atheltic fall foul to the weather, the Pitmen made the long trip down to Greater London to face one of their fellow strugglers toward the foot of the Nationwide Conference table. Player/manager Neil Pointon - still looking for his first win as Hednesford manager at the fourth time of asking - made two changes to his side from the one that had drawn 1-1 against local rivals Telford United on Boxing Day as he surprisingly dropped top scorer Neil Davis in favour of Scott Bonsall and also brought Micky Norbury back into the fold ahead of Russell

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Sixteenth-placed Hayes returned to Church Road having picked up an impressive point at high-flying Stevenage Borough on New Year's Day, looking to improve on a poor home record so far this season that had seen Terry Brown's men pick up only two league wins to date. Brown made three changes to his side from the one that had played their part in the 3-3 draw at Broadhill Way five days ago as Dean Coppard came in for Alvin Watts, Errol Telemaque replaced former Chelsea man Eddie Newton and Lee Boylan was preferred to Dave Stevens up front

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On a hard and bumpy pitch, the Pitmen started well and pushed the hosts back into their own third of the pitch early on in the game. Bonsall won the ball in midfield from Steve McKimm in the second minute of the game and played the ball out to skipper Lee Colkin on the left flank. The former Northampton Town man whipped in a delightful low cross to the near post, where Hayes' England C goalkeeper Paul Gothard claimed the bouncing ball ahead of Norbury

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Gothard almost gifted the Pitmen the lead two minutes later as he controlled a backpass from Dominic Sterling but elected to hold onto the ball for too long, allowing Norbury to close him down and win the ball momentarily until Gothard could pounce on the ball and deny the striker a clear shot at goal

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Paul Bagshaw made a surging run down the right for the men in navy blue in the eighth minute, leaving Lee Flynn in his wake before pulling the ball back from the byeline into the path of Val Owen, whose first-time shot was blocked on the edge of the penalty area by Jason Goodliffe

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Hayes' first sight at goal came through Telemaque in the eleventh minute as he turned Russell Bradley with ease to the right-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area before Tom Griffiths came to the Pitmen's rescue with a block tackle that turned the ball behind for a corner to the hosts

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The hosts were starting to grow into the game, with former West Ham United youngster Boylan striking an effort just over the crossbar on fifteen minutes with a rising effort from twenty yards that was watched over by Mark Gayle

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Gayle was to prove to be a formidable barrier to the home side throughout the afternoon, making the first of a string of good saves in the eighteenth minute as Ryan Spencer's through ball sent Mark Preston away in behind the Hednesford defence, with Gayle making a fine save at his near post to turn the midfielder's low shot from twelve yards out behind for a corner kick

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Midway through the first half, Jake Sedgemore made a run deep into the Hayes half as he carried the ball twenty yards unchallenged before being brought down by McKimm. Scott Goodwin clipped a free-kick into the penalty area that was flicked on by Norbury but just out of the reach of the incoming Mark Haran at the far post as the centre-back attempted to turn the loose ball home from close-range

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On twenty-seven minutes, neat play in midfield from Hayes saw Preston and Telemaque link up to play Spencer into space just outside the Hednesford penalty area; after taking a touch, the midfield man lashed his shot high over Gayle's crossbar as Haran looked to close him down

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Gayle made another good save to deny Barry Moore on thirty-one minutes as he parried the striker's angled shot from the left-hand side of the penalty area behind for a corner kick, although the play was pulled back for an earlier offside flag against the former Hampton striker

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A sloppy piece of play from Goodwin three minutes later saw the auxiliary right-back lose possession cheaply to Preston and allow the Hayes man to make an unchallenged run into the Hednesford penalty area. Fortunately for the former Coventry City youngster, Gayle came out to narrow the angle and forced Preston into dragging his shot wide of the far post from fifteen yards out

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Within a minute, Goodwin almost made amends for his error as his fine through ball sent Bagshaw clear in behind the Hayes defence down the right, only for the young winger to take a heavy second touch and carry the ball over the line before he could cross for Norbury

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Griffiths picked up the game's first booking of the game with seven minutes of the first half remaining as he was shown a yellow card by referee Mr Habgood for a mistimed challenge on Telemaque

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Haran headed over the crossbar on forty-two minutes as he met Colkin's outswinging corner kick with a glancing effort at the far post that ended up amongst the small band of Hednesford supporters gathered on the open terrace behind Gothard's goal

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The final action of the first period saw the Pitmen go closest to grabbing the opening goal of the game on fifty-four minutes as a barnstorming run from Norbury saw him escape the attentions of Flynn down the right and cross to the far post, where Colkin arrived to produce a diving header at goal from six yards out that was pushed away by Gothard down at the foot of his post

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It had been a half of few chances as both sides had highlighted their relative struggles in the league this season, with Gothard and Gayle both proving their worth to their respective teams with a solid first-half display between the sticks 

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A typically bustling piece of play from Norbury on forty-nine minutes saw him battle with Goodliffe on the edge of the penalty area, culminating in a free-kick being awarded to the visitors. Bagshaw took the resultant shot but could only curl his effort straight into the hands of Gothard

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Hayes' first chance of the second half saw the home side denied the lead on fifty-three minutes by a breathtaking double save from Gayle to somehow deny them the game's opening goal; an inch-perfect through ball from McKimm found Boylan in behind the Hednesford defence, with his first-time shot from fifteen yards out parried away from goal by the stopper. The ball dropped kindly into the path of Spencer, whose follow-up effort was brilliantly saved by Gayle from close-range to turn it behind for a corner kick

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The shot-shy Pitmen made their first substitution of the afternoon on fifty-eight minutes as Davis made a swift return to the side as he came on in place of Norbury

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Within three minutes of his introduction, Davis went agonisingly close to giving the away side the lead as Colkin's run and cross from the left found the substitute unmarked ten yards from goal, with Davis's first-time effort beating Gothard and bouncing over the line via a touch off the underside of the crossbar. Davis's celebrations were short-lived, however, as an offside flag against Bonsall in the build-up saw play pulled back

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A long punt forwards from Gothard on sixty-three minutes bounced over the head of Mark Haran and into the path of the sprightly Boylan, who held off the challenge of the defender and struck a shot that was easily held by Gayle at his near post

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Midway through the second half, Gayle made another magnificent save to deny the home side as the dangerous Boylan picked up a pass from Telemaque, turning past Bradley and rifling in a low shot that the Hednesford stopper turned away at full stretch down to his right-hand side for another Hayes corner kick

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Sterling headed a good chance over the crossbar for Hayes on seventy minutes, meeting a free-kick from the left flank from Flynn with a full-blooded header that Gayle watched inches over his crossbar

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With fifteen minutes of the game remaining, Colkin picked up the game's first booking of the afternoon as he was adjudged to have pulled Moore down to the right-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area. Despite pleading his case to Mr Habgood, the Hednesford skipper was shown a yellow card for the offence

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Hayes took the lead two minutes later as Preston was played into acres of space down the left flank by Flynn, whipping in a dangerous cross onto the head of Boylan, whose effort just had enough on it to beat Gayle and creep over the line, despite the stopper's best efforts to keep the ball out. Substitute Stevens was booked for his celebrations following the goal after getting into a bout of pushing and shoving with Haran as he looked to fish the ball out of the net

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Before play could restart, the Pitmen gambled with another attacking change as Russell came on to add his experience to the forward line, replacing the out-of-sorts Bonsall

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Tom Griffiths - again underlining his credentials with another mature performance at left-back - exchanged passes with Colkin on eighty minutes and made a run deep into the Hayes half before picking out the run of Sedgemore with a fine pull-back. The former West Brom youngster unleashed a shot from twenty yards out that Gothard saw over his crossbar

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With six minutes remaining, a free-kick from Bagshaw saw him play the ball short to Colkin, whose curling ball in was headed wide by Bradley at the far post from eight yards out

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The Pitmen ended the game on the front foot as they searched for an equaliser, with Davis getting the better of Goodliffe two minutes later and sending Russell clear of the Hayes defence. A late, late offside flag was raised against the substitute as he looked to pull the trigger from just inside the penalty area, much to the disdain of the former Blackpool man

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Bagshaw's trickery saw him dribble past three Hayes players en route to goal on eighty-eight minutes, only for his weakly-struck left-footed shot from eighteen yards out to land in the arms of Gothard

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Just as it looked as though the Pitmen were heading for their sixth defeat in eight games, Russell conjured up a lifeline for his side in the final minute of the game; patient play from the away side saw Goodwin and Owen link up to play Bagshaw into space on the right, with the winger's low cross into the near post turned home by the Hednesford number fourteen, nipping in ahead of McKimm to sidefoot the ball past Gothard from close-range

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Despite the boost of having scored late on, the Pitmen had to hang on to their precious point in added time as Hayes pushed forwards in search of a late winner once more, with Gayle making a smart stop deep into time added on to turn a low deflected shot from Moore around the post for a corner kick after good approach play from Stevens

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It had been a hard-fought point for Pointon's men in the end, which does little to improve the club's position as they remain second bottom of the Nationwide Conference table on nineteen points. They take a well-earned break from league action next Saturday as they travel up to Lancashire to face league rivals Southport in the third round of the F.A. Trophy looking for a morale-boosting run in a competition that has historically not been kind to the club

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Hayes: Gothard, Spencer, Flynn, Coppard, Sterling, Goodliffe, McKimm, Telemaque (Stevens 73) ▆, Boylan, Moore, Preston       Subs Unused: Behzadi, Molseley

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Hednesford Town: Gayle, Goodwin, Bradley, Colkin © ▆, Griffiths ▆, Haran, Owen, Bonsall (Russell 78), Sedgemore, Bagshaw, Norbury (Davis 58)      Subs Unused: Cooper, Pointon, Ford

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