The Pitmen extend their unbeaten run to four games this afternoon as they once again dig deep on their travels to earn a hard-earned point at play-off chasing Kidsgrove Athletic

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With injuries biting hard on Harry Harris's squad, the Hednesford manager once again struggled to name a full sixteen-man squad for today's trip to the north of the county. Callam Mendez-Jones and James McQuilkin were the latest players to join Tom Thorley, Sam Griffiths, Sam Paddock, James Carvell and Dan Gyasi on the sidelines, forcing Harris into two changes to his side from the one that had beaten Widnes last Saturday as Ritchie Sutton came on for Mendez-Jones at centre-back and Jacob Gwilt recalled ahead of the injured McQuilkin in midfield. Once again, Harris could only muster four names for the substitutes bench, with Will Mellors-Blair returning to the squad after missing last week's win in a heavily attack-minded bench

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Kidsgrove - 3-2 winners over the Pitmen at Keys Park back in August - were in the midst of their worst run of form this season so far, with Scott Dundas' side having only won one of their last six games. The former Stafford Rangers man made one change to his side for today's return to the Novus Stadium as Mason Fawns replaced Owen Harrison at left-back

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The hosts made a strong start to the game but were to find Kieran Boucher in inspired form throughout the ninety minutes between the sticks for the Pitmen. His first save of the afternoon came in the second minute as the experienced Anthony Malbon played the ball into the path of Jake Lovatt, whose first-time shot was fielded by the stopper inside his six-yard box

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The Pitmen responded through the counter-attack through Ryan Boothe a minute later, breaking down the right and whipping a cross that Jai Verma Headed wide at the far post as he beat Jack Bromfield to the ball

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Boucher came to his side's rescue again in the fourth minute of a busy opening spell to the game, punching an inswinging corner away from goal before Ritchie Sutton eventually completed the clearance ahead of Jake Lovatt

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Former Vauxhall Motors striker Kieran Knapper was the next man in blue to test Boucher sixty seconds later as his low, driven effort from the edge of the penalty area was pushed away by the former Redditch United goalkeeper

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Kidsgrove were very much enjoying the lion's share of possession in the first ten minutes of the game, with the Pitmen struggling to cope with the movement of the likes of Jake Lovatt and Joe Woolley up front for Grove. Woolley drove a half-chance well wide of goal in the ninth minute after the away side had allowed him time and space to size up his effort just outside the penalty area

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The Pitmen had to be patient and started to come back into the game, having their best chance of the afternoon so far in the fourteenth minute; a corner kick on the left from Jack Kelly was swung into the Kidsgrove six-yard box, where the tall, rangy figure of Joe Thompson headed the ball inches wide of the far post

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Kidsgrove forced three corners in a row out of the Pitmen as they searched for an early breakthrough on eighteen minutes, with Sutton and Boucher both equal to the aerial bombardment of the home side. Another corner followed two minutes later which Kelly did well to clear before Woolley could turn the ball home

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Midway through the first half, it was Kidsgrove who went agonisingly close from a corner kick as Woolley's deep cross was met by the head of Callum Lovatt, whose downward header went just past the post as he was put under pressure by Josh Endall

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Hednesford responded with a break down the left through Verma, who showed excellent ball retention before playing the ball into the path of Gwilt, whose long-range shot took a huge deflection off Malbon and dropped into the hands of Kidsgrove stopper Kieran Harrison

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Good play from the hosts on twenty-eight minutes saw Malbon involved once more, playing the ball into the feet of Lewis Bergin in midfield. The long-serving defender strode forward but was hugely ambitious with his thirty-five-yard effort and sent his shot high and wide of Boucher's goal

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Kidsgrove's first-half pressure told eventually as they finally made one of their corner kicks work for them on thirty-three minutes. Another ball in from Woolley on the left was met by the head of Callum Lovatt, who managed to bundle the ball over the line at the second attempt despite the Pitmen's best attempts to keep the ball out on the line

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The Pitmen's mix-and-match midfield had struggled to get to grips with the more established players in the Kidsgrove ranks, constantly giving the ball away cheaply and allowing the home side to build from deep through Malbon. The former Kidderminster Harriers schemer was again given time and space to pick out Woolley with a fine pass on thirty-four minutes, allowing the striker to get goal side of Sutton briefly before Endall cut off his route to goal with a no-nonsense clearance

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Kelly looked to be the Pitmen's chief provider of chances from the left as Verma was once again double-marked by the hosts, whipping in a dangerous-looking free-kick a minute later after Verma had been brought down by Bromfield, seeing his cross headed away by Nathan Morley before Thompson could get to the ball

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Harrison was called upon to make his first meaningful contribution to the afternoon on forty-one minutes, pushing Boothe's goalbound header away from goal to his left after Verma had once again won a free-kick on the left which allowed Kelly to pick out the striker at the far post with the resultant free-kick

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Boucher ended the first half as he had started it - in an overworked state - as Kidsgrove looked to press home their advantage before the break.

Woolley fired a warning shot at goal in the final minute of the half, driving a shot just wide of goal before Knapper forced Boucher into a good save to his right to turn the striker's effort away from goal to prevent a certain goal for Knapper as he struck his effort across the goalkeeper's body

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A minute later, Boucher was at it again as Woolley's corner kick was met by the head of Bergin, whose effort was tipped over the crossbar by the stopper for yet another corner to the hosts. With Kidsgrove crowding the six-yard box for the resultant flag kick, Boucher stood firm to take the pressure off his defenders by making a commanding catch.

 

A minute later, the former Solihull Moors man looked to launch the ball Verma from a goal kick but was impeded by an inpatient Knapper, who was booked for blocking the Hednesford man

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The Pitmen will have been glad to hear the half-time whistle after an indifferent first-half display had seen them hang on in the latter stages to keep the deficit to one goal going into the second half. The constant stream of corner kicks from Kidsgrove had been a real issue for the men in white to deal with, having been reliant on the heroics of Boucher to keep them in contention for the second half

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With Harris's words still ringing in their ears, the Pitmen showed more evidence of their new-found confidence and determination to get themselves back on level terms just a few minutes into the second half; Verma once again earned the Pitmen a free-kick on the left after drawing a foul out of Bromfield, allowing Kelly to deliver a peach of a ball into the box that was turned home in an untidy, but effective, fashion by Sutton from close-range. It was the veteran's first goal for the club since his move to Keys Park in September, and a very timely one at that

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The game returned to the familiar pattern of the first half after the Pitmen's equaliser, with Kidsgrove probing and the Pitmen holding firm at the back against another barrage of corner kicks. Malbon whipped in a cross from the right on fifty-two minutes that evaded everyone at the far post, including the unsighted Boucher inside his six-yard box

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Thompson picked up the Pitmen's first booking of the afternoon on fifty-six minutes for a foul on Malbon in the centre-circle. The midfielder took the kick himself, which was bundled behind by Endall for yet another Kidsgrove corner kick. Woolley got a little too much air on this corner kick, however, and curled his effort onto the roof of Boucher's net

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Kelly wasted a good chance from a promising free-kick for the Pitmen on the hour mark as he struck his effort straight into the Kidsgrove wall after Verma had been brought down twenty yards from goal by Bromfield

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The Pitmen made a doubled attacking change on sixty-two minutes as Mellors-Blair came back into the fold in favour of Joe Morley, with Kaden May also coming on in place of Gwilt in a more withdrawn role

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May's first involvement saw the midfielder go close to handing the Pitmen an unlikely lead midway through the second half as he picked up Verma's pass and drove forwards before striking a low shot at goal that flashed just wide of Harrison's left-hand post

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The latest corner kick from Woolley on sixty-eight minutes picked out Bergin once more at the far post with a deep, out-swinging cross that was headed just wide by the defender, under pressure from the lanky Endall

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Kidsgrove's first substitution of the afternoon came on seventy-one minutes as Jake Lovatt was withdrawn by Dundas in favour of the much-travelled striker Jordan Cole

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Boucher was once again on his toes to deal with the latest batch of Kidsgrove corner kicks on seventy-four minutes, gathering a dangerous cross from Malbon ahead of Cole at his near post after the Pitmen had initially dealt with Woolley's cross

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Boothe's hard running had seen him tire in the second half and offer very little as an attacking threat, so it was perhaps no surprise that the former Halesowen Town man was replaced by fit-again Demetri Brown on eighty minutes in a like-for-like swap up front

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The Pitmen were living dangerously at the back as Kidsgrove forced more corner kicks out of the visitors' defence two minutes later, with Malbon picking up a partial clearance from Endall and driving in a shot from just inside the penalty area that was deflected behind by the boot of Kelly for another flag kick

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Sensing a late winner, Kidsgrove made their second change of the game with eight minutes remaining as midfielder Jimmy Garlick was replaced by the more attacking Tyrone Cadeau

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Cole was involved for the hosts two minutes later as he rose highest to meet Nathan Morley's stood-up cross at the far post but got underneath the ball and headed over the bar from six yards out

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Boucher cemented his man-of-the-match display with another fine save to deny Knapper on eighty-eight minutes, brilliantly pushing the forward's effort around the post for a corner kick after Knapper had shown good feet on the edge of the penalty area to turn past two challenges and shoot at goal

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Kidsgrove handed midfielder Conrad Muir a late debut after his midweek move from Market Drayton Town before the corner could be taken, as he came on in place of Malbon

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Despite hanging on for much of the final twenty minutes of the game, the Pitmen almost snatched an inexplicable three points in added time as a quick counter-attack forced a corner kick at the other end of the pitch; Kelly's kick was headed back into the danger zone by Endall and onto the boot of Brown, who volleyed his effort just over the crossbar from close-range. A more match-fit Brown may have been sharper to the ball and the outcome could well have been different

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Endall too 'one for the team' in the third of seven added minutes, earning himself a booking for halting a break from Kidsgrove thirty yards from goal with a foul on Cadeau. The free-kick was played to Fawns, whose cross-cum-shot drifted just wide of Boucher's far post

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Deep into added time, Brown was handed another chance to win it for the Pitmen as he bundled his way into the box but drilled his low effort wide of Harrison's right-hand post with a scuffed effort that lacked any real conviction

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In truth, the Pitmen had very much been second best for much of the afternoon, but, as they had done at Chasetown twelve days ago, they now have the belief and ability to dig in and earn gritty points against unwieldy, aggressive opponents who earned close to twenty corner kicks over the ninety minutes as they looked to set-pieces to create openings. Harris's side remains in the bottom two, but the gap between themselves and the sides above them continues to tighten up with only five points covering eight sides in the bottom half of the Northern Premier League West table. The Pitmen have a free weekend of football before City of Liverpool make their first-ever trip to Keys Park in a fortnight's time

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Kidsgrove Athletic: K. Harrison, Bromfield, N. Morley, Malbon (Muir 89), C. Lovatt, Bergin, Knapper ▆, Garlick (Cadeau 82), J. Lovatt (Cole 71), Woolley, Fawns       Subs Unused: O. Harrison, Holdham

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Hednesford Town: Boucher, Williams, Kelly, Thompson ▆, Sutton, Endall ▆, Verma, Ali ©, Boothe (Brown 80), J. Morley (Mellors-Blair 64), Gwilt (May 65)   Sub Unused: Niven