The Pitmen bring the curtain down on a wretched nine months for the football club on and off the pitch with a narrow defeat to promotion-chasing Leiston this afternoon, ending the season amidst shamefully embarrassing circumstances that perhaps summed up the club's 2022-2023 campaign

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The thirty-six hours that had passed since the Pitmen's fine 4-0 win over Needham Market had seen player/manager Danny Glover struck with continual blows to his ever-diminishing squad numbers; Ben Kaninda was ruled out due to a family bereavement, whilst West Bromwich Albion had elected to recall Fenton Heard from his loan spell one game before it was due to expire. Stanley Asomugha was ruled out due to injury and did not travel, joining Steph Morley on the injured list. Chay Tilt was serving the second of his three-match ban for his red card against Rushall Olympic on Bank Holiday Monday, leaving Glover with only eleven fit and available players to make the journey to Suffolk, two of whom were goalkeepers Oliver Basey and Rhys Williams. Glover was therefore forced into naming teenager Williams as an outfield player for today's game, with the youngster taking his place on the right flank. Nutrition and fitness coach Garry Walker - registered as a player by the club when he arrived in December - was named as the Pitmen's only substitute. A sorry and comical situation for a once-proud club to be in on the last day of the season

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Leiston had clinched third place in the Southern Premier League Central table in their last outing, despite losing 3-1 at title-chasing Tamworth last weekend. The Blues had been in action on Tuesday night against local rivals Needham Market in the Suffolk Senior Cup, going down 1-0 to the Marketmen before the Pitmen disposed of Leiston's rivals two nights later. Manager Darren Eadie made three changes to his side for today's dead rubber as Zach Dronfield, George Quantrell and Ben Fowkes returned to the side ahead of Ollie Saunders, Will Davies and Rossi Jarvis respectively

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Looking to take advantage of their visitor's personnel problems, Leiston made a strong start to the game as Ben Fowkes took the ball into space in front of the Hednesford defence, striking a firm low shot at goal from just outside the penalty area that was easily saved by Oliver Basey

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The Pitmen were hit with yet another body blow two minutes later as Glover challenged Seb Dunbar for the ball as Jack Sang crossed from the left, coming off worst in a clash between the pair as he suffered a nasty-looking cut lip. With no other options on the bench, the Hednesford player/manager was patched up by sports therapist Shannon Kincade and sent back out onto the pitch with a clean shirt and a rather pronounced bottom lip

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In the tenth minute, Leiston looked to catch the Pitmen out with a short corner as Joe Marsden and Fowkes played a quick one-two with each other before Marsden sent over a cross to the far post that drifted beyond any of the incoming players in blue

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Williams was a willing runner down the right for the away side in his alien role, frustrating the home side on thirteen minutes as he did well to break up a budding attack with a timely challenge on Adam Mills

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Finlay Barnes looked to be Leiston's best chance of opening the deadlock as he made several surging runs into the Hednesford half without being able to apply the final ball. One such run on seventeen minutes saw the former Norwich City youngster turn past Zac Hartley and play the ball through towards Quantrell, only for the ball to skip away from the forward before he could get a shot away

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Lesiton were denied the game's first goal of the afternoon on nineteen minutes as Marsden made a run down the right flank, getting the better of auxiliary left-back James McQuilkin and swinging in a cross to the six-yard box that was headed off the line by Ethan Patterson as Fowkes lurked behind him

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Three minutes later, Glover was forced off once more with blood spewing from his lip again as referee Mr ... instructed the striker to receive more treatment. Another intensive spell of patching up saw Glover's wound cleaned up and handed yet another clean shirt before he returned to play once more

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A rare foray into the Lesiton half from the Pitmen two minutes later saw Kemy Agustien pick the ball up just inside the opposition half, spotting goalkeeper Sam Donkin of his line and trying his luck with an audacious long-range effort that dropped well, well wide of the left-hand post

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In twenty-five minutes, good build-up play down the left from Leiston saw Barnes lay the ball off to Quantrell, who blazed his effort from fifteen yards out high and wide of Basey's goal

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Shortly before the half-hour mark, Barnes made another one of his solo runs down the left, cutting inside before playing a neat reverse pass into the path of Mills as he broke into the penalty area. Harvey Portman spotted the danger early and came across to clear the danger before Mills could get his shot away

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A corner from the Pitmen on thirty-two minutes saw Todd Parker send over a deep ball from the left which was aimed at Patterson, whose header was bundled behind by Dunbar for another corner kick to the visitors

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Three minutes later, a late offside flag denied Fowkes a clear effort at goal after a chipped forward ball from Dronfield had played the striker in behind a hesitant Hednesford defence

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Glover dropped back to aid his defenders on thirty-nine minutes as he denied Ryan Jarvis a free header at the far post with a towering clearance to clear Marsden's deep free-kick

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The Pitmen broke quickly after clearing their lines from another Marsden free-kick on forty-two minutes, with Williams taking the ball into space and attempting a highly ambitious lob over Donkin from fully forty yards out which flew well wide of the target. The stand-in winger appeared to pull a muscle as he pulled his effort wide, struggling on until half-time with a pronounced limp

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Despite all of their pre-game woes, the Pitmen had got to half-time with relative ease, adopting a siege mentality and defending stoutly against a shot-shy Leiston attack that had struggled to break down an in-form Hednesford defence. Williams had to admit defeat on his leg injury at the break and was replaced by Walker for the second half out on the right flank. Leiston also elected to make a change at the break as Billy Johnson came on in place of Donkin in goal for the Blues

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The hosts looked to make another quick start to the second half as they kept the ball well early on, with Ryan Jarvis playing a neat through ball into the path of the dangerous Barnes on fifty minutes that was well fielded by the alert presence of Patterson

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Walker got stuck in for the visitors two minutes later, sliding in and dispossessing Dunbar out on the left touchline to stop the creative midfielder from starting another one of his runs from deep

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On fifty-four minutes, Hutchins was afforded far too much time and space out on the right wing to pick out the head of Mills at the far post. With Hartley for company, the former Braintree Town midfielder headed just wide of Basey's right-hand post from eight yards out

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The home side finally broke the deadlock in the game three minutes later as Barnes finally found a way through the stoic Pitmen back line; drifting in from the left flank once more, Barnes danced past three challenges before giving Basey the eyes and turning the ball back across goal and into the right-hand corner of the net from ten yards out. A disappointing, soft goal to concede for the away side after defending so impressively up this point

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With one eye on Wednesday night's play-off semi-final against either Rushall Olympic or Nuneaton Borough, the hosts could afford to rest one of their key players on the hour mark as Quantrell was replaced by Wyatt Hill

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Midway through the second half, the impressive Dunbar picked up a pass from Jake Hutchings and whipped in another fine ball into the Hednesford penalty area. Mills got on the end of the cross, getting goal side of Patterson but driving his shot wide of the base of Basey's near post

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Perhaps understandably, the Pitmen were offering very little as an attacking threat in the second period, electing to protect their makeshift defence and look to catch Leiston on the counter-attack. McQuilkin sent Sanga away down the left wing with a looping ball forwards on sixty-seven minutes, with Sang drifting inside before losing the ball at the crucial moment right on the edge of the Leiston penalty area

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Glover had the briefest of sights at goal a minute later as Jordan Graham's knock-down played his strike partner into space just inside the penalty area. Hutchings did well to spot the danger and get across to block the experienced striker's shot

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Leiston broke quickly through Fowkes down the right, who played the overlapping Marsden through with a well-weighted pass. His low shot was at a comfortable height for Basey, who made the save down to his left-hand side

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The Blues' final change of the afternoon came on seventy-one minutes as Will Davies - scorer of Leiston's third goal in their 3-1 win at Keys Park back in November - came on in place of Barnes

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Davies was involved for the hosts on seventy-seven minutes as he collected a pass from Dunbar in space, turning past Walker before drifting unchallenged into the Hednesford penalty area and shooting wide of Basey's right-hand post

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The Pitmen and their supporters felt that Johnson made a little too much about a challenge on him from Glover on eighty minutes as the substitute went down very easily after a nudge on him by the striker after Sang had crossed from the left

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With the game drifting to an unmemorable finish, Davies did well to work the ball onto his right foot just outside the penalty area on eighty-seven minutes but saw his low effort at goal blocked by Hartley before Walker brought the ball away

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A late attacking salvo from the Pitmen saw them throw some numbers forward in the final few moments as they looked for an unlikely late leveller: in the final minute of normal time, Parker and Graham looked to create an opening just outside the Leiston penalty area, only for Mills to make a fine block tackle to deny Graham a clear shot at goal

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The players and officials showed their appreciation to the travelling supporters at the end of the game by thanking each and every one of the Hednesord fans for their support at the end of the game. The Pitmen end up in twentieth place in the table on only 31 points for the season, having been condemned to step four football for the last month of the season, such was the yawning gap between them and the sides above them in the table

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So, one of the worst seasons in the club's history comes to an end with yet more questions to be answered as, incredibly, the Pitmen face step four football for the first time in over forty years in 2023-2024. It has been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions and events once more, something that comes with the territory at Keys Park more often than not; a huge turnover of players and managers once more, a brief threat of the club going out of business and the current owners departing at the end of the campaign, all contributing to uncertainty, instability and the inevitable slide out of the league. May 1st sees new owner Gary Hartland take the reigns at Keys Park, by which time we should have a good idea of which league the Pitmen will be playing in  - either the Northern Premier League West or Northern Premier League Midlands. As with many of the past few seasons, expect some major comings and goings on and off the pitch before we reconvene once more in July for pre-season

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Leiston: Donkin (Johnson 45), Marsden, Dunbar ©, Ryan Jarvis, Bailey-Dennis, Hutchings, Barnes (Davies 71), Dronfield, Mills, Quantrell (Hill 60), Fowkes      Subs Unused: Saunders, Rossi Jarvis

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Hednesford Town: Basey, McQuilkin, Hartley, Agustien, Patterson, Portman, Parker ©, Glover, Graham, R. Williams (Walker 45)     Sub Unused: None

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