Hednesford cruise into the second qualifying round of this season's F.A. Cup with a comprehensive and goal-laden win at United Counites League Melton Town this afternoon

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Following Monday's disappointing 1-1 draw against local rivals Chasetown, the Pitmen now faced two weeks without league action with involvement in both the F.A. Cup and F.A. Trophy; with this in mind, manager Steve King elected to rotate his squad as he made five changes to his XI for today's trip to Leicestershire as Ryan Brown, Joel Taylor, the fit-again Simeon Maye, Dom McHale and Jake Jervis all came back into the side ahead of Jack Rose, Dan Sparkes, Sion Spence, Omar Holness and Manny Duku

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Melton - currently unbeaten so far this season and going well in the United Counties Premier League North - made four changes of their own for their first-ever appearance in the first qualifying round with Josh Barnes, Yaegen Gore, Kieran Hayes and Damien McCrory replacing Jason Alexander,  Lewis Carr, Tom Manship and ex-Hednesford man Will Norcross from the side that had beaten Newark & Sherwood 3-1 in midweek. There was a further familiar face in the Melton side at left-back with Mikkel Hirst lining up against the side he had a brief spell with in the 2022-2023 season

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Buoyed by another large away following from the ever-reliable Hednesford supporters, the Pitmen made a strong start to the game as they looked to grab their calling card of an early goal. Jake Jervis looked to get on the end of Dan Trickett-Smith's early slide-rule pass, racing in behind the high Melton line in the second minute but being beaten to the bouncing ball by goalkeeper Barnes, who had spotted the danger early on and claimed the ball just inside his penalty area

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Jervis was involved once more in the sixth minute as he picked up a Taylor pass and looked to get his shot away just outside the Melton penalty area, only to be denied by a block from McCrory, who threw himself in front of the ball to divert the ball behind for a corner kick

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Two minutes later, excellent build-up play down the left from the Pitmen saw Elliott Johnson slide the ball through to Taylor, who showed great pace to beat Sam Beaver and swing a cross that drifted a yard or so past the head of the incoming Jervis at the far post

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More clever play from Taylor saw him play the ball into the feet of Rob Stevenson in the tenth minute, who was pulled down by McCrory just outside the Melton penalty area. Trickett-Smith took the resultant free-kick and curled his effort over the wall but into the side netting

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Jack Bearne was looking lively down the right for the visitors, drawing a foul out of ex-Pitman Hirst on fifteen minutes after some clever feet saw him take the ball past the left-back. Trickett-Smith's ball into the box was aimed at Stevenson, whose attempted volley at goal from eight yards out appeared to strike the hand of Ashaiah Fearon, diverting the ball wide of goal for another corner kick. Despite the calls of the men on grey, referee Mr Davis remained unmoved and only awarded a corner kick

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Stevenson was left frustrated by a very tight offside flag against him three minutes later as he got in behind the Melton defence to latch onto Trickett-Smith's brilliant pass but was pulled back by the assistant referee on the main stand side despite looking at least level with McCrory when the ball was played

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Midway through the first half, Johnson picked up a clearance from Fearon just inside the Melton half before playing a magnificent angled ball back into the box that was met by the head of Jervis, who stretched to reach the cross and could only glance it wide of Barnes's left-hand post

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Three minutes later, Taylor made progress down the left once more after neat play from Stevenson and Jervis to put him into space; his cross was slightly behind McHale, who did well to re-adjust himself and glance his effort just wide of goal from six yards out

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Jervis was also left frustrated by a marginal offside call on him a minute later, bringing down a long ball from Johnson but being pulled back for going a little too early in behind the Melton backline

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The Pitmen continued to pepper the Melton goal with chances, with Roberts going close for the away side on twenty-nine minutes as he met Trickett-Smith's corner kick at the near post but headed just wide of Barnes's left-hand post

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A minute later, Stevenson finally broke the deadlock with a fine strike to add to his recent glut of goals, picking up Maye's first-time pass and bringing the ball in from the left, driving past Beaver before unleashing an unstoppable low drive beyond the reach of Barnes from the edge of the box and finding the far corner of the net

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Stevenson looked to add a quickfire second to his tally just three minutes later but was pulled back for the ball striking his hand in the build-up to a chance on the edge of the Melton penalty area

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Brown had had little to nothing to do so far other than receive the odd backpass from his defenders but was called into action for the first time ten minutes before the break as neat build-up play from Melton saw Hayes link up well with Toby Fura on the edge of the Hednesford penalty area before Fura struck a low shot at goal that Brown did well to push away down to his right-hand side

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The gusty wind blowing around the Melton Sports Village was certainly causing issues for both sides, with Trickett-Smith's inswinging corners from the left giving Melton all sorts of problems in clearing their lines as two in a row from the midfielder were played into the six-yard box and cleared very unconvincingly by the home side

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A corner kick of their own on forty-two minutes saw Ryan Calver whip the ball into the far post from the left and aimed at skipper Fearon, only for Roberts to do an excellent job in clearing the danger standing on his own line

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Stevenson's nuisance value earned the Pitmen a free-kick on the left once more on forty-two minutes after McCrory had pulled the striker down. Trickett-Smith's delivery was once again spot on as he picked Roberts out at the far post with a pin-point delivery that was headed into the roof of the net by the defender from close range to make it 2-0

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Despite having spent the whole of the first period on the back foot, Melton were handed a lifeline by a poor decision from the assistant referee with the final action of the first period; a slide-rule ball into the box from the right from Kairo Edwards-Johns found Keenan King in behind Roberts, although the striker looked suspiciously offside when the ball was played. Despite the Pitmen's protests, King was allowed to play on and shoot at goal, forcing Brown into a fine save before tucking away the rebound from close range

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It had been another largely dominant half from the visitors, continuing their fine recent form on their travels with another half-time lead, although they will be less happy with the match officials at the way Melton were gifted a goal back right on the half-time whistle through King

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The Pitmen put this firmly behind them right at the start of the second period and took command of the game once more with a quickfire double shortly after the restart. Another corner from Trickett-Smith on the right was played all the way to the far post, where Stevenson was allowed the ghost in and turn the ball into the net from a yard out with ease to grab his second of the afternoon

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Just sixty seconds later, Bearne seized upon a loose ball from Hayes and ran straight past the portly Gore, driving in a shot at goal on the run that Barnes did well to turn away at his near post. Gore's attempted clearance fell to McHale fifteen yards from goal, who controlled the ball well before finishing with aplomb into the far corner of the net

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The visitors nearly gifted a fifth by Melton on fifty-one minutes as more wing play from Bearne down the right saw him pick up McHale's pass and cross early into the box, aiming for Stevenson in the middle. Beaver came across to block the cross but very nearly turned it into his own net, watching with relief as his deflection ended up falling the wrong side of the near post

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Hirst was the first player to pick up a booking in the game on fifty-four minutes as he was penalised for a shirt-pull on Bearne to stop the winger from escaping his clutches down the flank

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A minute later, the excellent Taylor made yet another forward move down the left as he beat Edwards-John for pace before standing up a cross onto the head of Jervis, whose glancing effort ended up on the roof of the net

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Jervis was to be denied his richly deserved goal on the hour mark as good interplay between him and McHale saw the former Plymouth Argyle man shoot from the edge of the box, only to see his effort blocked by McCrory

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Midway through the second period, Bearne tested the reflexes of Barnes as he drifted inside from the right once more, teasing his way past Hirst before firing in a shot that was at a nice height for the stopper at his near post to make the save ahead of Jervis

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Stevenson came within a whisker of his hat-trick goal on sixty-eight minutes as Bearne's run and cross from the right forced Barnes into making the save at his near post, just doing enough to palm the ball away from goal and force Stevenson to stretch to reach the rebound, heading away from the target as he attempted to nod the ball into the empty net

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Brown was forced into making another fine save to deny Melton on seventy minutes, diving full-length to his left to deny Hayes after the striker had tricked his way into space past Blaine Rowe just inside the penalty area

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King made his first changes of the afternoon on seventy-one minutes as he rested ​Trickett-Smith and the returning Maye as Holness and Spence came back into the fray in midfield

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The dominant away side made it 5-1 a minute later as McHale made it two for the afternoon and four for the season; perhaps unsurprisingly, Bearne was involved once more down the right, picking up a Roberts pass and taking the ball to the byeline before pulling it back into the six-yard box, where McHale was on hand to tap home into the empty net

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With the tie now wrapped up as a contest, the Pitmen made a further three changes in attacking roles before the game restarted as Jacob Gwilt replaced McHale, Duku came on in place of Jervis and Zidan Sutherland was brought on for Stevenson

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Taylor went close to opening his Hednesford account on seventy-seven minutes after picking up a pass from Johnson and made progress down the left, chipping a cross to the far post that was caught in the wind and nearly drifted over the head of Barnes, forcing the stopper into a smart save to deny Duku a free header at the far post as he pushed it over the crossbar for a corner kick

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Sutherland - already gaining a reputation as something of a super sub - thought that he had grabbed the Pitmen's sixth of the afternoon with ten minutes left as he raced in behind the Melton defence to latch on Gwilt's fine pass and turned it past Barnes with a first time effort from ten yards out, only for an offside flag to deny the striker his goal

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Bearne was still looking for his elusive goal and fired just over from another good position on eighty-five minutes, firing over from the corner of the six-yard box after yet another barnstorming run in off the right flank

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It was left to Duku to complete the afternoon's goalscoring with two minutes remaining as he was played in on goal by Holness's superb defence-splitting pass, with the Dutchman initially forced wide by Beaver before turning smartly onto his right foot and firing low past Barnes and into the far corner of the net from eight yards out

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The Pitmen were not done just yet, however, and were still in the hunt for goals in added time; Spence made one of his superb late runs in behind the opposition defence in the first minute of added time, steadying himself before tamely pulling his shot across goal and wide of the far post from sixteen yards out

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Roberts went close to nodding home his second of the afternoon as a deep corner from Bearne dropped in front of the centre-back but just out of reach for the former Walsall man to tuck away

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Deep into added time, Duku won a free-kick to the left-hand side of the Melton penalty area, allowing Sutherland to try his luck from the resultant free-kick, but lifted his effort over the wall and high over the crossbar

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A satisfying and dominant afternoon from the Pitmen sees them move into the second qualifying round draw on Monday after neatly side-stepping today's potential banana skin with confidence and quality. They continue their cup adventures next weekend with a home tie against Northern Premier League Midland outfit Quorn in the first qualifying round of the F.A. Trophy

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Melton Town: Barnes, Beaver ©, Hirst ▆, Y. Gore, Fearon, McCrory, Calver, King, Fura, Hayes, Edwards-John       Subs Unused: Brailsford, Alexander, K. Gore, Gilchrist, Mulvany, Manship, Norcross

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Hednesford Town: Brown, Rowe, Taylor, Roberts ▆, Johnson ©, Maye (Holness 71), Trickett-Smith (Spence 71), Stevenson (Sutherland 73), McHale (Gwilt 73), Bearne, Jervis (Duku 73)    Subs Unused: Alamu-Tajudeen, Rose

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