The Pitmen end their home campaign on a high note as they complete a confident and straightforward win over Needham Market at Keys Park this evening

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Saturday's 1-0 win over Kings Langley had seen Danny Glover's side extend their unbeaten home run to five successive games, with the hosts aiming to give their long-suffering fans a memorable send-off at the end of a terrible campaign for the club. On the pitch, Glover made three changes to his side from the one that had taken to the pitch at the weekend as Harvey Portman came in for the injured Steph Morley at left-back, on-loan Fenton Heard replaced Stanley Asomugha and Jack Sang made his first start for the club after his recent loan switch from Leamington as he replaced the suspended Chay Tilt. Ethan Spencer - on dual registration with Heather St. Johns - was named amongst the substitutes for the first time since his arrival last month. The captaincy also moved to midfielder Todd Parker as a result of veteran Morley's absence tonight

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Needham Market made the long, winding trip up to Staffordshire having been local rivals Leiston 1-0 on Tuesday night to move into the final of the Suffolk Senior Cup. With this in mind, manager Kevin Horlock made wholesale changes to his side from the one that had started against Leiston as Oliver Fraser, debutant Flynn Crosthwaite, Seth Chambers, Hugh Cullum and Luke Brown all came in as Kyle Hammond, Jake Dye, Daniel Morphew, Kieran Morphew and Tom Fitzgerald were all rested

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It was a cool but dry evening for the small crowd to enjoy, with the club's recent relegation and the late re-arrangement of the game two factors in tonight's sub-300 attendance. The hosts were straight on the front foot, eager to make a quick start to the game against opponents who will no doubt be struggling with the demands of three games in the last six days. In the second minute, the tall and rangy Sang picked up a Parker corner and stole half a yard on Jacob Lay before chipping into the box, where Ethan Patterson arrived at the far post to head goalwards only to be denied by a smart save from goalkeeper Marcus Garnham

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A quick break from Needham Market three minutes later saw full-back Fraser escape the attentions of Zac Hartley down the right as he received a pass from skipper Luke Ingram, firing in a shot from the edge of the Hednesford penalty area that was well fielded by Oliver Basey at his near post

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Basey had to be alert to make an even more impressive save in the eighth minute as Dylan Williams' free-kick from the right found the head of the incoming Brown, who got goal side of Kaninda to head goalwards, forcing Basey into an instinctive save to tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick to the Marketmen

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On-loan Jordan Graham went close to grabbing the evening's first goal for the Pitmen in the tenth minute of a keen opening spell as he controlled Sang's pass just inside the Needham Market box, turning well but rifling his shot narrowly over the crossbar from fifteen yards out

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Another quick break from the Pitmen two minutes later saw Glover and Graham combine well just outside the penalty area, with Graham looking to shoot on sight but being denied by Cullum's timely block. The visitors broke quickly through Page on the counter, but his attempted return ball to Lay was a little too heavy and the Pitmen cleared their lines

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After a frenetic start to the game, proceedings started to settle into a rhythm as the Pitmen enjoyed plenty of the ball in midfield as they looked to drag their opponents around the pitch in a bid to tire them out. On sixteen minutes, Glover's flick-on found Graham in the penalty area, with the forward controlling the ball well but weakly firing well wide of goal from twelve yards out

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Three minutes later, Parker's quickly-taken corner kick on the left-hand side of the pitch looked to catch Needham Market out, with youngster Crosthwaite coming across to make a timely block and deny Heard a shot at goal

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The Pitmen continued to build up a head of steam and you did feel that a goal was coming. It duly arrived midway through the first period as Graham struck his fourth goal since returning to Keys Park on loan in February; a long throw-in from the right caused problems for the Marketmen's defenders as they struggled to clear their lines, with Graham controlling the loose ball well before swivelling and turning the ball past Garnham with a low finish from close-range

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Graham could have made it a quickfire double for the Pitmen on twenty-seven minutes as a long punt forwards from Basey dropped into the path of the striker, whose attempted lob at goal lacked any real power and was easily claimed by the burly Garnham

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Shortly before the half-hour mark, good play down the left from Williams and Brown saw the pair exchange passes before Brown's attempted chip over the head of Basey was claimed at his near post by the Birmingham City loanee

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Needham Market were enjoying their best spell of the game at this point, with defender Crosthwaite allowed time and space to pick out fellow teenager Taylor Clark, who headed wide at the far post. Even if the youngster had got his effort on target, he would have been adjudged to have been offside anyway

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The Pitmen responded with a chance for Heard on thirty-five minutes as Glover did well to make space for himself down the left and crossed for the young loanee, whose weak header lacked power and direction and dropped wide of the left-hand post

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A minute later, Williams picked up a loose ball in midfield and took the ball into the Hednesford third of the pitch. The home defence stood off the former Lowestoft Town man and allowed him time and space to strike a shot at goal from twenty-five yards out, but lifted his shot over Basey's crossbar

 

Graham put clear daylight between the two sides on forty-one minutes with what was to prove to be the pick of the night's goals as he picked the ball up out on the left-hand side of the pitch before driving at the Needham Market defence and firing an unstoppable shot beyond the reach of Garnham from the edge of the penalty area. Superb strike, 2-0 to the Pitmen

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Things got even better for the hosts just before the half-time whistle as Hednesford made it 3-0 with the final action of the first period. Sang made a run down the left, taking on Lay before laying the ball off to Parker inside the penalty area, with the former Wolves midfield man striking another crisp shot beyond Garnham from an angle

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It had been a dominant first forty-five minutes from the Pitmen, who had taken full advantage of Needham Market's fragmented and tiring XI to strike three good goals without reply and put themselves in full control of the game - something that have very rarely done for the vast majority of games this season. The tiring Marketmen elected to make a change before the start of the second half as Daniel Morphew came on in place of Page

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The visitors looked to get themselves back into the game immediately as they won a free-kick just outside the Hednesford penalty area on forty-seven minutes, with Williams sending over a fine cross that just evaded the head of the incoming Cullum at the far post

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Three minutes later, the Pitmen pressed down the right through Hartley, who laid the ball off to Graham on the corner of the penalty area; his low shot was blocked by Crosthwaite, who put the ball out for a throw-in. From Hartley's throw, Parker worked the ball to Heard, who was denied by Garnham's presence as the stopper pushed Heard's shot away for a corner kick

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Needham Market again wasted a good opening by not picking out their man on fifty-three minutes as Fraser was played into acres of space down the left by Brown's threaded pass, pulling the ball back across the six-yard box but just behind the incoming Lay at the far post

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Basey made yet another smart save to deny the visitors on fifty-seven minutes as Ingram did well down the right, taking Portman out of play before pulling the ball back into the path of Brown, whose half-volley from twelve yards out was straight into the arms of the Hednesford stopper

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The hosts completed the evening's scoring on the hour mark as Parker's pin-point corner from the left was played to the far post, where Patterson met the ball unchallenged with a dominant header that he firmly planted into the right-hand corner of the net. It was the defender's first goal since joining the Pitmen in February and a richly deserved one, having been one of the club's standout performers in the past two months

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With the game now over as a contest, both sides elected to take it easy in the final quarter of the game, with both teams due to play again in less than thirty-six hours' time. Needham Market made their second change of the evening on sixty-seven minutes as academy graduate Mo Igwebuike was handed his debut by Horlock. The Pitmen made their first substitution at the same time as the quick and willing Heard was taken off in favour of the more defensively-minded Kemy Agustien

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A short corner from Ingram on seventy minutes caused momentary flutters for the Hednesford defence as the skipper rolled it to the unmarked Clark, only for Portman to make a block tackle at his near post before the striker could get his shot away

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Attacking midfielder Spencer was given a chance to impress the home supporters on seventy-three minutes as he came on for a late cameo appearance in place of the impressive Graham, who was afforded warm applause by the small crowd for his fine performance
 

Two minutes later, Kaninda was on hand to clear the danger as another Ingram corner kick was headed away from danger by the on-loan Wycombe Wanderers defender before Brown could turn the loose ball home from close-range

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More alert goalkeeping from Basey on seventy-six minutes saw him turn away a shot from Lay at his near post after the full-back had got on the end of a pass from Morphew and turned the ball goalwards from a tight angle on the left

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With thirteen minutes remaining, there was that rarest of moments as Hednesford elected to use their final substitution to give reserve goalkeeper Rhys Williams some game time as he replaced Basey in a clearly planned tactical decision by the hosts

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Williams was called into action for the first time on seventy-nine minutes as he turned a toe-poked effort from Chambers wide of his right-hand post after the midfielder was played into the Pitmen's penalty area by Lay's superb slide-rule pass

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An enjoyable ninety minutes for the crowd to witness at long last following this season's trials and tribulations as the hosts canter to the win that sees them finish the season with six unbeaten games at Keys Park, five of which were clean sheets. Glover's side will look to finish the season on a high in just two days' time as they travel down to deepest Suffolk to face third-placed Leiston on the final day of the campaign

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Hednesford Town: Basey (R. Williams 77), Hartley, Portman, McQuilkin, Kaninda, Patterson, Heard (Agustien 67), Parker ©, Glover, Graham (Spencer 73),  Sang     Sub Unused: Asomugha

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Needham Market: Garnham, Lay, Fraser, Crosthwaite, Chambers, Cullum, Ingram ©, D. Williams (Igwebuike 67), Brown, Clark, Page (D. Morphew 45)      Sub Unused: Hammond

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