The managerless Pitmen get themselves back to winning ways this afternoon as a goal in each half is enough to defeat Newcastle Town at the Lyme Valley Stadium

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Much had been said in the aftermath of the Pitmen's 1-0 defeat at Congleton Town in midweek, with Congleton manager Richard Duffy's negative post-match comments still a talking point amongst the Hednesford supporters. On the pitch, interim manager Martin Hunter elected to make two changes to his starting line-up in what was likely to be his final game in temporary charge of the club as Ryan Brown replaced Jack Rose in goal and the hard-working Rob Stevenson was restored up front at the expense of Manny Duku

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Newcastle were sitting in tenth place in the Northern Premier League West table after an impressive 3-1 win at Trafford last weekend, with the vastly experienced Neil Baker sticking with the winning formula as he named the same XI for today's game

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The hosts were guilty of wasting a glorious chance to open the scoring inside the first four minutes as Brown justified his selection with a fine save; some neat build-up play down the left saw Jacob Twyford exchange passes with Carlos Dos Santos before slipping her ball through the gap to winger Ty Webster, whose right-footed effort across goal was pushed away by the Hednesford goalkeeper at his near post

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The Pitmen responded with some neat play of their own as Dom McHale and Omar Holness sent Blaine Rowe away down the right in the seventh minute, with the right-back's cross cut out and put behind by ex-Stafford Rangers man Jack Sherratt for a corner kick. Dan Sparkes' corner kick was aimed at Ollie Harrison, who was beaten to the ball by the equally towering figure of Tom Thorley (not that one)

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Bearne looked to break the Newcastle defensive line on eleven minutes with a run onto Dan Trickett-Smith's sweeping pass, only to have his progress checked by the assistant's flag on the far side of the pitch

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McHale and Holness linked up again on twelve minutes, with the Jamaican reaching the right-hand byeline and looked to stand up a cross into the six-yard box that Newcastle goalkeeper Joe Slinn pushed over his crossbar for a corner kick. Trickett-Smith's ball in caused Newcastle issues as they tried to clear their lines, with Thorley accidentally hammering his clearance off the side of Dos Santos' face as he hacked the ball away inside his own box, leaving the former Macclesfield midfielder requiring a lengthy spell of treatment before play could continue

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The away side broke the deadlock three minutes later as Sparkes won a loose ball in midfield and fed McHale, whose first-time ball over the top of the Newcastle defence sent Stevenson away in behind Tommy Van Der Laan. Despite having the opportunity to shoot, Stevenson instead pulled the ball back into the path of Trickett-Smith, who took a touch before confidently firing past Slinn from ten yards out

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Dos Santos was still struggling with his vision after being struck by the ball a few moments earlier, slumping to the floor before the game could restart and eventually being replaced by Olly Armstrong

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More pressure from the Pitmen saw them go close to a quickfire second on twenty minutes as a brilliant turn and through ball from McHale looked to pick out Trickett-Smith at the far post, with the playmaker denied his second goal of the afternoon by a timely clearance from Sherratt to turn the ball behind for a corner kick

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A minute later, Twyford picked the ball up on the left and drove at Rowe, whipping in a good cross that was a little too far in front of the incoming Armstrong at the far post and the ball was eventually cleared by Sparkes

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There was an air of authority about the Pitmen's play in the first half so far, dealing with any of Newcastle's forward play well and clearing their lines in a no-nonsense manner. Harrison had got the better of his former Leek team-mate Tim Grice and gave his midfield confidence to bring the ball out of their third and launch another attack at will against a shaky and error-strewn Blues defence

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On twenty-seven minutes, Jack Bearne showed Oliver Ritchie a clean pair of heels as he drifted in from the left, taking the ball past the left-back and drilling in a low shot from the edge of the box that was turned behind for a corner kick by the outstretched leg of Sherratt

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More sustained pressure from the Pitmen forced another chance out of Newcastle just after the half-hour mark as Stevenson's turn and shot from close range was cleared as far as the edge of the penalty area, where McHale picked up a loose, lazy defensive pass from Van Der Laan and smashed a left-footed half-volley inches wide of Slinn's left-hand post

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Another tight offside call, this time against Stevenson, on thirty-five minutes denied the striker a clear run at goal after Holness had looked to pick the striker out on the shoulder of Thorley down the right

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Slinn was very nearly left red-faced by Bearne on thirty-nine minutes after Sherratt's loose pass in midfield was seized upon by the former Liverpool man, driving at the Newcastle defence before shooting from the edge of the area with a low shot that Slinn allowed to bobble through his legs and inch towards goal, only for Van Der Laan to make it back in time and turn the ball away from goal before Stevenson could tap in the rebound

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Newcastle finished the half strongly however, forcing the Pitmen back into their own half and winning successive corners in the final minute of the half. However, despite having the considerable frames of Grice, Sherratt and Thorley to aim at, the Pitmen did well to clear their lines as Harrison and Kory Roberts both dealt with the aerial threat well and headed away

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The visitors could be very happy with their first-half performance, having worked hard to limit Newcastle to just a handful of half-chances and playing quickly on the counter-attack through the likes of Trickett-Smith, Bearne and Stevenson. The importance of keeping the prolific Grice at bay had been all-important in the plan, with Harrison using his inside knowledge of his former team-mate well to limit his involvement in the game

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Newcastle looked to get themselves going early in the second half as good play through the centre of the park saw Ethan Vale line up a shot from twenty-five yards out but lift it high and wide of Brown's woodwork

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Holness matched this for the Pitmen just two minutes later he ran onto a pull-back from Trickett-Smith out on the right flank but lifted his first-time effort from the edge of the box high over the crossbar

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Four minutes later, McHale was on the end of another pull-back, this time from Stevenson out on the left flank as the striker took advantage of a swing and a miss from Thorley to race onto the ball and pull it back to the playmaker, whose left-footed shot sailed a yard or so over Slinn's crossbar from eighteen yards out

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The Pitmen did put clear daylight between themselves and their hosts on fifty-eight minutes as another defensive error from the hosts led to Bearne firing home his seventh goal of the season; a long punt over the top from Holness looked to be an easy claim for Slinn, only for the stopper and Van Der Laan to get in each other's way, leading to the ball slipping out of the stopper's grasp and into the path of Trickett-Smith. The ex-Leek man turned well on the left-hand byeline and pulled the ball back into the box, where Bearne was on hand to fire home from twelve yards out with a first-time effort beyond the reach of Slinn

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With an uphill task to get themselves back into the game, Newcastle made their second change of the afternoon shortly after the restart as last season's top scorer Jake Avery came on in place of Webster

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Within seconds, Slinn partly atoned for his earlier error with a breathtaking save to deny Trickett-Smith, somehow managing to parry the ball away at his far post to deny the Hednesford goalscorer a certain goal after he had met Stevenson's left-wing cross at the far post and turned it towards goal

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Slinn had to come to Newcastle's rescue once more midway through the second half as a quick break from the Pitmen through the centre of the pitch saw McHale make one of his slalom-like runs at the Blues defence before striking a shot at goal from twenty yards out that the home goalkeeper parried away from goal down to his left

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From Rowe's resultant throw-in and cross, McHale went close once more as he tried to curl a side-footed effort into the net from the right-back's low cross into the box, but steered his effort just wide of the post from sixteen yards out

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Sherratt responded for the shot-shy hosts on sixty-seven minutes, firing just wide of Brown's right-hand post after patient build-up play out on the right saw Armstrong link up well with Vale before playing it through to the defender, whose low shot just missed the target

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With nineteen minutes remaining, Brown looked to protect his clean sheet bonus with another good save as made a save on his six-yard line to claim a weak shot from Armstong, who had been given time and space to take the ball down and really should have scored from only eight yards out

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With fifteen minutes remaining, the men in white made their only substituion of the afternoon as Joel Taylor replaced the limping McHale in a move that saw Bearne shifted to the right flank and the substitute slotting in on the left in front of Sparkes

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Grice - currently with two goals in his first two games for the club since his move from Leek last month - was within a whisker of a third goal for the Blues on seventy-eight minutes as a corner kick from the left was cleared as far as Armstrong, who recycled the ball out on the right and crossed for the veteran striker, whose goalbound header was pushed over the crossbar by Brown for another corner kick to the hosts

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With the dreaded winter darkness now enveloping the Lyme Valley Stadium and a light mist rolling in over the pitch as the temperature dropped, so did the tempo of the game as both sides appeared to have accepted the result. The Pitmen still looked to catch the hosts out on the counter, with Taylor doing well on eighty-four minutes to stand up a cross to the far post that just drifted over the head of Stevenson at the far post

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At the other end, successive corner kicks for Newcastle were snuffed out by the Pitmen once more, with Brown holding onto a deep cross from Armstrong on eighty-nine minutes at the second attempt after initially dropping the ball in front of Grice

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Grice was to have the last say in the game, however, as he did grab his customary goal deep into four added minutes; a corner kick on the right was played into the far post, where Brown looked to push the ball away but failed to reach it under pressure from Ritchie; Grice needed no second invitation, lashing the loose ball past Roberts from close range and into the far corner of the net

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There was barely enough time for the Pitmen to restart the game before referee Mr Biggin blew his whistle, signalling an end to a rotten run of form for the visitors that had left them languishing in the lower reaches of the league table. There is hope of a more positive seven days for the club this coming week, with the likelihood of a new managerial appointment and no midweek game for only the second time this term leading into Saturday's home game against lowly City of Liverpool at Keys Park

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Newcastle Town: Slinn, Derbyshire, Ritchie, Sherratt, Thorley, Van Der Laan © ▆, Dos Santos (Armstrong 18), Vale, Grice, Twyford ▆, Webster (Avery 62)       Subs Unused: Stubbs, Dunlop, Jones

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Hednesford Town: Brown, Rowe, Sparkes, Johnson ©, Harrison, Roberts, Trickett-Smith, Holness, Stevenson, McHale (Taylor 75), Bearne   Sub Unused: Duku, Gwilt, Spence, Sutherland​

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