The Pitmen move themselves up into second place in the Northern Premier League West table as they come from behind to register a fourth win on the bounce to defeat Newcastle Town at Keys Park

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Having extended their unbeaten league run to twelve games last week courtesy of a 2-0 win over Stalybridge Celtic, Hednesford gaffer Gavin Hurren welcomed back Dan Trickett-Smith after the playmaker missed last weekend's game with a knock; he came back into the starting XI as one of four changes as he replaced Ahkeem Rose, Jake Jervis came in for Nathan Blissett, Ollie Harrison was preferred to Kory Roberts at centre-back and Jack Bearne was restored to the starting XI in favour of Niall Watson

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Newcastle were currently sitting in fourteenth place in the table at the start of play, still not quite safe on forty-six points. The vastly experienced Neil Baker made two changes to his Blues side from the one that had relegated City of Liverpool last weekend with a 2-0 win; Crewe Alexandra loanee Ollie Armstong came in for Findlay Starkey-Jones and Ollie Ritchie was preferred to the brilliantly-named Tom Jones

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The hosts went in search of their now-customary early goal through Dom McHale in the third minute, with the playmaker getting in behind the Newcastle defence as he latched onto a Joe Doyle-Charles pass but was pulled back by the assistant referee for an earlier handball in the build-up to the chance

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McHale was involved again two minutes later as he seized upon a misplaced pass from Isaac Godwin, taking the ball twenty yards into the Newcastle half and dribbling past two tackles before slicing his shot well wide of goal from the edge of the penalty area

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Bearne was next to size up an effort at goal in the ninth minute, talking Elliott Johnson's pass forward down the left and cutting inside before seeing his low shot across goal from the corner of the box blocked by Tom Thorley

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Newcastle seemed content to apply Hednesford on the counter-attack, looking to use the youthful exuberance of the likes of Armstrong and Jake Avery to good effect on the break. A quick break down the left for the visitors in the tenth minute saw Avery and Tim Grice link up well to set up Ty Webster, whose shot from eighteen yards out was blocked by Ollie Harrison

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Neat play from Avery two minutes later saw the former Leek Town striker brilliantly control a long ball forward from Godwin, bringing the ball under control just outside the penalty area before firing high over Tony Breeden's crossbar with his second touch as Chris Hussey looked to close him down

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Newcastle were rewarded for their counter-attacking instincts with the game's opening goal of the afternoon on fifteen minutes; Hussey's corner from the right was headed clear to Bearne, who lost out to Armstrong in a 50-50 challenge on the edge of the Newcastle box which allowed the youngster to play Webster into acres of space. With the Hednesford defenders retreating, Webster took the ball fully fifty yards forward before playing Armstrong in down the inside right position, with the loanee firing past Breeden and into the roof of the net from sixteen yards out with a confident finish. It was the first goal conceded by the Pitmen in over 580 minutes of football, such has been their defensive solidity over the past month

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McHale was back on the front foot as he looked to get the home side going once more, making another one of his mazy runs in from right wing on seventeen minutes as he drifted in from the corner flag and past three Newcastle players before finally shooting low at goal from twelve yards out and forcing goalkeeper Joe Slinn into a save on his goal line

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Midway through the first half, Slinn was called upon again to make a save as Trickett-Smith found a pocket of space out on the right to play a deep cross into the box that was aimed at Jervis, forcing the ex-Port Vale stopper into action to claw the ball away from the head of the big man

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On twenty-five minutes, Hussey forced Slinn​ into another good say down to his left, as the centre-back whipped in a left-footed free kick from twenty-five yards out that looked to be heading for the bottom corner of the net until Slinn's intervention, palming the ball away from danger for a Hednesford corner

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McHale looked to be the Pitmen's best chance of breaking through the sturdy Newcastle rearguard, linking up well with Doyle-Charles on the edge of the penalty area on twenty-nine minutes to control the midfielder's flick and turn past Amstrong, but saw his strike sail wide of Slinn's right-hand post

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Good link-up play down the left from Hednesford on thirty-two minutes saw Bearne and Johnson link up well with the Hednesford skipper finding a yard of space to send over a dangerous-looking cross towards Jervis that Slinn had to claim ahead of the striker once more to deny him a simple header home

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Bearne was starting to find his feet down the left for the Pitmen after a slow start to the game, getting goal side of Armstrong on thirty-three minutes as he raced onto Johnson's clever through ball and pulled the ball back into the danger zone and the into feet of Jervis at the near post, who slid in ahead of Slinn and Thorley but put his effort the wrong side of the post from close-range

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At the other end, Breeden made a fantastic save to keep the Pitmen in contention just sixty seconds later, making himself big in front of the prolific Grice to turn the striker's side-footed effort away from goal from twelve yards out after Webster had played the Leek Town legend through on goal in behind Hussey and Johnson. Amstrong followed the ball in and attempted to sidefoot the rebound home, but saw his effort blocked by the covering Harrison and the hosts managed to clear their lines

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A mistake by Godwin on forty-two minutes almost handed McHale a clear sight at goal as the left-back allowed Hussey's raking cross field pass to drift over his head and into the path of the Magic Man, who stepping inside of the full-back but saw his effort lack any power and was easily fielded by Slinn down to his left

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Webster looked to take advantage of Breeden's bold sweeper keeper mentality on forty-four minutes, spotting the stopper way off his line and attempting a cheeky lob from the halfway line that sailed over the head of the goalkeeper but into the Heath Hayes terrace

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With the first half ticking into three added minutes, the Pitmen finally found a way through with a very timely equaliser right on half-time; another run and cross from Bearne down the left saw the winger pick up Johnson's clever disguised pass and send over a low cross from the byeline into the six-yard box that was turned into the net by the incoming Trickett-Smith, who stuck a foot out to guide it home via a deflection off the crossbar and into the roof of the net​​

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You felt that this was a crucial goal in the overall context of the game, coming so late in the first half and completely changing both managers' half-time team talks. The hosts will have now felt that the momentum will have swung back to them after a frustratingly disjointed and wasteful half of football, whilst Newcastle will be looking to hold on to the point that they have earned so far with a bright, counter-attackign display. The visitors elected to make a change at the start of the second half with Jack Derbyshire coming on at right-back as he replaced Apantaku

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Within ninety seconds of the restart, the Pitmen's momentum came good as they turned the game on its head by taking the lead for the first time in the game; Hussey's corner on the right was flicked on at the near post by McHale, whose effort beat Slinn but came back off the underside of the crossbar. The ball dopped kindly to Bearne right in front of goal, with the winger gleefully firing home from close range to make it twelve goals for the season for the former Liverpool man

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Breeden protected the Pitmen's newly-earned lead with another good save on fioty-nine minutes, making a great save to deny Jack Sherratt just inside his own penalty area with his legs after a rare mistake from Hussey saw him inexplicably give the ball away to the former Stafford Rangers man

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​Bearne's presence on the left saw him win a free-kick for the Pitmen on fifty-five minutes as he was brought down by Derbyshire in full flight. Trickett-Smith took the resultant free kick but saw his effort clip the side of the Newcastle wall and went out for a corner kick

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Slinn continued to frustrate the home side, claiming Hussey's deep inswinging corner kick at the far post ahead of Harrison on fifty-seven minutes as he stretched full-length to reach the ball

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On the hour mark, Slinn made another save down to his left to deny Trickett-Smith after the playmaker had seized upon Derbyshire's half-hearted clearance and attempted an audacious dipping effort from the corner of the box that had the former Port Vale stopper scrambling across to make the save

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Sherratt was denied a clear run at goal by referee Mr Brooks two minutes later as he broke through the Hednesford defence to latch onto Armstrong's pass, but was pulled back for a foul on the midfielder in the build-up

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Midway through the second half, Slinn was again in action as Trickett-Smith's clipped corner kick was flicked on by Jervis towards Harrison, forcing the Newcastle stopper into claiming the ball and taking it off the big defender's head

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More McHale trickery on sixty-eight minutes saw him take Jamie Morgan's pass down the right and cut inside once more, drifting across the edge of the Newcastle penalty area but seeing his shot at goal deflected behind for a corner kick

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Bearne's game was run on sixty-nine minutes as the Hednesford goalscorer was withdrawn and replaced by the willing running of Watson out on the left flank

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Three minutes later, Baker made a double change of his own for the away side as Avery was replaced by young Altrincham loanee Jones up front and  Webster made way for Jarma Mohamed

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Good approach play from Newcastle down the left on seventy-four minutes saw Godwin make an unchallenged run down the flank and cross for Grice at the near post, with the veteran striker attempting to flick the ball past Breeden but could only lift his effort high into the air and allow the Hednesdford goalkeeper to punch the ball away from the incoming Sherratt

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Newcastle made a further personnel change on seventy-seven minutes as Shrewsbury Town loanee Starkey-Jones came on up front in place of goalscorer Armstrong

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With ten minutes remaining and the Pitmen looking to shut up shop, last week's man of the match Roberts came on to play as a defensive midfielder as he replaced Trickett-Smith; this saw Doyle-Charles pushed a little further up the pitch to allow for the tactical tweak

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Thorley - not the same player who had graced Keys Park for much of the last decade but his namesake - picked up the game's only booking from Mr Brooks on eighty-two minutes as he was shown a yellow card for a foul on Jervis thirty yards from goal

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Doyle-Charles finally wrapped up an impressive second-half performance as he took full advantage of some terrible Newcastle defending to grab his first-ever Hednesford goal on eighty-nine minutes. Van Der Laan was the villain of the piece on not one, but two, occasions, firstly misjudging Breeden's long kick forward once more and allowing the ball to bounce over his head and into the path of Jervis, who was denied by some bold goalkeeping from the onrushing Slinn. Van Der Laan then made a henious error of judgement as he looked to clear his lines, heading the ball straight intot he path of Doyle-Charles, who swept the ball into the net from the edge of the box with a fine first-time effort

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Hurren could now afford to make a late double change of personnel as Jervis was replaced by Zidan Sutherland up front and Jacob Gwilt came on for McHale

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Three points for the Pitmen moves them up to second place in the table, taking full advantage of Vauxhall Motors' 3-0 defeat at Avro and within seven points of league leaders Widnes, who also dropped points of Friday night with a 2-2 draw at home to Wythenshawe Town. The Pitmen's extremely favourable run-in on paper continues next week with a second visit of the season to the DCBL Stadium in Widnes to face already-relegated City of Liverpool - Widnes and Vauxhall Motors also face two sides struggling at the foot of the table with games against Hanley Town and Kidsgrove Athletic respectively as the title race starts to head towards a crescendo

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Johnson ©, Maye, Harrison, Hussey, Bearne (Watson 69), Doyle-Charles, Jervis (Sutherland 90), McHale (Gwilt 90), Trickett-Smith (Roberts 80)    Sub Unused: Brown

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Newcastle Town: Slinn, Apantaku (Derbyshire 45), Godwin, Sherratt (Dos Santos 90), Thorley ▆, van Der Laan ©, Armstrong (Starkey-Jones 77), Ritchie, Grice, Avery (Jones 72), Webster (Mohamed 72)     Subs Unused: none

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