The Pitmen earn themselves a well-fought point at second-placed Prescot Cables with a battling display against the play-off chasing hosts, although results elsewhere go against the visitors in their quest to get out of the bottom two in the Northern Premier League West table

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With Monday's late, late defeat at Nantwich still stinging somewhat, Hednesford head coach Paul Moore made four changes to his side for their second trip north in five days; goalkeeper Rhys Williams was handed a first-ever start for the club as he came in for the injured Ryan Brown, with Matthew Barnes-Homer also starting for the first time as he replaced Joe Morley and Lewis Farmer switching places with Danny Edwards in the attacking midfield role. The final change came late on after the warm-up as Josh Endall picked up a knock and was replaced by Michael Williams in central defence

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Second-placed Prescot - who were now consigned to the play-offs after Leek Town had confirmed the league title this week - had only lost one of their last nine games, with manager Ste Daley electing to stick with the same XI that had drawn 2-2 against local rivals Runcorn Linnets on Monday as he looked to solidify their place in the table ahead of the end-of-season lottery of the play-offs

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On a gusty afternoon on Merseyside, the all-red-clad Pitmen made a bold start to the game and forced the first corner kick of the afternoon in the very first minute as Jai Verma picked up an overhit Jake Jervis cross on the left and looked to return the ball to the box, only for James Devine to turn the ball behind for a corner kick

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With the wind at his back, Rhys Williams found that his goal kicks had added length to them, pumping a ball forward towards Jervis in the third minute that ended up in the hands of opposite number Mitch Allen

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Michael Williams did well to deny dangerman Foley a minute later as he eased the Prescot captain away from the ball with some clever movement to deny him the ball after a cross from James Devine

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Kyle Sambor was unhappy with the treatment dished out on him by Jack Kelly in the sixth minute as the left-back aggressively won a challenge against the winger, leaving him on the deck and complaining to referee Mr Lamb without any success

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Good approach play from Cables on eight minutes saw Jack Goodwin feed John Murphy, who was forced wide by the presence of Michael Williams and made him play the ball out to James Devine on the right once more. However, the low cross ran harmlessly out of play at Rhys Williams' near post

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The away side's bright start to the game was rewarded with the game's opening goal on twelve minutes; Barnes-Homer played the ball into the feet of Farmer on the right, with the former Northwich Victoria man crossing low into the box where Jervis had the simple task of sidefooting past Allen from close-range

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Despite the late loss of Endall in the warm-up, the Pitmen's defence was proving stoic and organised against a talented Cables attack led by Foley. More good defending on fifteen minutes saw Sam Griffiths clear to Verma, who took the ball down the left and jinked past two challenges before Nathan Koehler cleared the danger

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Kyle Sambor looked to get the misfiring hosts going with a powerful run into the Hednesford penalty area on seventeen minutes, only to hold onto the ball a little too long as he tried to create some space for himself and drove his weak shot well wide of goal. A pass to Foley just inside him may have been a better option with the benefit of hindsight

 

In the same period of action, Michael Williams picked up a knock as he tussled with Sambor just inside the Hednesford penalty area and went down holding his lower back, requiring treatment from physio Adam Paget before the game could continue

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Midway through the first half, Foley's clever play saw him play the ball through to Goodwin, whose low shot at goal was deflected behind by the alert presence of Tom Thorley to hand Cables a corner kick, which was played straight into the grateful arms of Rhys Williams by James Devine as he looked to pick out Koehler

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Verma was looking a threat down the left for the Pitmen, drifting past Alex McNally on twenty-four minutes and picking out Barnes-Homer on the edge of the penalty area. The veteran striker's shot was blocked and ran to Adriano Moke, whose follow-up effort from long range flew high and wide of goal

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Despite not really challenging Rhys Williams in the opening quarter of the game, Prescot found themselves level once more on twenty-six minutes as Donaldson picked the ball up twenty-five yards out and fed the ball to striker Francis Smith, whose long-range effort seemed to bobble and loop over the arms of the Hednesford goalkeeper and into the net. A soft goal to concede and one that Williams will probably feel that he should have done better with

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Kelly and Verma linked up well on the half-hour mark, working the ball down the left as they played around McNally, with Verma's low cross turned well wide by Barnes-Homer from ten yards out

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Neat play from the hosts two minutes later saw Murphy, Goodwin and James Devine link up, with Devine cutting the ball back across the face of goal from the left that was hacked clear by Griffiths at the near post ahead of Foley

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Successive efforts from Verma ten minutes before half-time saw the winger drift inside and fire in a shot that saw muted calls for a penalty from the Pitmen that was turned away by Mr Lamb, with Verma seizing on the loose ball and shooting wide with his follow-up shot as the wind took it away from goal

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Rhys Williams was unhappy with the treatment handed to him by Foley on thirty-eight minutes as he collected a cross from Goodwin before receiving a glancing touch with the forearm of the striker as the pair came together

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A smothering save from Williams denied Murphy a great chance to score a minute later, racing out of goal to claim the bouncing ball ahead of the former Ramsbottom United man sixteen yards from goal

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There were shouts for a penalty from Cables on forty-two minutes as Sambor took a tumble in the area, although Mr Lamb had spotted an earlier infringement involving James Devine and Verma and booked the Prescot midfielder for shirt pulling. Daley was not happy with this decision not to award his team a spot-kick and voiced his opinions to the match official before play restarted

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The Pitmen had given as good as they had got in another hard-working display, using the wind at their backs to good effect in the first period with Jervis making it back-to-back goals for him this week to give them the lead before a dangerous Cables attack had got themselves back on level terms

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With the wind at their backs in the second half, Cables were more dynamic in their attacking threat after the restart; Murphy looked to pick out Foley on the counter-attack on forty-seven minutes but saw Farmer pick his pocket and start a counter-attack that saw Allen come out of his goal to collect the ball ahead of Barnes-Homer

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A neat passage of play saw Murphy pick the ball up down the left and play an intricate ball into the feet of Foley on forty-nine minutes, with the striker going to ground under a challenge from Griffiths but seeing his attempted shot dribble through to Rhys Williams

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Smith looked to repeat his goalscoring heroics on fifty-one minutes as Foley laid the ball off to him twenty-five yards from goal only for Rhys Williams to make a save on this occasion

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A quick counter-attack from the Pitmen a minute later saw Jervis pick out Verma on the left, whose powerful low drive at goal was well held by Allen down to his right

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The game was very much end-to-end at the start of the second period, with Goodwin suddenly breaking down the wing on fifty-four minutes and sending over a low cross that was just begging to be turned in by someone in an amber shirt, only for Griffiths to get there first and turn the ball away for a corner kick

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Sambor was guilty of a poor miss for Cables two minutes later after some more superb wing play from youngster Goodwin on the right saw the midfielder pull the ball back to the talented Sambor, only for his team-mate to fire wide from a great position fifteen yards out

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James McQuilkin made a move forward down the right for the Pitmen on the hour mark and played the ball through to Farmer, whose progress towards the Prescot penalty area was halted by a hard but fair challenge from James Devine which left the young midfielder down on the turf and requiring a spell of treatment from Paget

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Donaldson's through ball to Goodwin saw the winger's progress ended by a clattering challenge from Verma, who picked up a yellow card for the tackle. Smith tried his luck from the resultant free-kick, catching his shot in the wind but seeing it ending up in the arms of Rhys Williams

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Verma looked to break in behind the Prescot defence on the sixty-four minutes as he picked up a pass from Thorley but was denied by both an offside flag against him and a challenge from the covering McNally

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The Pitmen made the game's first change of the afternoon midway through the second half as Farmer - still suffering from the challenge on him from Devine - was brought off and replaced by Junior Brown in midfield

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Cables' first substitution of the afternoon came on seventy-two minutes as the already-booked James Devine was replaced by Charlie Glennon in midfield

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On seventy-four minutes, Smith got down the left and stood up a cross that flicked on by Foley but well cleared by the excellent Michael Williams. McNally picked up the loose ball on the right flank and found Sambor on the rebound, whose shot eventually ran into the arms of Rhys Williams

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Murphy was denied by more brave goalkeeping from Rhys Williams as he was played into space behind the Hednesford defence by Foley on seventy-seven minutes, seeing the young stopper come out to smother the ball before Murphy could get his shot away

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An offside flag against Barnes-Homer a minute later handed Cables a free-kick, with Kelly booting the bouncing ball away to stop them from taking the kick quickly and was shown a yellow card by Mr Lamb for time-wasting

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Barnes-Homer managed to take advantage of a miscommunication between Koehler and Donaldson on eighty minutes, seized upon a McQuilkin free-kick but drilling his half-chance well wide of goal after the Prescot pair had both missed the ball in

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Prescot's second change of the afternoon came a minute later as the highly rated Tom Owens was brought on by Daley in place of Donaldson as a more attack-minded move from the hosts

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Long-range specialist Smith was off target for the home side on eighty-two minutes as he seized upon Sambor's blocked cross and drilled in a shot from twenty yards out that flew well wide of goal

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A bout of handbags saw players from both teams on eighty-four minutes saw Sambor and Kelly come together after they challenged for a bouncing ball and were both spoken to by Mr Lamb before the game continued

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The Pitmen made a late double change with three minutes remaining Moore bringing young pair Danny Edwards and Eden Bailey on in place of Matthew Barnes-Homer and Adriano Moke respectively

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Thorley tracked back well to prevent Murphy from getting a shot away with a minute of normal time, stepping across the striker to take the ball away from the striker after Murphy had slightly stumbled

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Glennon had a sight at goal in the first of four added minutes as he got on the end of Goodwin's ball but was denied an effort at goal by some stoic defending by Griffiths and Rhys Williams

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Despite Prescot's late pressure, the Pitmen held on for a point apiece that does little for either side's relative ambitions. With Trafford winning 2-1 at Vauxhall Motors, it's now looking very likely that Moore's side will have to finish with as many points as possible to avoid relegation via to the PPG mini-table across step four. The Pitmen return home next Saturday as they play host to mid-table dwellers Avro, knowing that anything less than a win will essentially confirm their nineteenth-placed finish for the season

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Prescot Cables: Allen, McNally, M. Devine, Donaldson, Koehler, J. Devine ▆ (Glennon 72), Goodwin, Foley ©, Murphy, Smith, Sambor      Subs Unused: E. Devine, Hollett, McMahon

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Hednesford Town: R. Williams, McQuilkin, Kelly ▆, Thorley, Griffiths ©, M. Williams, Verma ▆, Moke (Bailey 87), Jervis, Barnes-Homer (Edwards 87), Farmer (J. Brown 66)     Subs Unused: Delfouneso, Berks

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