Four goals in the first quarter of the game safely sees Steve King's Pitmen through to the next round of the F.A. Trophy this afternoon as they confidently navigate their way past Northern Premier League Midland side Quorn at Keys Park

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The in-form Pitmen returned to Keys Park looking to bring some of their away day magic to their own turf, having plundered twelve goals in their last two away matches. King elected to stick with the same XI that had started last weekend's 6-1 win at Melton Town - the first time this season that he had not changed his starting XI. Dan Sparkes had been ruled out for a month this week after the knock he had picked up against Chasetown, although centre-back Josh Endall was inching closer to first-team action having missed all of pre-season due to injury

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Quorn - going well in the Midland Division with eight points from their first four games - had beaten Racing Club Warwick 2-0 last weekend, with player/manager Ryan Beswick making two changes to his side for their trip to Staffordshire today; Kane Auld came in for Jack Samples at full-back and Reece replaced Beswick himself in midfield. There was a familiar name on the Quorn teamsheet in the form of striker Courey Grantham, who had a brief but impressive spell for the Pitmen under Nicky Eaden in the 2018-2019 season

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Despite the early rounds FA. Trophy being historically poorly attended, the Hednesford public continued to turn out in staggering numbers with another 1,000-plus crowd backing the home side for this afternoon's tie. They were rewarded almost immediately as Jake Jervis struck with the Pitmen's first foray into Quorn territory in the second minute; Joel Taylor got the better of Zak Goodson down the left flank and sent over a deep cross to the far post that was nodded down by Simeon Maye, falling at the feet of Jervis with his back to goal. In a flash, the experienced striker turned on a sixpence and lashed the ball into the roof of the net from six yards out to register his second goal of the season

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Quorn looked to strike back almost immediately through Paddy Webb, who was within a whisker of an equaliser in the fifth minute after Grantham had picked the ball up on the right and driven into the box, playing a delightful ball across the face of the Hednesford goal but just too far in front of the incoming Webb at the far post

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In the eighth minute, neat interplay from the Pitmen saw McHale and Jervis involved with some intricate one-touch football to set up Jack Bearne, who was brought down just outside the box by skipper Reece Fyfe. Dan Trickett-Smith took the free-kick and looked to pick out Kory Roberts with an angled ball but Silvio Bello cleared the danger

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Despite the dominant nature of the Pitmen's overall play in the opening exchanges, they were pegged back by Quorn in the tenth minute as the visitors struck an equaliser against the run of play. Webb picked up Mason Frizelle's pass before taking the ball past Roberts and rifling in a long-range effort from twenty-five yards out that beat the outstretched arms of Ryan Brown and nestled in the left-hand corner of the net

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Quorn almost turned the game on its head two minutes later as a corner kick from the right was floated into the Hednesford box and away from Brown's grasp, landing on the head of Cain Noble, who glanced his effort wide of the target

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Quorn stopper Tom Allsopp - a well-known face in the local area from his spells at Stourbridge and Darlaston Town - had to make a timely intervention to deny Jervis another goal on fourteen minutes as he claimed a Trickett-Smith pass at his near post ahead of the incoming striker

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Magic man Dom McHale has the ability to create something from nothing and so it proved a minute later, as the mercurial midfielder conjured up another brilliant goal to add to his repertoire. The Pitmen played confidently out from the back, with Roberts and Blaine Rowe linking up to slip it into the path of McHale, looming forty yards from goal. McHale went on one of his dazzling runs at the opposition defence, turning past no fewer than four Quorn players before getting a stroke of luck through a timely fumble from Allsopp that allowed the initial shot to squirm under his body and gift McHale a simple tap-in from a yard out

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​This goal seemed to settle the Pitmen and allow them to play their natural attacking game, with every move forward from the men in white looking like a potential goal as they laid siege to the Quorn goal. Bearne added to the Pitmen's goal tally on eighteen minutes to put clear daylight between the two sides as another beautiful flowing move involving Rob Stevenson, Trickett-Smith and McHale led to the ball being laid off into the path of the winger, who had time to take a touch before firing low past Allsopp from twelve yards out

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It got even better for the hosts three minutes later as their six-minute purple patch produced a fourth goal of the afternoon on twenty-one minutes. More delightful one-and-two-touch football opened up the visitors' defence once more, with Trickett-Smith picking up Jervis's pass and attempting a shot on goal from twelve yards out that Allsopp managed to palm away down the left, only for Bearne to snaffle up the rebound with a clinical diving header into the net from close-range for a quickfire brace

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With the game pretty much done as a contest you felt, the Pitmen could afford to take their foot off the pedal somewhat and set about managing thre remainder of the game with a long trip to Mossley looming large this midweek coming. This allowed a spirited and dangerous Quorn side to continue to plug away at their hosts, with Grantham doing well on twenty-six minutes to trick his way into the penalty area after a run from deep, only to see his shot blocked by Elliott Johnson

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Shortly before the half-hour mark, Auld picked up the game's first booking from referee Mr Wall as the full-back blatantly pulled Taylor back by his shirt to stop him from getting into the penalty area, earning a deserved yellow card for the foul. Trickett-Smith lined up the resultant free-kick and curled the ball around the Quorn wall, forcing Allsopp into a save down to his left that he initially spilt in front of Stevenson and had to rely on Frizelle to clear the danger

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Fine reflexes from Brown denied Quorn a goal back on thirty-three minutes as a quick move forward from the away side saw Fyfe play Webb in beyond the Hednesford defence with a superb pass, forcing Brown into a fingertip save down to his right to deflect Webb's cross-shot away from goal as Webb looked for the far corner of the net from fifteen yards out

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McHale - now with three goals in his last two games - tested Allsopp at the other end two minutes later with a chipped effort from the edge of the penalty area that was straight at the lanky stopper after more neat approach play involving Stevenson and Trickett-Smith

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There was certainly something of a 'shoot on sight' policy from Quorn in the first half, with Brown forced into making another good save on forty minutes as Fyfe picked up Rowe's loose pass and played Goodson into space inside the Hednesford half. With no one closing Goodson down, he elected to shoot from twenty-five yards out and forced Brown into a flying save with a parry away to his left-hand side

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Stevenson was still looking to get in amongst the goals before the break and went within a whisker of adding to the Pitmen's tally in the final minute of the half; McHale's through ball sent Stevenson away in behind the Quorn defence, but with Allsopp narrowing the angle at the near post, Stevenson could only drive his effort wide of the far post

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It had been a thoroughly clinical first half from the Pitmen, whose three-goal salvo midway through the half had essentially taken the game away from Quorn and gave the hosts a chance to control the second-half tempo. Despite the home side's dominance in front of goal, however, Quorn had been more than useful on the ball and had proven a tricky opponent from deep, forcing Brown into a couple of good saves. Bearne was replaced before the start of the second half as Sion Spence came on in his place after he had picked up a knock late in the first period

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Auld - booked earlier in the game - was pushing his luck with Mr Wall, somehow avoiding a second yellow card early in the second half after a poor challenge on Jervis floored the attacker. Beswick moved swiftly to avoid going down to ten men by taking Auld off for his own benefit, replacing him with Mitch White on forty-eight minutes

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The Quorn aggression continued, further infuriating the Hednesford bench, as Goodson followed Auld into the book on fifty minutes for a foul on Rowe which King remonstrated with Mr Wall about before Trickett-Smith could take the resultant free-kick

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Allsopp again denied the Pitmen with another good save on fifty-two minutes, tipping over a shot from ​Jervis after a clever free-kick from Taylor had played the striker in down the left-hand channel

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At the other end, Brown was also in commanding form between the sticks two minutes later as he denied Webb once more with a smothering save at his near post to deny the forward after he had struck a shot on the run from fifteen yards out

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On the hour mark, Rowe was flattened by Bello as he looked to clear the ball down the right, forcing the right-back off the pitch holding his leg. Jacob Gwilt came on in his place, forcing a reshuffle in defence with Maye playing on the right side of a three-man back line with Roberts and Johnson

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Bello picked up a yellow card for Quorn on sixty-three minutes as he left his boot in on Maye as the midfielder looked to clear his lines, earning the former Nottingham Forest man a yellow card

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Midway through the second half, the luckless Stevenson was afforded generous applause by the Keys Park crowd as he was replaced up front by Manny Duku

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The tempo of the game had dropped significantly at this stage, with the regular changes affecting the flow of the game. The hosts were keeping the ball for long stages of the game, happy to play it around at the back and make the pitch as big as possible for Quorn to have to close them down

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The Pitmen's final change of the afternoon came on sixty-nine minutes and was to prove another enforced one for King as McHale picked up a knock and limped off, being replaced by Zidan Sutherland down the right

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An inswinging corner kick from Trickett-Smith on seventy-three minutes saw the former Leek man pick out Duku at the far post with a deep ball into the box, with Duku's header back across goal volleyed just over the crossbar by Roberts in acrobatic style six yards out

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Spence felt that he had a legitimate call for a penalty kick on seventy-eight minutes as successive crosses from the right were blocked by two Quorn defenders, with the second one appearing to clearly strike the arm of Jasper Tetlow. Mr Wall - who to be fair to him had had a very good game - was well-placed but waved away the protests from the home side

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On eighty-one minutes, Quorn made their second change of the afternoon as teenager Shaun Rehal - promoted to the first-team this week by Beswick - was handed a late debut by the visitors, with the young midfielder replacing former Ilkeston man Goodson

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Gwilt looked to add to his cult status amongst the Hednesford supporters with a goal on eighty-one minutes as he picked up Sutherland's lay-off on the edge of the box and tried to bend a shot into the net from eighteen yards out, but his shot lacked power or precision and was easily saved by Allsopp

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Quorn made a further change of personnel a minute later as forward Josh Allen was brought on in place of full-back Bello to add more presence to the Reds attack

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Allsopp denied Jervis a second goal of the afternoon with another fine save on eighty-seven minutes, pushing the former Plymouth Argyle striker's goalbound shot away after Jervis had struck a firm rising shot at goal from the edge of the box. From Trickett-Smith's resultant corner kick, Quorn failed to clear their lines effectively and allowed Spence to volley in a rebound from twenty yards out that flew inches over the crossbar

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On eighty-nine minutes, Duku made his way into the Quorn box from the left, teasing his way past White before seeing his attempted shot at goal turned away for a corner kick. Trickett-Smith picked out Sutherland with a low ball into the box from the corner, which the substitute got horribly wrong with a wild strike with the outside of his boot that sailed into the Heath Hayes terrace

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Deep into added time, Allen and Sutherland clashed right in front of the Hednesford bench after a poor challenge from the Quorn man on the Hednesford sub. Sutherland immediately retaliated, pushing the player back which led to players from both sides becoming involved until Mr Wall calmed matters down and booked both players for their part in the scuffle

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The Pitmen move into Monday's draw in fine fettle, having won three of their last four games in convincing style, scoring seventeen goals in that time as King's side finally look as though they are starting to click in attack. However, injuries to McHale, Rowe and Bearne will be a concern, especially with such a short turnaround of games with that trip to Mossley in the offing on Tuesday night as the Pitmen return to league action for one night only this month

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Hednesford Town: Brown, Rowe (Gwilt 60), Taylor, Roberts, Johnson ©, Maye, Trickett-Smith, Stevenson (Duku 64), McHale (Sutherland 69 ▆), Bearne (Spence 45), Jervis    Sub Unused: Rose

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Quorn: Allsopp, Auld ▆ (White 48), Bello ▆ (Allen 83 ▆), Tetlow, Frizelle, Fyfe ©, Goodson ▆ (Rehal 81), York, Grantham, Noble, Webb     Subs Unused: Corbett, Goodwin

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