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Ethan Patterson

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L L W D D L W L L D

 

Kings Langley (H) 15.4.23

The ten-man Pitmen hold on to a battling draw this afternoon after a low-quality and largely uneventful Bank Holiday Monday derby against play-off chasing Rushall Olympic at Keys Park

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Danny Glover's side had only had forty-eight hours to recover from Saturday's dreadful 4-1 defeat at Ilkeston Town, with player/manager Glover bringing himself back into the XI for today's game against his former side as he replaced Harvey Portman. There were two more changes to the side with Ethan Patterson coming back into the side ahead of Lucas Yeomans and Chay Tilt rewarded for this bright cameo on Saturday with a start ahead of Stanley Asomugha

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The fifth-placed Pics made the short trip across into Staffordshire after losing 1-0 to Basford United on Saturday, with ex-Hednesford player and manager Liam McDonald making three changes of his own; former Hednesford duo Richard Batchelor and Andre Landell were replaced by Sam Mantom and ex-Keys Park loanee Callum Coyle, whilst the experienced Liam Daly came back in ahead of Alex Fletcher

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There was the ever-present threat of a shower all afternoon, although most of the ninety minutes was played out in glorious early Spring sunshine. The Pitmen started play well, with Tilt and Jordan Graham linking up well in the second minute of the game as Tilt sent the on-loan forward away, only for Sam Whittall to mop up the danger and clear the ball

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The away side felt that they had a good shout for a penalty kick in the fifth minute as they broke through midfield to Kieran Cook, who played Alex Cameron into the penalty area with an angled pass from the left. Ethan Patterson came across and challenged the ex-Lye Town man, sending him sprawling just inside the penalty area. Referee Mr Lunn was unimpressed with the Pics' pleas, however, and the game continued

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Back came the Pitmen through Zac Hartley, who made a run down the right and sent over a cross to the far post three minutes later that was a little too high for both Glover and Graham to reach inside the six-yard box

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Neat play from the visitors in the eleventh minute saw Jordan Brown's pass find Coyle in space midway inside the Hednesford half. The former Solihull Moors playmaker dropped a shoulder as he took the ball past Ben Kaninda but scuffed his effort well wide of goal from twenty yards out

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Rushall went agonisingly close to opening the scoring in the fifteenth minute as an inswinging corner kick from Alex Moore was met by the head of Brown, whose firm effort at goal forced Oliver Basey into a fine save on his line, holding the ball at the second attempt as Coyle bore down on him

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The Pitmen enjoyed a fine spell of possession, with James McQuilkin, Todd Parker and Tilt seeing plenty of the ball as they looked to carve out an opening for Glover and Graham. The Hednesford player/manager was left frustrated at his final ball on eighteen minutes as he was played into a promising position inside the Rushall penalty area by McQuilkin but completely skied his attempted cross to Graham over Jake Weaver's crossbar

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The game turned a little scrappy midway through the first half as the ball ended up out of play as much as it stayed on the pitch. Graham's attempted pass into the feet of Tilt saw the winger pulled up for an offside flag against him on twenty-four minutes as the hosts broke quickly down the left-hand side of the Rushall penalty area

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Shortly before the half-hour mark, Reece Mitchell was handed a good chance to grab the game's opening goal as a run and cross from Mantom picked the midfielder out at the far post, only for his half-volley to sail over Basey's crossbar from a tight angle

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Two minutes later, Coyle went even closer to putting Rushall ahead as he picked up a loose ball midway inside the Hednesford half and unleashed a powerful, dipping long-range effort that Basey watched inches wide of his left-hand post

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Hartley's presence of mind denied Rushall another good chance at goal on thirty-five minutes as he slid in and took the ball off the toe of Coyle and denied the ex-Hednesford man a clear shot at goal from fifteen yards out

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With five minutes of the first half remaining, Tilt did well to take the ball into space before cutting inside from the left and playing the ball into the path of Heard, whose low shot failed to test Weaver with a scuffed effort under pressure from the giant Daly

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The Pitmen finished the half much the better of the two sides, with former Hednesford loanee Weaver called upon to keep the game goalless in the final minute of the half as Tilt made a jinking run into the penalty area to latch onto a through ball from Glover, only for Weaver to make a fine save one-on-one to deny Saturday's goalscorer back-to-back goals
 

It had been an uninspiring and arduous first half from both sides, with good chances at a premium at either end as both defences were on top throughout most of the first period. The Pitmen had once again looked solid enough at the back with Patterson, Steph Morley and Kaninda all doing well against a direct and aggressive Pics attack

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Tilt picked up the game's first booking within ninety seconds of the restart for a foul on Mitchell as he stopped the Rushall man from attempting to clear his lines down the right

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Once again, the game settled into an uninspiring, low-quality affair at the start of the second half as both midfields saw plenty of the ball but found their attacking players struggling to give them options in the final third. Glover did well to win a flick-on ahead of Daly on fifty-three minutes but saw Brown alert to the danger as he cleared the ball away from the looming presence of Graham

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The already-booked Tilt was walking a tightrope with Mr Lunn as he was spoken to by the match official on fifty-eight minutes after charging down a clearance from Sam Whittall with his hand

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A minute later, Graham collected a pass from Morley on the edge of the Rushall penalty area, turning past Whittall but getting his laces underneath the ball and lifted his shot into the Heath Hayes terrace

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More solid goalkeeping from Basey - who had conceded nine goals in his past two games - denied Coyle once more on sixty-two minutes as he saw the midfielder's low shot that came through a crowd of players and claimed it inside his six-yard box

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Midway through the second half, Mantom and Coyle linked up well in midfield to play the ball around McQuilkin, with the Rushall skipper firing in a shot from twenty-five yards out that was easily fielded by Basey

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The Pitmen's first substitution of the afternoon came on sixty-six minutes as the hard-working Graham was replaced as he looked to have picked up a knock, with the mercurial Asomugha coming on in his place

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Rushall's big men at the back had struggled to take advantage from set-pieces so far against the resolute Hednesford defence, with Brown having their best chance from a Moor corner kick on seventy-two minutes as he glanced his effort over the crossbar from six yards out

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Rushall made the game's first substitution a minute later as former Solihull Moors winger Jermaine Hylton came on to add his pace to the Pics attack in place of Cook

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The key flashpoint in the game came on seventy-four minutes as the home side were reduced to ten men by Mr Lunn; Tilt was brought down by a mistimed challenge from Mitchell, stopping the winger from breaking into the Pics half. Tilt took exception to the tackle and dealt out his own brand of vengeance on the midfielder as he punched the former Boldmere St Michaels man in the back of the head. Players from both sides clashed, with several members of the Rushall bench entering the field of play to get involved in the melee. Tilt was promptly sent off for his involvement in the clash, whilst Mitchell was booked for the initial foul and Moore was also shown a yellow card for getting stuck into the melee

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Glover's name was also taken by Mr Lunn on seventy-seven minutes as the Pitmen's manager - still frustrated at the red card shown to Tilt -  was rightly booked for a challenge on Whittall

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Former Stourbridge man Cameron went within a whisker of handing the play-off-chasing visitors all three points on eighty minutes as he put a shot from ten yards out just wide of Basey's near post. Close from the midfield man

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Asomugha was looking to make a late impact for the hosts, making a strong run down the left wing on eighty-three minutes that saw him leave Mitchell behind initially before the full-back recovered to put the winger's attempted cross to Glover behind for a corner kick

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With the game entering the final minute, the Pitmen made a late change of personnel as they looked to protect their point with recent loan signing Jack Sang coming on for his Hednesford debut ahead of Heard. Rushall also made their second change of the game at this point as Fletcher came on in midfield in place of Moore

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In the first of four added minutes, a corner kick swung in by Whittall was met by the head of the flying Cameron at the far post, only for his effort to skip inches over Basey's crossbar, much to the relief of the stoic Hednesford defence who had deserved their clean sheet this afternoon

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A hard-fought point for Glover's men, who were applauded off by the appreciative Keys Park crowd at the end of play after another spirited ninety minutes from the men in white. Only three games remain this season, starting with the visit of fellow strugglers Kings Langley to Keys Park on Saturday

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Hednesford Town: Basey, Hartley, Morley ©, McQuilkin, Kaninda, Patterson, Heard (Sang 90), Parker, Glover ▆, Graham (Asomugha 66), Tilt ▆ ▆ (74)      Sub Unused: Portman, Agustien, Williams

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Rushall Olympic: Weaver, Mitchell ▆, Brown, Whittall, Mantom ©, Moore ▆ (Fletcher 90), Cameron, Coyle, Masidi, Cook (Hylton 73), Daly     Subs Unused: Green, Batchelor, Landell

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