The Pitmen finally make their way past Midland Football League Shifnal Town in this evening's replay, although Steve King's side were wholly unconvincing in their victory that sets up a fourth qualifying round tie with Vanarama National League Gateshead

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After Saturday's none-event of a tie at Shifnal, King made two changes to his side in search of a response to his side's limp attacking display at the Acoustafoam Stadium; the injured Blaine Rowe was replaced by Dan Trickett-Smith and Jake Jervis came back into the side up front ahead of Manny Duku. Simeon Maye lined up in an unfamiliar right-back role, with Sion Spence dropping deeper to cover in defensive midfield

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Shifnal will have been buoyed by their display on Saturday, with manager Connor Patterson looking to finish the job against their step four hosts as he named an unchanged XI to the one that had started four days previously. Former Pitmen Kyle Bennett and Joe Cuff returned to their old stomping ground, whilst Tom Hill was named amongst the Shifnal substitutes once more

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Despite the quick turnaround in games and the indecision surrounding the game being on until 3pm due to heavy rain in the area, the crowds once again responded with another 1,000-plus turnout from the excellent Hednesford public. It proved to be a nervy, cagey opening ten minutes, with the same tempo of much of Saturday's game in evidence; the Pitmen keeping the ball for long spells and passing it around at the back, but having little to no invention in the final third of the pitch, where Shifnal cleared their lines with ease and looked to capitalise on Kev Monteiro and Cuff's forward running on the counter

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It took until the tenth minute of the game for either side to register what could be described as a chance, as Cuff picked the ball up to the left-hand side of the penalty area and jinked his way past Maye, only to scuff his right-footed effort straight into the arms of Jack Rose at his near post

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Jack Bearne picked up a stupid and unnecessary booking for the hosts in the thirteenth minute as he petulantly booted the ball away in frustration after a free-kick was given against him on the Hednesford right flank, right in front of referee Mr Jones

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The Pitmen's first sight at goal fell at the feet of Dom McHale two minutes later after Bearne had brought Joel Taylor's deep cross under control before laying the ball off to McHale, who turned past Monteiro but dragged his low shot from twenty yards out well wide of George Scott's left-hand post

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A minute later, Trickett-Smith showed some neat skill to take the ball past Kyle Bennett and line up a shot from twenty-five yards out that took a nick off Jack Rowley and bounced wide of goal for a Hednesford corner kick

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Ex-Walsall Wood striker Monteiro went close to opening the scoring with an individual effort on seventeen minutes, bringing the ball in from the right and drifting towards the Hednesford penalty area unchallenged before firing in a shot that flew just wide of Rose's left-hand post with the stopper beaten for pace

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Monteiro should have given his side the lead on eighteen minutes but was guilty of a glaring miss from Aaron Simms' deep cross from the right, rising unchallenged on the six-yard line but somehow heading over the crossbar rather than into the empty net. A real let-off for the hosts

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Good play from the Pitmen on twenty-one minutes saw them work the ball from right to left and into the path of McHale, whose low, driven cross into the box looked for the incoming Jervis, who was beaten to the ball as he slid in by a covering clearance from Rowley

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Cuff picked up Shifnal's first booking of the evening midway through the first period, rightly shown a yellow card by Mr Jones for a late and clumsy challenge on Elliott Johnson

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The mercurial McHale continued to frustrate the Keys Park masses - more so due to his ill-advised choice of wearing gloves on a fairly mild October evening - as he fired well, well wide of goal on twenty-three minutes after setting himself up nicely twenty-five yards from goal but striking a wild, off-target effort at goal

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Good play from Trickkett-Smith saw him work his way into the box with some sublime close control on twenty-seven minutes before being forced wide by Elliott Bennett and eventually earning a corner kick on the left. His ball into the box was met by the head of McHale, who glanced his effort from six yards out over the crossbar

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Johnson was the latest player to earn himself a booking from the busy Mr Jones shortly before the half-hour mark as he hauled down Monteiro in full flight and conceded a free-kick to the right of the Hednesford penalty area. Elliott Bennett's perfectly weighted ball into the box was met by the head of Rowley, who forced Rose into a fingertip save to claw the ball away from goal and onto the top of the crossbar as he headed back across goal towards Simms

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Rose was called upon again to keep his side in it on thirty-four minutes after a sloppy piece of play from McHale saw him give the ball away cheaply to Joe Thomas in his own half; he played Cuff in down the left channel, with the former Stafford Rangers winger attempting a shot across goal from twelve yards out that Rose cleared away with his knee before claiming the loose ball at the second attempt

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The Pitmen had really struggled to put anything cohesive together in the final third of the pitch for the past ten minutes as Shifnal held firm, although Jervis got on the end of a good move from the hosts on thirty-eight minutes, picking up McHale's cross-field pass on the left and coming back inside before attempting a low shot at goal that skipped wide of Scott's right-hand post

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Johnson was on the end of some Shifnal rough-housing a minute later as Kyle Bennett left the boot in on the Hednesford skipper, although Mr Jones failed to act on this foul with what appeared to be a deserved yellow card for the veteran. King was angry at the lack of action from the match official and let him know his thoughts, earning himself a yellow card for dissent in the process

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A good run from Bearne - his first real positive move forward in the first half - saw him get the better of Kane Lewis in the final minute of the half, stealing half a yard before pulling the ball back across the face of goal where neither Stevenson or Jervis could get on the end of

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It had been a fairly even first half, punctuated with some poor finishing at both ends as neither side looked to have the firepower to take advantage. Shifnal had probably shaded the chances, with Monteiro's miss the standout of the first forty-five minutes that really should have been taken by the striker

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The Pitmen emerged with a little more purpose at the start of the second half as they looked to lay down an early marker; successive corner kicks were swung in by Trickett-Smith on fifty-two minutes in search of both Jervis and Kory Roberts before being cleared by the Shifnal defence

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Cuff strayed into an offside position for the first of a series of occasions in the second half three minutes later, making a run in behind Maye to get on the end of a Kyle Bennett pass but was rightly flagged as offside by the assistant on the Wimblebury side

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Three minutes later, Cuff repeated this with another early run at Maye to get onto Monteiro's pass a little too keenly and was once again pulled up for being offside

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Kyle Bennett left the home side incensed just before the hour mark as he completely wiped out Bearne in full flight as the winger got past him just in front of the benches, leaving the winger in a heap on the pitch. Mr Jones took a long, hard look at the challenge and showed the midfielder a yellow card when some inside Keys Park were perhaps expecting a red. After picking himself up, Bearne took the free-kick himself and delivered a superb ball into the box that no-one in a white shirt had the conviction to attack, allowing the ball to drift wide of the far post

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The Pitmen were starting to ramp up the pressure at this point, with Trickett-Smith's outswinging corner kick two minutes later flicked on by Jervis into the path of Johnson, who looked to hook the ball back at goal but was denied by a hurried clearance from Brad Maslen-Jones

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Johnson was to have a say, however, in the Pitmen's next foray forward on sixty-seven minutes as they finally broke the stubborn Shifnal rearguard. Stevenson showed great control to take the ball to the byeline on the right and cross low into the box, where Scott managed to divert the ball away with a smothering stop at his near post. The ball was cleared as far as the Hednesford skipper, who played an outstanding reverse pass back into the box on the run that Jervis headed down into the path of Trickett-Smith, who showed great feet to take the ball down and fired past Scott from close-range. There were calls for offside from the visitors, but Mr Jones was content that Trickett-Smith was at least level with Lewis when the ball came to him and the goal stood

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Almost from the restart, the Pitmen went close to doubling their lead as Trickett-Smith's corner kick was missed by Johnson at the near post but dropped at the feet of Roberts, who diverted the ball towards goal but saw his effort cleared off the line by Scott at his near post

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Shifnal elected to make the game's first change on seventy-two minutes as ex-Hednesford man Hill made his Keys Park return as he came on up front in place of Thomas

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With their noses in front, the Pitmen were now content to keep the ball and dominate possession once more. McHale's quick feet on seventy-five minutes saw him drift across the face of the Shifnal box as he came in from the right but saw his low shot blocked by Maslen-Jones

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The hosts made their first change of the evening on seventy-eight minutes as the F.A. Cup's current top scorer Duku came on up front in place of Stevenson, who had worked incredibly hard all night long but had once again found chances at an absolute premium

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This was followed two minutes later by a double personnel change from the away side as Aaron Solley replaced Lewis Jarman in central midfield and left-back Lewis came off in place of Macauley Taylor

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Still Shifnal pressed as they looked to force the game into the lottery of a penalty shoot-out, with Maslen-Jones having a good chance for the visitors on eighty-three minutes; Elliott Bennett's right-wing cross was headed out by Roberts but only as far as the Shifnal number five, who struck a low shot back at goal from the edge of the penalty area that Rose had to push away down to his right

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With the hosts looking to shut up shop and protect their slender lead, the combative Omar Holness was brought on in midfield in place of McHale with five minutes remaining

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Bearne was also withdrawn by the Pitmen on eighty-eight minutes as Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen replaced him down the right flank. Whilst the substitution was taking place, a frustrated Monteiro felt that Bearne was taking too long to walk off and pushed him off the pitch, earning a late yellow card from Mr Jones

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Mr Jones had somehow found eight added minutes to a second half that had barely had a stoppage, much to the bemusement of the home fans, players and officials. Elliott Bennett joined his brother in the book in the third of these added minutes as a late tackle on Johnson rightly earned him a yellow card

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There was a profound sense of relief at the sound of the final whistle from the home crowd after another attritional ninety minutes of F.A. Cup football from both sides. Credit has to go to Shifnal, who on another day would have taken one of their first-half chances and added the Pitmen to their list of upsets this term. However, Trickett-Smith's goal is enough to move the hosts into the final qualifying round of this season's competition and a mouth-watering home tie against National League high-flyers Gateshead in twelve days' time. Before then, it's a long-awaited and welcome return to league duty for the home side as they play host to newly-promoted Wythenshawe for the first time ever on Saturday before following that up with a trip to Witton Albion on Tuesday night

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Hednesford Town: Rose, Maye, J. Taylor, Johnson © ▆, Roberts, Trickett-Smith ▆, Spence, Jervis, Stevenson (Duku 78), McHale ▆ (Holness 85), Bearne ▆ (Alamu-Tajudeen 88)    Sub Unused: Sutherland, Barnes-Homer, Brown, Gwilt

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Shifnal Town: Scott, Simms, Lewis (M. Taylor 80), Rowley, Maslen-Jones, K. Bennett © ▆, Jarman (Solley 80), Monteiro ▆, Thomas (Hill 72), E. Bennett ▆, Cuff ▆      Subs Unused: Clapp, Beddows, Fishman, Oyemade

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