The Pitmen's three-game unbeaten run is brought to an end this afternoon at Keys Park as high-flying Southport claim all three points courtesy of a solitary Mike Marsh penalty kick

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A 1-0 extra-time win on Monday evening over Ryman Premier League side Billericay Town had handed the Pitmen a mouthwatering tie against League Two strugglers Oldham Athletic in the first round of the F.A. Cup later on this month. Manager John Baldwin made two changes to his side from the one that had started the midweek replay; Lee Colkin was replaced by Neil Pointon after starting his suspension following his red card at Boston United last month. The other change came in midfield, as Ian Robinson came in ahead of Paul Bagshaw

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Mark Wright's Sandgrounders had also been involved in an F.A. Cup replay in midweek, beating league rivals Doncaster Rovers 1-0 at Haig Avenue on Tuesday night to set up a first-round clash at home against Havant & Waterlooville. Wright stuck with the same XI that had started in midweek for today's return to league action, looking for his side to extend their own unbeaten run which currently sat at four games

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On another overcast and drizzle afternoon, the sixth-placed visitors made a strong start to the game and pushed the Pitmen back into their own third in the first ten minutes. Stuart Lake closed down Andy Gouck in the third minute of the game and rushed the former Blackpool man into an early shot at goal from twenty-five yards out that drifted over Mark Gayle's crossbar

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The Pitmen's first effort of the afternoon fell to youngster Scott Bonsall three minutes later as Robinson did well to hold off the attentions of Neil Grayston and cross from the right to find the striker lurking, only for Bonsall to strike a scuffed effort just wide of goal from eight yards out as Lee Furlong closed him down

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The familiar figure of Dino Maamria - a scourge of previous Hednesford sides for the likes of Doncaster and Stevenage Borough in recent years - forced Pointon into a goal-saving block in the ninth minute as a drifting cross from Mark Stuart was controlled well by the Tunisian, whose low shot across goal was blocked well by the Pitmen's player/coach

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Stewart Airdrie was seeing plenty of the ball for the Pitmen in the absence of Bagshaw, playing in a free role that allowed him to pick the ball up at will and run at the Southport defenders. On thirteen minutes, a typically slalom-like run down the right saw him jink his way past Stuart and cross for Neil Davis with a teasing cross that the striker, whose first-time shot cleared the crossbar and also the Hednesford end stand

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The game's first booking was handed to the combative Val Owen a minute later as the former Northwich Victoria midfielder was shown a yellow card by referee Mr Conn for a late challenge on former Liverpool and Kidderminster Harriers man Marsh

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Mark Gayle's first involvement in the game came in the eighteenth minute as he tipped a drifting cross from Phil Bolland over his crossbar to deny Maamria a chance at the far post after the midfielder's right flank ball in looked to be heading straight for the unmarked forward

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Midway through the first period, Martin Clark's reverse ball sent Bolland away down the right flank, with the ex-Altrincham man showing Pointon a clean pair of heels as he got to the byeline and pulled the ball back to Ian Arnold, whose shot from twelve yards out flashed just wide of the post

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Stuart joined Owen in the referee's notebook on twenty-three minutes as he hauled down the free-roaming Airdrie down the right flank to stop the winger from sending over a cross to Davis

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Airdrie appeared to be the Pitmen's best bet to open up a mean Sandgrounders defence that had only conceded two goals in their last four games, latching onto a crossfield pass from Pointon on twenty-six minutes and drilling a right-footed shot from an angle just wide of goalkeeper Steve Dickinson's left-hand post

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Former Aston Villa defender Shaun Teale headed wide for the visitors on the half-hour mark as he rose to meet a corner kick from Bolland but skewed his glancing header over the crossbar from six yards out

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Davis and Bonsall combined well to set up Mark Cooper on thirty-three minutes as Davis headed a Pointon throw-in into the path of his strike partner, whose neat lay-off to the former Rushden & Diamonds midfielder saw Cooper strike a powerful effort that failed to test Dickinson from long-range

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Marsh - a Conference winner with Kidderminster last season before returning to Haig Avenue in May - stung the palms of Gayle two minutes later from a free-kick after Arnold had been brought down to the left of the Hednesford penalty area by Steve Evans

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Eight minutes before the break, another superb run from Airdrie saw him side-step a challenge from Clark before striking a shot at goal from twenty yards out that rebounded off Teale and into the path of Davis, who unselfishly laid the ball back to the winger; he spotted Dickinson off his line and attempted a lob over the stopper that just had a little too much on it and landed on the roof of the net

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Cooper went even closer for the Pitmen on forty-two minutes from a free-kick as he curled a delightful shot around the Southport wall from twenty-five yards out but saw his effort clip the outside of Dickinson's left-hand post

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Grayston picked up the game's third yellow card just before the break as he was booked for a totting up of niggly fouls on both Davis and Bonsall throughout the first period

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Russell Bradley denied Arnold a clear shot at goal with the final action of the half as a long ball forwards from Teale caught the Hednesford defence out, allowing the striker to pick the ball up and drive into the penalty area before a timely sliding tackle from the veteran defender denied Arnold

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As had been the case in recent games, the Pitmen had looked competent rather than spectacular, lacking in the final third once more and struggling to turn their possession into genuine openings. Southport had shown plenty of quality on the ball through the likes of Marsh and Bolland but had also struggled to test Gayle regularly. Baldwin was forced into a half-time substitution as Evans was forced off due to injury, continuing his long and frustrating issues to stay fit. Norbury came on in his place which led to a positional change for two Pitmen as Robinson moved to right-back and Bonsall dropped into midfield

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Wright's half-time team talk appeared to have the desired effect on the visitors as they struck what proved to be the winner just five minutes after the restart from the penalty spot; Maamria's run into the Hednesford penalty caught out Robinson, who brought the striker down as he tried to get back to cover. Mr Conn pointed to the spot and allowed Marsh to spot the ball and send Gayle the wrong way from twelve yards out

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The Pitmen almost conjured up an immediate reply from Norbury, who headed into the arms of Dickinson three minutes later from an Airdrie cross when he really should have made the former Guiseley stopper work more for the save

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At the other end, Bolland - still looking for his first goal of the season - arrived late in the Hednesford penalty area to get his head to Stuart's cross from the left on fifty-eight minutes, but his downwards header took a bounce before being fielded by Gayle

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A moment of controversy robbed the Pitmen of a penalty kick of their own on sixty-two minutes as Robinson's pacy cross from the right appeared to clearly strike the hand of Bolland as it bounced up into the body of the Southport man at the far post. Despite vociferous protests from the men in white, Mr Conn only awarded them a corner kick as he stated that he had not seen any infringement

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Mr Conn's decision had clearly riled the Hednesford bench, with Baldwin and assistant Colin Lambert berating the assistant on the main stand side as he came past them. This in turn angered the Southport officials, who made it clear to Baldwin and co. that they should keep their thoughts to themselves

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Three minutes later, things threatened to boil over once more between the two benches after a questionable incident of sportsmanship from the visitors; Gayle kicked the ball out intentionally to allow skipper Pointon to receive treatment after being left on the deck following a challenge on Gouck. After the veteran had returned to his feet, Southport took the throw but maintained possession rather than throwing it back to Gayle, prompting angry words between the two managers and substitutes that required stewards to keep them apart

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The Pitmen spent long periods of the half camped just outside the Southport penalty area, looking for a breakthrough that they struggled to conjure up as the Sandgrounders defence stood firm. Cooper's long-range effort on seventy minutes took a nick off the leg of Teale and arrowed just wide of the post

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From Cooper's resultant corner, Lake rose highest just outside the Southport six-yard box but could only head over the crossbar as he got underneath the inswinging cross

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Airdrie was finding the second period more challenging to create openings as he was now being marked by two Southport players when he received the ball. He did well to see off the attentions of Grayston on seventy-three minutes and stand up a cross to the far post from near the corner flag that was nodded down by Norbury, only for Dickinson to scoop up the loose ball before Davis could take advantage

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The away side brought on the hugely experienced David Linighan for the tiring Furlong at this juncture, with the former Leeds United and Ipswich Town defender slotting into the centre of defence in a move that saw Bolland drop into a right wing-back role for the remainder of the game

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Good play from Bonsall with fifteen minutes remaining saw him confidently take the ball past Linighan and Teale before teeing up Owen, who shanked his right-footed shot from the edge of the Southport penalty area high over the crossbar and out of the ground as the ball cleared the open-ended Heath Hayes terrace

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Dickinson was alert to a long ball forwards from Lake three minutes later as the defender's punt towards Davis bounced behind the backtracking Teale and into the path of the striker, only for Dickinson to come out of his penalty area and hack the ball clear ahead of the Pitmen's top scorer

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With eight minutes of the game remaining, two Cooper corners tested the Southport resolve as both balls in were aimed at Bradley at the far post, only for Linighan to use his experience to good effect and clear both times

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Clark was the game's final recipient of a yellow card on eighty-five minutes as he was rightly booked by Mr Conn for a foul on Bonsall twenty-five yards from goal. The resultant free-kick was well worked from the Pitmen as Pointon and Cooper disguised a quickly-taken ball to Lake, whose powerfully-struck effort was punched out by Dickinson as he got his weight behind the shot on the edge of his six-yard box

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Two minutes later, the increasingly desperate Pitmen had a great chance to equalise as Cooper's corner kick was met by the head of Owen, who got in between two Southport defenders at the far post to head inches wide of the far post

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Owen was to be denied an even better chance to grab a late leveller for the hosts on eighty-nine minutes as Pointon's well-delivered free-kick from the left was met by the head of Owen once more, only for his goalbound effort to be cleared off the line by Teale

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The visitors held firm in the three minutes of added time to earn themselves a hard-fought three points to take back to Lancashire, extending their unbeaten run to five games but ending the Pitmen's mini-revival in the process. Baldwin's side make the short journey across the A5 to Manor Park to face fifteenth-placed Nuneaton Borough next weekend looking to shake off their horribly inconsistent form that is threatening their step one status

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Hednesford Town: Gayle, Evans (Norbury 45), Pointon ©, Bradley, Owen ▆, Cooper, Robinson, Bonsall, Davis, Airdrie       Subs Unused: Bagshaw, Haran, Goodwin, Carney

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Southport: Dickinson, Furlong (Linighan 73), Grayston ▆, Teale ©, Clark ▆, Bolland, Marsh, Gouck, Arnold, Maamria, Stuart ▆       Subs Unused: Pell, MacAuley, Elam, Whittaker

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