For the second time in three weeks, the Pitmen blow a three-goal advantage to come out of tonight's trip to Bower Fold with nothing as hosts Stalybridge Celtic complete a remarkable turnaround to take the points

Successive wins in the Northern Premier League West had given the Hednesford supporters hope that their hugely inconsistent side were now finally ready to make some headway in the league and make a move towards the top five. Interim manager Martin Hunter took the side for one more time this evening before the imminent appointment of the new manager and made one change to the side that had beaten City of Liverpool at the weekend, bringing Joel Taylor back into the side and giving the in-form Dom McHale a well-earned rest

Stalybridge - sitting in eleventh place in the table ahead of tonight's game - were in patchy form themselves, having lost their last three league games. New manager Jon Macken made four changes to his side from the one that Runcorn Linnets had narrowly beaten at the weekend as Jordan Butterworth, Aaron Chalmers, Max Leonard and new loan signing Lewis Rawsthorn came in for Luke Partington, Sean Tse, Jordan Burton and Navid Nasseri

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On a cold evening in Lancashire, with a heavy pitch that the recent rain had saturated, the Pitmen made a bright start to proceedings as Manny Duku latched onto Dan Trickett-Smith's pass in the very first minute of the game and pulled his shot across the face of goalkeeper James McClenaghan's far post

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Two minutes later, Trickett-Smith himself should have given the visitors an early lead as he unleashed a right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area that beat McClengahan down to his left but came back off the outside of the post

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Duku was to give the Pitmen their early boost, however, with the opening strike of what was to become a seven-goal thriller on seven minutes; Stalybridge struggled to clear Trickett-Smith's inswinging corner from the right, with Kyle Brownhill's attempted pass intercepted by Duku, who took the ball in on goal before turning the ball past McClenaghan from ten yards out

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Stalybridge looked to get back into the game through former Witton Albion man Joe Duckworth, who was pulled back by an offside flag against him on nine minutes after a pass through to him from skipper Liam Tongue

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Tongue himself assumed responsibility for a free-kick in a dangerous position for Celtic on fourteen minutes, lifting the ball into the box as he looked to pick out Aaron Chalmers at the far post but got a little too much on it and the chance was gone

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Trickett-Smith - in excellent form for the Pitmen in the last two games with three goals - went close to making it four in three on eighteen minutes as a corner kick of his was returned to him on the left-hand corner of the Celtic box, with the former Leek Town playmaker firing narrowly wide of the target with a rising shot at goal

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Another defensive mistake from Stalybridge gifted Duku his second goal of the evening on twenty minutes as another poorly executed clearance out of defence from Jack Tinning was punished by Duku, who latched onto a looping ball and headed it over the advancing McClenaghan and into the unguarded net

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The game had been played at a frantic pace so far so perhaps it was a little inevitable that the tempo would drop as the temperature started to. Successive corners from Stalybridge were dealt with well by the Pitmen on twenty-six minutes, with the Pitmen looking to break quickly down the right through Blaine Rowe as they cleared their lines and played Duku in on goal, only for an offside flag to halt the Dutchman's progress

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Debutant Rawsthorn - who had just joined Stalybridge on loan from Radcliffe after a loan spell at Atherton Collieries recently - should have narrowed the deficit on the half-hour mark as he picked up Duckworth's cross and drove in a shot from the edge of the penalty area that beat the dive of Jack Rose but came back off the crossbar

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Two minutes later, the youngster went close for Celtic once more as he picked up a Duckworth pass once more on the run into the penalty area but pulled his shot wide of Roses's far post

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The Pitmen put their travelling band of supporters into dreamland on thirty-four minutes as they put themselves into what appeared to be an unassailable lead at 3-0. Duku turned provider for this one as Omar Holness linked up with the striker down the right for Duku to lift the ball into the box, where Taylor arrived to head past McClenaghan and register his first-ever goal for the club

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However, the visitors' jubilation was cut short just three minutes later as Stalybridge got a goal back through Leonard; James Irlam's corner from the right was headed into the path of Brownhill by Tinning, with the left-back's cross back into the mixer eventually scrambled home on the line by Leonard after the Hednesford defenders had switched off

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Three minutes later, Celtic struck another goal back as more dreadful defending from the Pitmen saw their lead cut to just one goal by Brandon Newell. Ollie Harrison did not check a run down the right from Newell as the midfielder was allowed time and space to pick out Duckworth, who in turn laid the ball back to Newell that allowed the former Macclesfield youngster to coolly clip the ball over the advancing Rose from twelve yards out and into the empty net

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Incredibly, Stalybridge levelled matters once more in added time at the end of the first half as Duckworth started the move from deep, playing Newell into the acres of space to the left-hand side of the penalty area. Leonard had made an overlapping run in behind Newell and took the ball on before hammering his low shot beyond Rose and into the far corner of the net from ten yards out. Staggering

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Roberts went into the referee's notebook in the final minute of the half for a desperate challenge on Duckworth to try and stem the flow of endless Stalybridge attacks

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The Pitmen looked to rescue something from the crazy eight-minute spell that they had witnessed in added time, as Duku went close to a hat-trick with another powerful run into the box down the right, driving in a low shot at goal that looked to beat McClenaghan but was cleared off the line by the back-tracking Chalmers

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Anyone of a Hednesford persuasion could scarcely believe the scoreline at the break as their side had gone from being three goals to the good eight minutes earlier to hanging in there in first-half added time after three quickfire Stalybridge goals. Hunter will have had some harsh words for his defensive players at the break as they had simply capitulated under pressure from the hosts, even more spectacularly than against Gainsborough Trinity three weeks ago in that epic F.A. Cup encounter​

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Stalybridge went close to an immediate goal at the start of the second period as Tongue picked up a loose ball on the edge of the Hednesford penalty area on forty-six minutes and drove in a low shot that Rose claimed down to his right-hand side

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Rawsthorn was also denied by Rose a minute later as he was played in behind a dispirited and disjointed Hednesford defence by Newell, but his deflected effort was turned away by the stopper at full stretch down to his left

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It was all Stalybridge at the start of the second half, with Leonard going close on fifty-one minutes as he latched onto Duckworth's flick header but drove his shot on the run over the crossbar as Elliott Johnson put him under pressure

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The men in blue made the game's first change of the second half on fifty-four minutes as the pacy Prince Anuniru came on in midfield at the expense of ex-1874 Northwich man Irlam

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Another chance came and went for Leonard three minutes later as he fired over from twenty yards out after Harrison had stood off the forward and allowed him time and space to pick his spot

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The bruised and battered Pitmen finally elected to make a change to their personnel shortly after the hour mark as McHale returned to action in place of Dan Sparkes - this saw a shift in positions as the desperately disappointing Jack Bearne moved to the left flank and Taylor dropped back into defence to cover for the departed Sparkes at left-back

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A free-kick from Tongue three minutes later to the left-hand side of the Pitmen's penalty area was floated towards the far post, where Kory Roberts had to be alert to turn the ball away from the looming presence of Duckworth and concede a corner kick to the hosts

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Holness followed Roberts into the book on sixty-seven minutes as he was penalised for a foul on the influential Tongue in midfield that stopped the vastly experienced midfielder from turning and playing Duckworth into space down the left flank

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This was followed by a booking for Stalybridge full-back Jordan Butterworth just two minutes later for flooring Bearne in mid-flight as the ex-Liverpool man looked to break down the Hednesford left

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Another attacking change for the Pitmen came with twenty minutes remaining as Jake Jervis finally returned to action after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, replacing Duku up front

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A minute later, Newell latched onto a sloppy clearance out of defence from the Pitmen and worked the ball onto his right foot, drilling in a shot at goal that was turned behind by Rose for another Stalybridge corner kick

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With fifteen minutes of the game remaining, the Pitmen brought the energetic Jacob Gwilt in place of Rowe in a move that saw Roberts shifted out to right-back and Johnson dropped back into defence as Gwilt slotted into the centre of the park

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There was perhaps an inevitability of a Stalybridge winner during the second half with the home side having all of the possession and chances. Newell finally conjured up what was to be the winner on seventy-six minutes - Duckworth was the creator once more out on the left wing, turning past the hapless Harrison and standing up a cross for his former Witton team-mate, whose looping header from twelve yards out had too much on it for Rose as it beat the stopper at his far post and nestled in the corner of the net

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It could have got even worse for the Pitmen just two minutes later as Brownhill got on the end of a cross-field pass from Newell but volleyed his first-time effort from twelve yards out just wide of the post

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With eight minutes remaining, Duckworth created a chance from nowhere with some more smart footwork, turning onto his left foot and firing just wide of goal from just inside the penalty area as the Pitmen once again simply stood off him

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Stalybridge made their second change of the evening on eighty-three minutes as the hard-working Leonard was given a warm round of applause by the Bower Fold crowd as he was replaced by Nasseri

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Back came the Pitmen in the final minutes, looking for a late equaliser to rescue some of the lost credibility of their first-half collapse. Johnson went close to grabbing goal number four of the season on eighty-four minutes as he met Trickett-Smith's inswinging corner with a firm header but headed narrowly over the crossbar from six yards out

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Johnson picked up a late booking for the Pitmen as he attempted to wrestle the ball away from Tinning in midfield and launch an attack but only managed to fell the former Bury man in the process

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McHale had been very limited in his impact since coming on for the Pitmen but did go close to an equaliser for the visitors on eighty-eight minutes as he took the ball into the box and worked it onto his left foot, only to lift his effort over the crossbar and into the disgruntled Hednesford fans huddled in the terrace behind McClenaghan's goal

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A substitution apiece on eighty-nine minutes saw the Pitmen bring Zidan Sutherland on up front in place of Trickett-Smith and Rawsthorn replaced by the more defensively-minded Isaac Modi for Stalybridge

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The incoming new manager will not have been impressed with what he will have seen from his under-performing side this evening, having witnessed a meagre, characterless display that sets them back another step once more after two forward in the last fortnight. The new man at the helm will start his tenure with another away game at the weekend as Hednesford travel up to fourth-placed Trafford
 

Stalybridge Celtic: McClenaghan, Butterworth ▆, Brownhill, Irlam (Anuniru 54), Chalmers, Tinning, Newell, Tongue ©, Duckworth, Leonard (Nasseri 83), Rawsthorn (Modi 89)      Subs Unused: Masaba, Burton

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Hednesford Town: Rose, Rowe (Gwilt 75), Sparkes (McHale 62), Johnson © ▆, Harrison, Roberts ▆, Trickett-Smith (Sutherland 89), Holness ▆, Duku (Jervis 70), Taylor, Bearne     Sub Unused: Spence

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