The start of yet another new era at Keys Park sees Harry Harris take the reigns as Hednesford manager and oversee a well-earned draw against top-four dwellers Stalybridge Celtic today at Keys Park

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Another typically dramatic week at Keys Park had seen Danny Glover and his management team relieved of their duties off the back of a woeful run of form that had dumped the Pitmen to the foot of the Northern Premier League West table. Harris and assistant Steve Hinks had resigned from their roles at nearby Walsall Wood soon after the news had broke, with the former Walsall man confirmed as the Pitmen's new manager on Wednesday. Harris elected to remain loyal to the current squad - for today at least - as he allowed the current players to earn their place in his squad in the future. Harris made four changes to the side that had been beaten at City of Liverpool last weekend; Desean Martin finally returned to the side after a long spell of suspension, coming into the side ahead of Wembanvuanda Star Mayemba, whilst Joe Morley was also selected ahead of Joe Thompson. Lucas Yeomans had sat out last week's game due to suspension and returned at right-back ahead of Brett Lloyd. The third change came on the left flank as Reinaldo Forbes was handed a start ahead of the now-departed Glover

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Fourth-placed Celtic - sitting two points off top spot going into today's clash - has recorded three league wins in a row to lift them towards the summit, beating Trafford 1-0 last weekend at Bower Fold. Manager Jake Kinsey made four changes of his own as Jake Kenny, new signing from Macclesfield Tom Thorpe, Jack Irlam and Matty Bryan replaced Scott Wara, Lucas Cook, Brandon Newell and Max Harrop

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Another week of unsettled conditions had given way eventually to a nice sunny afternoon in South Staffordshire, although the Keys Park pitch was heavy and very green ahead of kick-off. Another excellent crowd greeted Harris and his management team upon kick-off, with his side looking to play directly through the centre of the park from the off; in the third minute, James McQuilkin played a delightful pass out to the right and found Morley, who had to cut inside on to his left foot and cross into the box, only to see Thorpe hack the ball clear ahead of Demetri Brown

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The first real sighting of goal came in the sixth minute as the tricky Aaron Dwyer was afforded too much time and space to cut on from the left wing, drifting past the challenge of Lucas Yeomans and Ritchie Sutton before curling a shot at goal from the edge of the penalty area that landed on the roof of Ryan Brown's goal. This was to prove a pre-cursor to later events in the half as the Pitmen showed more of their uncanny knack of not learning their lessons from before

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More good play from McQuilkin in the tenth minute saw the diminutive midfielder spray a superb ball out to the left flank, where Forbes did well to bring the ball down into his path and drive to the byeline; after beating the experienced Michael Brewster for pace, Forbes was sent sprawling by the former Ashton United man, earning the Pitmen a free-kick on the corner of the Stalybridge box. However, this proved wasteful as Tom Thorley's deep cross to the far post had too much flight on it and flew over the heads of both Sam Griffiths and Callam Mendez-Jones at the far post. Definitely an area that Harris and his coaching staff will have to improve after a third of a season of rotten, wasteful set-piece deliveries

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The Pitmen's desire to involve McQuilkin in all of their attacking movements was proving a tricky one for Stalybridge to manage, with the first of several crunching tackles made on the midfielder made by Connor O'Grady in the thirteenth minute bringing the ex-Telford man down just inside the Celtic half, earning O'Grady a ticking off from referee Mr Lunn

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Hednesford's bright and assertive start to proceedings was rewarded in the sixteenth minute with the opening goal of the afternoon through Demetri Brown's persistence; a long ball over the top from Morley gave the striker something to chase down the centre, although it looked as though O'Grady was favourite to reach the ball ahead of him. However, Celtic goalkeeper Luke Hewitson's sudden dash out of his goal caused panic in the ranks, with Brown doing brilliantly to nip in, take the ball around the stopper and slide the ball home from twelve yards out. It was the burly striker's third goal in as many games since returning to the club from AFC Wulfrunians

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Another challenge on McQuilkin went unpunished by the referee two minutes later as the midfielder was flattened by Byrne as he made his way down the left flank, with Mr Lunn still unwilling to produce a card for any of the heavy-handed challenges on McQuilkin

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More good wing play from Forbes saw him make a jinking run inside from the left touchline on twenty minutes, using some excellent footwork to turn past Brewster before his low cross was turned behind for a corner by O'Grady. However, Morley's resultant flag kick was another disappointing one as it sailed straight into the arms of Hewitson

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Stalybridge seemed intent on playing on the counter-attack, launching long balls forwards at every opportunity for the pacy Dwyer and the combative Max Leonard to fight out with the Hednesford defenders. One such ball midway through the first half saw Leonard take the ball down from Byrne's pass on the right-hand side of the penalty area, only for some last-ditch defending from Griffiths to shepherd the ball behind for a corner kick to the visitors

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The first yellow card of the game was finally brandished in the direction of a player in green as Harrop was booked on twenty-six minutes for a foul on Forbes out on the left flank. Thorley floated in the resultant free-kick, which Hewitson did well to punch clear at his far post to deny Griffiths a free header

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However, despite being on top for the opening third of the game, more defensive indecision was to cost the Pitmen dearly as another long ball forward led to an equaliser on the half-hour mark; Hewitsons's long punt forwards looked to pick out the run of Dwyer down the left, only for Yeomans to come across and intercept the ball. However, a crucial moment of indecision from the youngster saw him dither on his next move and cheaply concede possession to Dwyer, who drove into the space in front of him before curling a low shot beyond the reach of Ryan Brown and into the far corner of the net from sixteen yards out

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Morley almost caught Hewitson napping three minutes later as he picked up the ball wide on the right flank and cut inside onto his left foot once more, sending over a cross that he got a little more on than perhaps anticipated that drifted towards the far corner of the net, prompting the Stalybridge stopper into making a one-handed save to turn the looping ball over the crossbar for a corner kick

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Celtic enjoyed a spell on top in the remaining minutes of the half as the Pitmen looked to regroup at the break. On thirty-seven minutes, a deep corner kick from the right was met by the head of O'Grady at the far post, but his downward header under pressure from Sutton dropped wide of the target

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Dywer looked to carve out an opening for himself with four minutes of the first period remaining, leading the Hednesford defence a merry dance on the edge of the box with his close control before firing well over the crossbar from twenty yards out

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Harris will have been fairly pleased with what he had seen from his new side in the first period, with the men in white showing a positive attitude going forward and a much more committed display when needing to 'mix it' with their opponents. Skipper Brewster was forced off at the break and was replaced by Cook, with O'Grady taking the captain's armband

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The experienced Thorpe - a former Manchester United man with one Premier League appearance for the Red Devils behind him - picked up a booking on his Celtic debut just ninety seconds into the second half as he hauled down Morley twenty yards from goal

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Thorpe was followed into the book barely a minute later by team-mate O'Grady, whose crunching tackle brought Martin down thirty yards from goal as the pair challenged for a bouncing ball

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Goalscorer Brown was presented with a good chance to put the hosts back into the lead on fifty minutes as another barnstorming run into the box from the striker saw him get the better of Thorpe once more, holding off the challenge of the defender before shooting straight into the arms of Hewitson with an angled drive at goal from fifteen yards out

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Brown tested the stopper again a minute later as another slide-rule pass into the feet of the striker from McQuilkin played him in on goal, this time snatching at his effort somewhat and allowing Hewiston to make a comfortable save to his left

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Brown was proving a real handful for Thorpe, constantly playing off the shoulder of the defender as he looked to turn the 30-year-old at every opportunity with McQuilkin supplying the ammunition from midfield. Morley - looking to get more involved in the game after a quiet first half - picked up a pass from the midfielder on fifty-four minutes and looked to square the ball to Brown on the edge of the penalty area, only for Stalybridge to hack the ball clear of danger

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A glorious chance fell to Brown on fifty-six minutes with Forbes providing him with a great opportunity; coming in from the left, Forbes teased his way past Cook with some clever feet, pulling the ball back to Brown from the byeline with a low cross. However, Brown got his boot underneath the ball and lifted his first-time shot from eight yards out over the crossbar when he probably should have got his shot on target

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Three minutes later, Stalybridge's first real sight at goal in the second half came through Leonard's run down the right, standing up a cross for the incoming Dwyer at the far post; the winger beat Yeomans to the ball but saw his header easily saved by Ryan Brown on his line

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This was to prove to be Leonard's final contribution to the afternoon as the striker was replaced by the visitors shortly after the hour mark by Jordan Burton

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This was followed just three minutes later by Celtic's third substitution of the game as former 1874 Northwich man Irlam came on for his eighth appearance for the club since joining in September, replacing Curran-Nicholls

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Midway through the second half, Yeomans and Newell challenged for a loose ball just outside the Hednesford penalty area, culminating in Yeomans reacting angrily to the challenge on him from his fellow teenager. After a bout of pushing and shoving, Mr Lunn chose to book both players for their part in the scuffle, despite the Stalybridge bench protesting their player's innocence

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Hewitson was on hand to deny McQuilkin a goal on his Keys Park return on sixty-nine minutes after good approach play from the Pitmen saw Morley and Brown involved to set up the midfielder, whose weak long-range effort was easily held by the stopper

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Two minutes later, McQuilkin was off-target once again as some neat one-touch play from the hosts just outside the box set McQuilkin up once more, but this time he fired high and wide of goal with a wild right-footed effort from twenty yards out

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Martin was next to see a chance go agonisingly wide on seventy-three minutes as his rebounded effort skipped inches wide of the post from twelve yards out after Demetri Brown's initial shot had fallen into his path

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Morley picked up the game's final booking of the afternoon two minutes later as he attempted to block Hewitson's quick clearance but was adjudged to have fouled the goalkeeper in the process. On second viewing, it appeared that Hewitson had made a meal of the challenge to get the youngster booked

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With the game finely poised, you felt that a goal now could win it for either side as we headed for the final ten minutes of play. On seventy-seven minutes, Ryan Brown claimed a Stalybridge corner at his far post and quickly adapted the ball to Thorley, who made a break through the centre of the park before playing Morley into space in the inside right position, only for the teenager to shoot weakly straight into the arms of Hewitson

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The Pitmen's first change of the afternoon came with eleven minutes remaining as Thompson came on to add more legs in midfield, replacing the tiring Martin who had been excellent in his return to the side

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Forbes should have done better with a good effort presented to him on eighty-two minutes, getting on the end of a pass from Demetri Brown and turning one way then the other to try and create some space for himself in the penalty area before shooting wide from close-range, although the angle was tight for the winger

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Ryan Brown was alert to the danger posed by Stalybridge on the counter-attack, making a good save on his line on eighty-four minutes to deny Dwyer once more after the winger had driven into the penalty area unchallenged by a retreating and tiring Hednedsford defence that was thankful that Dwyer's effort lacked any real power

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With four minutes remaining, the Pitmen made their second change of the game as Mikey Nelson added to his minutes played with a late appearance in place of Forbes

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Stalybridge launched a late salvo on the Hednesford defence that was looking for the final whistle at this point, with Sutton making an outstanding block in the first of three minutes of added time to divert a low shot from Harrop away from goal after the former Curzon Ashton man had struck a shot beyond the reach for Ryan Brown from fifteen yards out

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In the final minute of added time, Dwyer went even closer to breaking Hednesford hearts as another run into the box was not checked by Yeomans, allowing the winger to get in behind him and drive in a low angled shot at goal that cannoned off the base of Ryan Brown's near post and wide of goal

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A fair point apiece it has to be said, with Harris not doubt pleased with plenty of positives to take from today's game. However, the Pitmen's winless run is extended to thirteen games as they remain rooted to the foot of the table, meaning they need to pick up wins pronto if they are not to be cut adrift from the teams above them. Another tough test follows next Saturday as Harris's men travel to ninth-placed Avro, who have only lost one home game all season and lie two points outside the play-off places. Expect plenty of comings and goings in the next few days as the new man at the helm really gets his feet under the table and moulds the team in his own form

 

Hednesford Town: R. Brown, Yeomans ▆, Mendez-Jones ▆, Thorley, Griffiths ©, Sutton, Forbes (Nelson 86), McQuilkin, D. Brown, Martin (Thompson 79), Morley ▆     Subs Unused: Abbey, Gwilt, Sang

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Stalybridge Celtic: Hewitson, Brewster © (Cook 45), Kenny, Thorpe ▆, O'Grady ▆, Curran-Nicholls (Irlam 64), Byrne, Newell ▆, Leonard (Burton 61), Harrop ▆, Dwyer      Subs Unused: Edwards, Mugalula

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