The Pitmen finally put their recent poor form to bed this afternoon as they record only their second win of the season over Stratford Town at the RACE Stadium

 

Five defeats in a row for Steve Burr’s side had left Hednesford rock bottom of the league table and a full eleven points from safety going into today’s home game, their first at Keys Park in a month. Burr had allowed teenager Harvey Portman to depart the club in midweek to join Bromsgrove Sporting and had brought in veteran midfielder Kemy Agustien to bolster his squad numbers. Burr made one change to his side from the one that had been beaten at St. Ives Town last weekend as Kyle Bennett came in for on-loan Tom Hewlett up front

 

Stratford - the team to chase in the final safety spot of eighteenth place - arrived at Keys Park off the back of a 1-1 draw against Royston Town last weekend. Bards manager Gavin Hurren - the former Hednesford midfielder - made one change of his own for today’s game as Will Dawes replaced ex-Pitman Ahmed Obeng after the young winger had made a return to Knights Lane on a three-month loan from Yeovil Town

 

It was an early kick-off at the RACE Stadium after most of the Southern Football League had agreed to move their games to lunchtime in a bid to avoid what could have been a clash with a potential England World Cup knockout game. This was perhaps reflected in the low turnout, with well under 400 spectators in attendance

 

Good work from Bennett in the second minute saw the forward turn quickly and play a fine through ball into the path of Stanley Obinna Anaebonam, only for the winger to be called offside by the assistant on the Wimblebury side off the ground

 

Two minutes later, Taylor Morrison made a forceful run down the left flank for the visitors before being brought down twenty-five yards from goal by Lewis Ison. Ex-Hednesford man Ashley Sammons - scorer of the winning goal in the reverse fixture back in August - took the resultant kick and curled it over the wall but straight into the arms of goalkeeper Tiernan Brooks

 

More good play from Morrison in the eighth minute saw him escape the attentions of Luke Rowe and play the ball into the path of the exciting Dawes, who sent over a fine cross into the penalty area that was hacked clear by Keith Lowe before Mikey Taylor could get his head to the ball

 

A minute later, Taylor did well to create an opening for himself as he turned quickly onto a Dawes pass and struck a low shot at goal from eighteen yards out that was straight at Brooks

 

Obinna Anaebonam frustratingly strayed offside once more for the Pitmen in the tenth minute from another promising position as Leroy Lita and Todd Parker combined not send the winger away down the right, only for the Norwegian to move a little too quickly for the assistant on the far side of the pitch

 

Good build-up play from the away side in the thirteenth minute saw Sammons and Dawes involved once more as play moved from left to right, with Dawes getting to the byeline and cutting the ball back into the six-yard box where Brooks and Luke Redfern did enough to smother the ball away from the clutches of Taylor

 

After a stuttering first fifteen minutes, the Pitmen started to come back into play as Obinna Anaebonam and Adam Livingstone started to see more of the ball out on each flank. A neat piece of play from the Pitmen on sixteen minutes draw Bennett and Lita combine to play Livingstone into space down the left, only for the Scotsman’s cross to have a little too much on it for either Lita or Anaebonam, who were both arriving in the Stratford six-yard box

 

The Pitmen’s best chance of the opening quarter fell at the unpredictable feet of Obinna Anaebonam on nineteen minutes as he picked up Ison’s quick throw on the right flank and turned past James Mace before unleashing a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area that came crashing back off goalkeeper Liam O’Brien’s right-hand post

 

Midway through the first half, a tackle on James McQuilkin by ex-Halesowen Town man Josh Hawker had both sets of players squaring up to each other in the centre circle. Referee Mr Shepherd lectured a couple of players but stopped short of handing out yellow cards before awarding the Pitmen a free-kick

 

Sammons won a free-kick to the left-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area on twenty-four minutes, taking the set-piece himself and whipping in a fine ball that was met by Taylor’s flick header, only for the veteran striker to nod his effort just wide of the far post as Lowe bore down on him

 

A minute later, the Pitmen struck from a set-piece of their own as Parker’s inswinging corner kick from the left found the head of Ison, who had the simple task of glancing the ball past O’Brien from six yards out; it was the skipper’s second goal of the season and had come at a crucial time for his desperate side

 

The hosts were denied a quick-fire second goal with their next attack shortly before the half-hour mark as Obinna Anaebonam and Livingstone linked up to play the ball into the feet of Bennett in the penalty area. The returning attacker laid the ball off to Livingstone once more, whose floated cross to the far post was headed downwards by Lita and looked to be creeping into the net until O’Brien produced a smothering save low down to his left

 

Lita was denied by O’Brien once more on thirty-four minutes as Livingstone again supplied the ammunition for the veteran with a whipped-in cross from wide on the left that Lita turned towards goal from ten yards out, only the former Dagenham & Redbridge stopper to make a comfortable save down to his right

 

A quick counter-attack from the Pitmen on thirty-nine minutes saw the home side break down the left through the ever-willing Livingstone making a move forwards before slipping the ball into the path of Bennett; his curling cross was inch-perfect for the incoming Lita, who beat ex-Hednesford defender Paul McCone to the ball but frustratingly toe-poked his shot from close-range inches wide of O’Brien’s right-hand post from a couple of yards out

 

The Pitmen were finishing the half strongly and looked a good bet to add to their solitary goal before the half time break. With a couple of minutes of the half remaining, a clearance from Carl Dickinson fell at the feet of Livingstone, whose ambitious swerving effort from thirty yards out flashed past O’Brien’s post, with the stopper clutching at thin air as he dived across his goal in vain

 

After a ropey opening spell, the Pitmen had enjoyed a fine half-hour of possession and deservedly led at the break having created much the better of the chances. However, they had been in the same position in several games so far this season, particularly under the stewardship of Burr, and will have been fully aware of the pitfalls that relaxing and slacking off in the second period can bring

 

The visitors came out strongly at the start of the second half as they looked to grab an equaliser early on in proceedings. An early free-kick from Sammons - win by Dawes after another fine run from the winger saw him brought down by Livingstone - was played into the Hednesford six-yard box but cleared behind for a corner kick. Before Sammons had taken the kick, Livingstone was also booked for the foul on Dawes in the game’s first caution of the afternoon

 

From the resultant corner kick, McCone rose highest but could only head down into the ground before the excellent Ison cleared the danger from his own six-yard box

 

The Bards elected to make an early change in the second half as Hawker was taken off on fifty-two minutes and replaced by former AFC Rushden & Diamonds man Jesse Akubuine

 

Another Stratford corner kick two minutes later was finally cleared by the Pitmen, with Lowe heading the ball away and into the path of Obinna Anaebonam to send the winger away down the left. Using his considerable pace, the Hednesford number seven blasted his way past Akubuine before striking a left-footed effort beyond the reach of O’Brien but into the side netting

 

The home side were content to play Stratford on the counter-attack, utilising the pace of Obinna Anaebonam and Lita to good effect against a powerful but leggy Stratford defence. Bennett’s clever through ball on fifty-six minutes sent the winger away down the right, only for his attempted ball to Lita to be cut out by McCone after the ball had got stuck between Obinna Anaebonam’s legs

 

On fifty-nine minutes, the Bards made their second change of the afternoon as the talented Sammons was taken off in favour of young Northern Irish midfielder Dan Lafferty

 

Lita went agonisingly close to doubling Hednesford’s lead on the hour mark as neat play in midfield saw McQuilkin and Obinna Anaebonam link up to play Lita in on goal down the left; Lita drew O’Brien out of his goal and attempted to slide the ball into the far corner of the net from eight yards out, only to see the ball dribble inches wide of the far post

 

As had been the case in the first half, the Pitmen grew into proceedings the longer the half played out, with Obinna Anaebonam wasting yet another excellent chance to put the game behind Stratford on sixty-three minutes as Livingstone’s deep cross from out on the left flank was glanced inches wide of the far post by the winger, who beat Dickinson to the ball but could not direct it past O’Brien

 

Andre Wright - another one of the ex-Hednesford contingent at Stratford - pulled a half-chance wide of goal with a rare break into the Hednesford penalty area midway through the second period as he jinked his way past Redfern but scuffed his effort well wide of goal from just inside the penalty area

 

McQuilkin followed Livingstone into Mr Shepherd’s notebook on sixty-eight minutes as the midfielder picked up a caution for a foul on Lafferty in the centre circle

 

Parker delivered another fine ball into the Stratford penalty are on seventy minutes that was met by the head of Lita, who was leaning back under pressure from McCone and could only divert his effort tamely over the crossbar

 

A minute later, more trickery from Dawes drew a foul out of Ison, who brought the winger down just outside the Hednesford penalty area. With Sammons now off the pitch, Morrison struck the resultant free-kick but failed to clear the four-man wall as the hosts cleared their lines with relative ease

 

Obinna Anaebonam continued to cause Stratford all sorts of issues with his free-running and unpredictable movement, striking the woodwork once more three minutes later as Bennett did well to win the ball in midfield and played the winger through on goal down the left. After getting the better of Dickinson, Obinna Anaebonam unleashed a rising shot with his left foot that came back off O’Brien’s right-hand post

 

The visitors attempted to pick up the pace going forwards after a sluggish second-half showing, with Wright getting on the end of a good move involving Dawes and Will Grocott but tamely heading wide from eight yards out as Lowe made life difficult for the former Coventry City youngster

 

This was to be former Bromsgrove man Grocott’s final involvement in the game as he was replaced with ten minutes remaining by former Tamworth right-back Aksum White 

 

A wayward pass from Dickinson three minutes later saw the former Yeovil man scuff his clearance straight into the path of Parker, whose through ball to Lita had a little too much on it and allowed O’Brien to make the save at the feet of the veteran

 

The Pitmen finally put the result beyond doubt as the excellent Obinna Anaebonam had a hand in the home side’s game-clinching second goal on eighty-seven minutes. Rowe’s volleyed forward ball sent the winger away down the left, outpacing Mace before he brought the ball in from the flank. He beat the dual-registered Leamington man with some clever footwork before unselfishly souring the ball to Lita, who showed all of his experience to turn the ball past O’Brien from close-range to register goal number thirteen of the season

 

Before the game could restart, the Pitmen made their first change of the afternoon as Hewlett was handed a late home debut in place of the superb Obinna Anaebonam, who was warmly applauded off by the home supporters for another superb display

 

This was followed ninety seconds later by a late run-out for former Curaçaoan International Agustien, who came on in place of the hard-working McQuilkin in the centre of midfield

 

There was still time for O’Brien to deny the Pitmen a third goal deep into the five minutes of added time as Bennett supplied the ball to Hewlett out on the right, with the striker’s low cross into the box turned towards goal but the late-arriving Rowe, who saw his goal-bound shot brilliantly turned away at point-blank range by O’Brien. Rowe took a tumble in the aftermath and picked up a knock that saw him swiftly replaced by Zac Hartley for the remaining seconds

 

The final whistle was greeted with no small amount of relief from the home crowd, who had been starved of three points since the 5-0 demolition of Rushden back in September. Three points bring the Pitmen back within a point of Diamonds in the table and eight of today’s visitors, who still occupy the final safe spot in the table. The key will be for Burr’s side to take this into Tuesday night’s game at another struggling side - Needham Market - before they make the short trip down to ninth-placed Redditch next Saturday. Another haul of points from these two games and it might just be possible for the Pitmen to start to believe they can rescue their disastrous 2022-2023 campaign yet

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Hednesford Town: Brooks, Ison ©, Livingstone ▆, Rowe (Hartley 90), Lowe, Redfern, Obinna Anaebonam (Hewlett 88), Parker, Lita, Bennett, McQuilkin ▆ (Agustien 90)       Subs Unused:  Akinwe, Clayton

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Stratford Town: O'Brien, Mace, Morrison, Sammons (Lafferty 59), McCone, Dickinson, Wright, Hawker (Akubuine 52), Taylor, Grocott (White 80), Dawes       Subs Unused: Beresford, Molyneux

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