​The Pitmen’s long unbeaten run in 2025 comes to a halt this evening as the ten-man hosts lose this first league game in fourteen with defeat to Trafford at Keys Park

Hednesford manager Gavin Hurren - looking to keep the pressure on league leaders Widnes in the final seven games of the campaign and maintain their fine run of form in 2025 - made two changes to the side that had started last weekend’s dominant 4-0 win over relegated City of Liverpool as Chris Hussey came back in for Kory Roberts at centre-back and Dan Trickett-Smith replaced Jake Jarvis in attack. Hurren was still without a large percentage of his senior players as injured quartet Jack Rose, Rob Stevenson, Ahkeem Rose and Dan Sparkes joined Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen, Zidan Sutherland, Joel Taylor, Sion Spence and Josh Endall on the sidelines

Trafford - marooned in mid-table with no relegation worries and only a small outside chance of breaking into the play-off picture - made the trip down to South Staffordshire after a 2-1 home defeat to improving Stafford Rangers last weekend. The hugely experienced Karl Marginson made two changes of his own for today’s game as Obitayo Oluwatoba replaced Jordan Fagbola in defence and Ben Woods was preferred to Cian Donohue

In front of another packed Keys Park, with over 1,300 in attendance, the Pitmen struggled to make their quick start to the game and were sluggish in possession in the first ten minutes. It took until the sixth minute for the hosts to make inroads into the Trafford half with Trickett-Smith sending over a corner from the left that was aimed at Ollie Harrison, looping a header at goal but seeing his effort cleared by the men in yellow

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Two minutes later, Culkin made the first in a string of fine saves to keep his side in contention, tipping the ball over the crossbar to deny Harrison at the far post after Chris Hussey's deep corner kick was powerfully headed towards goal by the centre-back

 

Harrison was to be denied again by Culkin in the tenth minute as Jamie Morgan's long throw from the right was flicked on by Nathan Blissett into the path of the big centre-back, but Harrison's effort from eight yards out lacked any power and was easily claimed by Culkin at his near post

Trafford started to grow into the game after a cagey first ten minutes, playing some neat and incisive football through midfield as they looked to play the Pittman on the counter attack. Successive corner kicks out on the right from Jerome Wright in the twelfth minute tested the Pitmen's resolve, with Hussey bringing the ball away and clearing his lines after Lorenzo Spinelli briefly threatened inside the six yard box

 

Trafford went closest to opening the scoring five minutes later as a cross-field pass from Rio Clegg found the experienced Woods in acres of space down the right flank, with the former Stafford Rangers man drifting inside past Jack Bearne and Elliott Johnson before curling a shot just wide of Tony Breeden's far post from eighteen yards out

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Dom McHale looked to pick up where he left off last week with a goal against City of Liverpool, making one of his trademark runs across the face of the penalty area on eighteen minutes and driving in a low shot at goal from the edge of the Trafford penalty area that was held by Culkin at his near post

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A minute later, McHale played a neat one-two with Blissett on the edge of the Trafford penalty area before firing in a first-time shot from exactly the same position as he struck a moment earlier, this time striking his effort well wide of goal

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Midway through the first half, McHale earned the host a free kick a couple of yards outside the Trafford penalty area, picking himself up and standing over the ball with Trickett-Smith. Despite the majority of the ground expecting McHale to hit it with his left foot, he left it to the right boot of Trickett-Smith, who fired in a curling effort that Culkin managed to push over the crossbar for a corner kick

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Hussey's exquisite delivery from the resultant corner saw the veteran defender float the ball onto the head of Blissett at the far post, with the big striker's header back across goal sliced behind and only just past his own post by Trafford skipper Harry Norris

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Trickett-Smith matched Hussey's delivery from the other side with another great corner into the box, finding the head of the giant Blissett once more but this time, the big man could only head wide of the far post as he was crowded out eight yards from goal

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A counter-attack from Trafford on twenty-four minutes briefly threatened the retreating Hednesford defence as Rio Clegg looked to latch onto a through ball from Norris but was denied by some excellent last-ditch defending by the covering Simeon Maye to sweep up across the face of his own goal and deny the ex-Stalybridge Celtic striker a shot at goal

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Try as they might, the Pitmen just couldn't get there again going as they found the Trafford defence are a much harder nut to crack, and perhaps they would've expected to. McHale was once again frustrating the home crowd with his inconsistency, making a wonderful run past no fewer than four players on twenty-eight minutes but elected to hold onto the ball a little too long rather than play Blissett in on goal, losing the ball at the crucial moment and allowing Trafford to clear their lines. So, so frustrating, as Blissett and the barely-used Bearne were in far better positions to take the ball on

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Morgan has a habit of ghosting into the penalty area unchallenged in many games and did so once more on the half hour mark as Maye ran into acres of room down the right and sent over a cross that was cleared by Sean Higgins but only as far as the right-back, whose first-time snap-shot from fifteen yards out was saved by Culkin

The game’s turning point came on thirty-three minutes as Culkin's long punt forward looked to play Clegg into acres of space in behind the Hednesford defence. Maye came across to sweep up once more but misjudged the flight of the ball and allowed it to bounce in behind him, with the midfielder clattering into Clegg and sending him sprawling to the floor just inside the penalty area as he looked to make a recovering tackle. Referee Mr Ellis had little option but to award the visitors a spot kick and show Maye a straight red card for being the last man. Clegg stepped up to calmly send Breeden the wrong way from twelve yards out and hand the away side the lead

 

The red card seemed to floor the Pitmen's confidence rather than shake them up as they struggled to put anything cohesive together for much of the remainder of the half. McHale played another neat one-two with Blissett on the edge of the Trafford box on thirty-seven minutes but overran the ball when he entered the penalty area, allowing Oluwatoba to come across and clear for the visitors

 

A minute later, Bearne and Johnson linked up down the left flank to send the former Liverpool man into space down the wing, only for Bearne to take a touch too many and allow Higgins to block his attempted cross to Blissett and turn it behind for a corner kick

It had been a disjointed and out-of-character half from the Pitmen, very much at odds with their recent form and results as they had struggled to create much in the way of clear-cut chances, with Culkin dealing with any that did come his way. Looking to remedy this at the start of the second half, Hurren made a tactical switch at the break as the tall, powerful presence of Jervis came on in place of Bearne to play up front alongside Blissett, with Johnson playing a little further forward down the left flank to compensate for Bearne’s departure

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The Pitmen looked to make a strong start to the second half and felt that I had a strong shout for a penalty themselves just ninety seconds after the restart; a lovely reverse pass from Trickett-Smith in the centre circle sent Jervis away to the right of the Trafford box, with the former Birmingham City man seemingly felled by a challenge from behind by veteran Wright. Despite strong shouts from both the home players and supporters, Mr Ellis waved away the protests and Trafford cleared their lines once more

 

A minute later, Jarvis tried the acrobatic route to go as McHale did well to work the ball into space on the right and chip a cross into the box, where the Hednesford substitute looked to turn the ball goalwards with an overhead kick that he didn't get quite right, slicing his overhead kick well, well wide from twelve yards out

 

Jervis turned provider for McHale on fifty minutes as he cushioned Trickett-Smith's pass into the path of the playmaker, who skewed his first-time effort  well wide of the post

Trafford made their first change of the afternoon on fifty-six minutes as youngster Cian Donohue came on in place of Smith on the right side of the away team's attack

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Culkin came to his side's rescue once again just before the hour mark, plucking Hussey's corner kick out of the air at his far post to deny Harrison and Blissett after Trickett-Smith had pinged another fine delivery into the box from the left

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The game’s first yellow card of the afternoon went to Trafford skipper Norris on sixty-two minutes as the midfielder was booked by Mr Ellis for a clear and deliberate foul on Jervis, much to the irk of the home supporters who felt that the match official had not given their side the beneifit of the doubt on many of the afternoon's dcecisions so far

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Two minutes later, former FC United of Manchester great Wright followed his captain into the referee’s notebook for a foul on McHale to stop the midfielder from breaking past him on the Hednesford right, putting the former AFC Telford United man on the floor in a heap

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Culkin's performance had been faultless so far, but thestopper almost made a henious error of judgement midway through the second period as he looked to claim Johnson's deep cross and dropped the ball at the feet of the looming presence of Jervis, only for the covering Spinelli to clear the bouncing beall before a player in white could turn thre ball home from close range

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Despite being content to put ten men behind the ball for the majority of the time, Trafford were still a threat on the counter attack as Clegg was played into space behind the Hednesford defence by Wright's clever through ball on sixty-seven minutes, but dragged his effort from an ever-tightening angle well wide of goal from twelve yards out

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The Pitmen made a further attacking change on sixty-nine minutes as McHale’s topsy-turvy afternoon was brought to a halt as the playmaker limped off and was replaced by Niall Watson on the right

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Barely sixty seconds later, Marginson made his second change of the afternoon as former Congleton Town midfielder Josh Wood came on in place of Spinelli up front

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Hussey was being allowed to play essentially where he wanted as the second half wore on, further highlighting the importance of the 36-year-old to this team with his quality on the ball. A marauding run down the left from the defender was halted by Woods on seventy-one minutes, earning the full-back a yellow card in the process. On this occasion, however, Hussey's quality delivery deserted him as his ball into the box was easily claimed by Culkin ahead of Blissett

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Blissett himself was guilty of a really poor mess with fifteen minutes to go as another free kick earned by Hussey on the left flank was swept into the box by Trickett-Smith and onto the head of the big man, whose free header somehow drifted aimlessly wide of goal from six yards out, rather than test Culkin. A bad miss from such an experienced player

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Two minutes later, Breeden's long punt upfield was flicked on by Blissett and played into the path of Watson, who momentarily got in on goal between Wright and Higgins but saw his shot eventually blocked by Wright. Hussey looked to guide the rebound into the far corner of the net but sidefooted his shot straight into the arms of Culkin

Mr Ellis’s interesting afternoon continued on eighty-two minutes as the referee rightly made it ten men apiece, showing Higgins a straight red card for a challenge on Hussey out on the Hednesford left, kicking the veteran up in the air with a crude late tackle that was deserving of a red card

 

An almighty goalmouth scramble followed from Trickett-Smith's resultant free-kick as Trafford struggled to clear their lines, with Trickett-Smith seeing follow-up effort blocked and both Blissett and Harrison looking to turn the bobbling ball home inside the six-yard box before Jervis's downward header dropped at the feet of Morgan, who saw his effort cleared off the line by Wright

Marginson again moved quickly to counter the inevitable Hednesford push forwards, bringing on youngster Jack Higginbottom in place of Hilal Khan in midfield a moment later

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Harrison rose highest to meet another fine Hussey corner kick two minutes later, looping his header towards goal but getting a little too much on the ball and sending it just over the crossbar

 

And yet, Trafford could have sealed the win with a rare second-half counter-attack on eighty-six minutes as Clegg was played through on goal by Wood's pass, striking a firm rising shot at goal from the edge of the penalty area that forced Breeden into a save to his left to palm the shot away

The Pitmen were handed a glorious chance to get themselves back into he game on eighty-eight minutes with award of a penalty kick of their own; Watson picked up Hussey's pass on the right and took the ball into the box, showing excellent feet to bamboozle Wood and force the Trafford substitute into dangling a leg out an bringing the substitute down. Mr Ellis had no doubt about pointing to the spot, with man of the match Hussey taking the authority over Trickett-Smith to place the ball down. However, the veteran defender spoiled an otherwise flawless display with a weakly struck shot from twelve yards out to Culkin’s left that the stopper saved with relative ease

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The Pitmen elected to go long in search of their late equaliser, with Breeden's long ball forward in the first minute of added time flicked on by Blissett to Jervis, whose weak, bobbling effort was saved by Culkin at his near post

A minute later, Trafford used both of their remaining changes available to them to bring more fresh legs onto the pitch as Matty Lusakueno replaced goalscorer Clegg and Dyson came on for Woods

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Deep into added time, Watson picked up a Joe Doyle-Charles pass and cross from the right for Blissett, who could only loop his header onto the roof of the net at the far post as he stretched to reach the ball

A frustrating afternoon for the Pitmen, added to further by news coming through from the DCBL Stadium of defeat for Widnes at home to Witton Albion. Defeat here leaves a shot at the league title now looking something of an outside chance, particularly with Vauxhall Motors leapfrogging the Pitmen into second place courtesy of a 3-2 win at in-form Clitheroe. Hurren will be looking for a response from his side next Saturday as they make a first-ever trip to Wythenshawe Town, who need the points themselves as they look to climb out of the bottom four

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Johnson ©, Maye ▆ (33), Harrison, Roberts, Bearne (Jervis 45), Doyle-Charles, Blissett, McHale (Watson 69), Trickett-Smith    Subs Unused: Roberts, Gwilt, Brown

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Trafford: Culkin, Higgins ▆ (82), Woods ▆ (Dyson 90), Oluwatoba, Norris © ▆, Byrne, Clegg (Lusakueno 90), Khan (Higginbottom 84), Spinelli (Wood 70), Wright ▆, Smith (Donohue 56)     Subs Unused: none

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