Steve King's Hednesford side get their league campaign off to a winning start today - although they were made to work for it by a Vauxhall Motors side who came back into contention twice in the second half

​

After an exciting summer of change at Keys Park, it was finally time to get down to the bread and butter of the Northern Premier League West after last week's F.A. up curtain-raiser. King made two changes to his side from the one that had started the 4-1 Cup win at Racing Club Warwick as Dom MChale and Zidan Sutherland were both rewarded for bright cameos at Townsend Meadow as they replaced Jake Jervis and Abdulrasaq Alamu-Tajudeen. Dan Trickett-Smith had missed last week's game due to only just returning from holiday so had to be content with a place on a strong-looking bench

​

Motors had been taken to a replay in their F.A. Cup extra preliminary round tie by North West Counties Premier League side Eccleshill United, losing 3-2 on Tuesday night at the Servo Group Stadium after a 1-1 draw at Rivacre Park last weekend. Manager Danny Holmes made four changes to his side for their trip down to Staffordshire as Ben Dufton-Kelly replaced Dom Hoppe, Jawad Jebrin was preferred to Joe Brandon in midfield, Jordan Wynne replaced Tom Ruffer and 45-year-old Kevin Ellison dropped to the bench as Jordan Deer came in on the left flank

​

The start of a new season is typically greeted with a warm, sunny day and this was no exception with bright sunshine beating down on the resplendent Keys Park surface. The Steve King revolution had certainly struck a chord with the local community as over 1,100 people turned up for today's opener, the largest attendance by any side at step four in the whole country by quite some margin

​

Vauxhall's approach to the game was evident straight from the kick-off as their tall, unwieldy defensive line set out to disrupt the Pitmen's flow in whatever way they could; in the fourth minute, winger Jack Bearne picked the ball up on the right-hand edge of the Motors box and looked to turn inside, only for ex-Tranmere Rovers man Adam Hughes to crudely kick out and floor the winger as he looked to cross. Referee Mr Smith showed the left-back an early yellow card and awarded the Pitmen a free-kick in a dangerous position, which Bearne stepped up to take the resultant kick and swung the ball into the box; his outswinging ball was aimed at the head of Kory Roberts, who was beaten by Dufton-Kelly's timely clearance at the far post

​

Three minutes later, dangerman Bearne picked the ball up deep once more and made another driving run into the Motors half, once again on the receiving end of a crunching late challenge from Hughes that left the Hednesford number seven in a heap. Despite calls from Hednesford's players, management team and supporters, Mr Smith somehow failed to show Hughes a second yellow card for arguably a worse challenge on Bearne than the first one a few moments earlier, instead choosing to give the defender a final warning. Bearne again took responsibility for the free-kick after receiving treatment from new sports therapist Dan Brayson but was wasteful with his delivery on this occasion as the ball in was easily cleared by the visitors

​

With Hughes walking a disciplinary tightrope and with five substitutions now allowed in non-league football this season, Motors elected to take the highly unusual step of making an early substitution to replace the left-back a minute later before he was sent-off, bringing Hoppe on and moving the diminutive  Deer into a more defensive position at left-back to cover

​

Sutherland could have chalked up a quickfire hat-trick in his half-hour cameo last weekend and went close to breaking the deadlock once more on ten minutes as Joel Taylor played the ball into the path of McHale, whose clever through ball found Sutherland in behind the Motors defence down the left. His first-time shot from a tight angle beat Motors goalkeeper Jack Atkinson but came back off the underside of the crossbar before Bearne's follow-up was blocked

​

Simeon Maye picked up the Pitmen's first booking of the new season a minute later as he was shown a yellow card from Mr Smith for retaliating after a challenge on him from Paddy Kay saw the two square up in the centre circle

​

The visitors seemed content to play for knock-downs and set-pieces wherever possible, winning their first corner kick of the afternoon on fifteen minutes after Wynne had forced Roberts into a rushed clearance. Deer's ball into the box was aimed at Dufton-Kelly, only for a foul on Jack Rose by Wynne in the build-up to pull play back

​

The intelligent Sion Spence - adept at finding pockets of space that no one else seems to have the ability to find - had the ball in the net for the home side on eighteen minutes as he tapped home from Duku's pass, only to be flagged for a tight offside call against the midfielder as he ran through the Vauxhall Motors defence

​

Manny Duku - off the mark last weekend at Racing Club Warwick with a goal - stung the hands of Atkinson on twenty minutes after patient build-up play from the Pitmen saw Elliott Johnson play a superb long ball over the top and into the path of Sutherland, who unselfishly squared the ball to Duku on the edge of the box. Atkinson parried away the big striker's effort away but saw his defenders struggle to clear their lines in the next phase of play as Spence, Rowe and Bearne recycled the ball well and found McHale on the edge of the penalty area. The talented midfield man took a touch before drilling in a superb low shot from eighteen yards out that beat Atkinson down to his right and nestled in the bottom corner of the net

​

Sutherland should have doubled the Pitmen's lead on twenty-four minutes as Joel Taylor's run and cross down the left dropped to the striker, who lifted his shot over the crossbar from six yards out when he really should have tested Atkinson

​

Motors also had the ball in the net on twenty-five minutes as they broke quickly down the right through Max Harrison, whose ball across goal to Jebrin was turned into the empty net by the former City of Liverpool winger, only to be ruled out by an earlier offside flag against him in the build-up

​

Motors were enjoying their best period of the game so far as they continued to play the ball up to the likes of Kay and Wynne as often and as quickly as possible. A deep corner kick from Deer on thirty-one minutes was headed back across goal by Dufton-Kelly and off the line by Roberts before Rowe managed to divert Jebrin's follow-up effort over the crossbar for another flag kick

​

On thirty-four minutes, Deer whipped in another fine ball from the left, this time from a free-kick out wide, that was headed just over the crossbar by the off-balance Kay. Question marks around the Hednesford defending were starting to be asked of them by the visitors the more they were winning set-pieces in around the Pitmen's third of the pitch

​​

Sutherland's persistence in front of goal finally paid off on thirty-eight minutes as the striker got the goal his efforts deserved with the Pitmen's second strike of the afternoon; a long ball forward from Rose was flicked on by Duku, thus sending Sutherland clear in behind a static Motors defence. The former Dover Athletic man steadied himself before placing the ball beyond Atkinson to his right and into the empty net from the edge of the penalty area

​

It had been a neat, tidy and fairly well-controlled half from the Pitmen, who had grown into the game and struck at timely moments to take a healthy lead into the break; however, Motors' aggressive and direct approach to the game had given them several uncomfortable moments in their own penalty area, something that this talented group of players will have to get used to as they work their way through the season in this league of largely big, ungainly and aggressive NPLW opponents who will look to take every advantage they can get against the title favourites

​

Indeed, Motors emerged with real purpose and aggression at the start of the second half, something that Mr Smith had to warn the away bench of early on with a stern word for Holmes and his bench after one word out of place too much. The visitors dragged themselves back into the game two minutes later as a quickly-taken corner kick on the right from Deer was played short to Jebrin, whose chipped cross to the near post was glanced home by Danny Holmes to reduce the deficit. Poor marking from the Pitmen, something reminiscent of their horrorshow of 2023-2024 when their defence failed to get to grips with the set-piece aggression of sides in this league time and again

​

The visitors had their tails up and looked to catch the Pitmen on the break once more three minutes later with a long punt upfield from Deer that was flicked on by Kay and looked for the run of Wynne, only for Rose to spot the danger early and clean up on the edge of his own penalty area

​​

Shortly after the hour mark, the Pitmen made their first change of the afternoon as the talented Trickett-Smith came on in the attacking midfield role to replace goalscorer McHale

​

Deer picked up the game's latest yellow card on sixty-two minutes as the auxiliary left-back followed Hughes into Mr Smith's book for a shirt pull on the livewire Bearne that brought the winger down right on the edge of the penalty area. Trickett-Smith stood up to take the kick but scooped his effort just over Atkinson's crossbar with his first touch of the ball

​

Two minutes later, the hosts made another change to their ranks as the tall, athletic figure of Jervis returned to the Keys Park turf as he replaced the excellent Sutherland. Motors were also busy with changes midway through the second half as veteran Ellison came on in place of Harrison and George Nugent replaced Kay up front

​

A neat passage of play from the Pitmen midway through the second half saw Bearne and Trickett-Smith link up to play Duku in on goal with a lovely reverse pass, only for Atkinson to make a good stop at his near post to turn the striker's shot away for as corner kick

​

Trickett-Smith had the ball in the net for the Pitmen a minute later as Johnson's long ball forward was flicked on by Duku and into the path of the substitute, who controlled the ball well and turned it past Atkinson from close range but was denied by an offside flag against him on the main stand side

​

Bearne was denied his first-ever Hednesford goal by a brilliant save from Atkinson on seventy-one minutes as Taylor was given time and space down the left to pick the winger out with a fine floated cross to the far post that Bearne headed back across goal, only to be denied by a breathtaking one-handed stop from the Motors stopper to turn the ball over the crossbar from close-range

​

The waves of Pitmen pressure continued, with Bearne racing away from the Motors defence on seventy-five minutes before being flattened by an awful, crude shoulder barge from Dufton-Kelly, who was struggling to keep pace with the winger. Mr Smith once again mystifyingly kept his cards in his pocket, much to the dissatisfaction of the home crowd who were demanding a yellow card at the very least

​

Dufton-Kelly eventually talked himself into Mr Smith's notebook with ten minutes of the game remaining as he complained profusely about being man-handled by Jervis and instead was shown a yellow card for dissent

​

Duku had been a constant threat for the Motors defence all afternoon and chalked up the all-important third goal for the home side on eighty-two minutes; a superb piece of attacking play from the men in white saw Taylor show some sublime skill on the left to open up play and slip the outstanding Spence into space beyond him on the left flank, crossing into the box where Duku was on hand to gleefully head home his second goal of the season as he headed the ball back across Atkinson and into the far corner of the net

​​

With the game now seemingly won, the Pitmen could afford to make a double change in midfield before play could restart as Dan Sparkes came on down the left as he replaced Bearne and Jamaican International midfielder Omar Holness came on for the hard-working Spence

​

A challenge on Maye by Holmes in the eighty-ninth minute saw the combative midfielder stay down inside his own half clutching his leg, requiring a lengthy bout of treatment from Brayson before the former Hereford man had to admit defeat and was replaced for the final moments by Alamu-Tajudeen

​

More delightful play from the Pitmen in the final minute of the ninety saw Jervis pick up Johnson's cross-field pass and lay the ball off to Trickett-Smith, whose brilliant angled pass found Sparkes arriving late into the penalty area down the left; his ball back across goal was aimed at Duku, who has his pocket picked by a last-ditch challenge from Jebrin before he could get his shot away. The Pitmen won the ball back in midfield, with Alamu-Tajudeen's cross headed narrowly over the crossbar by Duku at the far post

​​

In the second of the six added minutes, Ellison and Rowe came to blows inside the Hednesford penalty as the pair tangled chasing a ball into the box, resulting in the pair tumbling over each other and taking exception with the way they got back to their feet, resulting in a yellow card apiece

​

Deep into added time, the Pitmen again proved to be a little flaky at the back as they conceded a second goal from a set-piece to give Motors late hope of a comeback; Jebrin's deep corner played to the far post was headed home by Connor Rankin under very little pressure from the Hednesford defenders to set up a nervy last few moments for the hosts

​

An opening day win for the Pitmen - their first in three years - gets them on the board for the season and sets up Tuesday night's game at Nantwich Town nicely, with the Dabbers one of the more fancied sides in the NPLW this term. King and his troops will have learnt plenty about the level today and the type of spirited, aggressive but limited opponent they will need to overcome this term if they are to look towards the league title. They return to Keys Park next weekend when Hellenic Premier League side Worcester Raiders visit in the preliminary round of this season's F.A. Cup

​​​

Hednesford Town: Rose, Rowe ▆, J. Taylor, Roberts, Johnson ©, Maye ▆ (Alamu-Tajudeen 89), Bearne (Sparkes 85), Spence (Holness 85), Duku, McHale (Trickett-Smith 61), Sutherland (Jervis 64)    Subs Unused: None

​

Vauxhall Motors: Atkinson, Harrison (Ellison 65 ▆), Hughes ▆ (Hoppe 8), Dufton-Kelly ▆, Mbolokele, Holmes (Jones 90), Jebrin ▆, Wynne, Rankin, Kay (Nugent 65), Deer ▆      Subs Unused: Ruffer

​​