Hednesford remain in the hunt at the top of the table this evening, as they put three past struggling Whitby Town today to set a unique and proud record of having gone twelve months without defeat in league action

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With Jamey Osborne ruled out by both suspension and injury, Rob Smith gave new signing Ben Jevons his full debut after the former Chasetown man made a brief appearance at Bedworth last week as a substitute. Otherwise, it was the same side that had progressed in last week's F.A. Trophy win at Bedworth

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Jevons wasted little time in making an impact in front of his new supporters, as he opened the scoring with the game's first attack. Good interplay between Gary Hay and Chris Clements saw the ball slipped into the path of Jevons, who slid the ball past veteran stopper David Campbell in the Whitby goal from ten yards out

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However, lax defending allowed Whitby a route back into the game just three minutes later; Callum Martin's deep cross from the right was headed goalwards by Dave McTiernan, hitting Dan Crane and the post in the process. The rebound dropped kindly to Andy Leeson, who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the empty net

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Gary Hay's persistence set up Nick Wellecomme on ten minutes, playing the ball into the feet of his strike partner as he turned his marker, but Wellecomme succeeded in ballooning the ball over the crossbar

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Wellecomme turned provider to Hay on fifteen minutes, heading the ball into the path of the former Chasetown man, but his finish failed to match the build-up as he dragged his angled shot wide of goal

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Chris Shaw almost put the Pitmen back into the lead a minute later, heading Clements' free-kick wide of goal with a flick-on that missed the post by inches

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Whitby enjoyed much of the better of the chances for the rest of the first half, as the Pitmen allowed the league strugglers to push forward in search of a second goal. Leeson almost grabbed his second goal midway through the half as he got on the end of Matty Tymon's cross, but under pressure from Ben Bailey he could only head wide of goal

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Tymon had a chance to score for Whitby on twenty-seven minutes, beating Pedro Monteiro to the header but missing the target by some distance

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Skipper Darren Campion fired in a shot wide of goal on the half-hour mark, getting on the end of Clements' through ball and volleying the ball narrowly past Campbell's far post

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Martin's teasing low cross presented Tymon with a great chance to give Whitby a half time lead, but his scuffed close-range effort was easily fielded by Crane

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Two minutes from half time, Tymon again should have given Whitby the lead; the talented young Martin had been a threat all half with his pace down the right, causing Chris Shaw a real headache at the back. His presence saw him rob Shaw of the ball and cross for Tymon, who somehow slid his shot wide with the goal at his mercy - a real sitter missed, and a real let-off for the Pitmen at the break

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A frenetic end to the half saw Crane make a smart save at his near post to deny Martin, before a breakaway from the Pitmen saw Wellecomme slip the ball into the path of Clements, who was denied by the legs of Campbell

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There was still time for an almighty scramble in the Whitby penalty area following a Clements free-kick, with Shaw denied by Campbell as he looked to force the ball home from inside the six-yard box

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Half time saw Shaw, who had had a nightmare first half at the hands of Martin, taken off in favour of Mark Danks. With Campion dropping into the left-back spot, the Pitmen looked more balanced in their set-up in the early stages of the second half

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  Danks was straight into the action just seconds after the restart, firing horribly wide of goal after picking the ball up out wide on the left-hand side before cutting inside. His interesting start to the half was added to on fifty-two minutes when he was booked for what looked a fair challenge

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Ten minutes later, Danks conjured up a great chance to grab his first league goal of the season, as he rescued the ball following a cross from Clements that had evaded Jevons. Danks picked up the loose ball out wide, before driving back towards goal and firing in a low shot that Campbell did well to save at his near post

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Wellecomme's game was brought to a halt on sixty-six minutes, as Marvin Robinson was introduced in his place to add a more physical threat to the side

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Whitby's attack had been somewhat dented since the break, but McTiernan threatened with a swirling free-kick on sixty-nine minutes that dropped over the crossbar, closely followed by a header from Kevin Burgess that Dan Crane was well placed to field

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The Pitmen cranked up the pressure on the Whitby defence as the game entered its last twenty minutes and immediately found a reward. Clements was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the creator of the goal, as his beautifully struck free-kick found the head of Bailey at the far post, who powerfully headed home

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Suddenly, it was all Hednesford, as the Pitmen streamed forward in search of the clinching third goal. Clements slipped his way through the Whitby defence on seventy-six minutes, but got too much under the ball with his shot and fired over

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Two minutes later, Campion struck a firm shot from long-range that Campbell was relieved to watch just a foot or so over the crossbar

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Robinson was making an impact with his powerful frame up front for the Pitmen, and he had a hand in the home side's third goal with ten minutes remaining. Clements headed the ball towards goal, with Robinson managing to prevent Campbell from getting a full clearance in. The ball fell kindly to Danks, whose powerful half volley flew past Campbell and found the far corner of the net

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The third goal essentially killed the game off as a contest, with the Pitmen affording to take Hay off two minutes later in favour of Elliott Durrell. A final rally saw Durrell almost add a fourth goal in added time, but his low shot was deflected away from goal by Hassan, with Campbell beaten

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Attention returns to the F.A. Trophy next weekend as the Pitmen face league rivals Matlock Town at Keys Park in the second qualifying round of the competition they won seven years ago

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Hednesford Town: Crane, Haynes, Shaw (Danks 45 ▆), Monteiro, Bailey, Denny, Jevons, Clements, Wellecomme (Robinson 66), Hay (Durrell 82), Campion       Subs Unused: Gomes, Grice

 

Whitby Town: Campbell, Marron, White ▆, Hassan, Burgess ▆, Hawkins, Martin, McTiernan, Tymon, Leeson, Robinson ©      Subs Unused: Dunford, Williams, Courtney

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