The Pitmen maintain their unbeaten run in 2025 this afternoon as they enter February with victory over in-form Witton Albion at Keys Park, although they have to leave it late to do so

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Hednesford manager Gavin Hurren had looked to solve the lack of striking issues within his injury-hit squad with the midweek signing of the experienced Nathan Blissett, who returned to Keys Park eleven years after his last game for the club on loan from Kidderminster Harriers. Blissett came straight into the side as one of two changes as he replaced Manny Duku as the target man. Joe Doyle-Charles' red card at Clitheroe last week saw the combative midfielder also miss out as he was replaced by Jack Bearne

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Witton arrived at Keys Park off the back of some fine form of their own, with an unbeaten run stretching back seven games that had lifted Ben Harrison's side away from the drop zone and into mid-table safety. The Witton player/manager made four changes to his side from the one that had drawn 1-1 with Mossley last weekend as Harrison himself, Mike Koral, Mamadou Djabi and Harry Brazel replaced Damola Sotona, Joel Bembo Leta, Adam Watson and Max Harrop. The talented James Lawrie - a former Hednesford player from back in the 2017-2018 season - was also named in the Witton starting XI

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A sixth successive four-figure crowd for the Pitmen greeted the two sides on a cold first day of the new month, with the majority soon warmed up with an instant impact from Blissett with the first action of the game in the second minute; a quickly taken corner kick from Dom McHale saw him exchange passes with Chris Hussey on the edge of the box before the Magic Man rolled the ball across the face of the goal, where Blissett was the main benificiary of some awful defending from the men in purple as he eventually fired home through a forest of legs from eight yards out after no less than four Witton players failed to clear their lines

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The hosts were very much on the front foot in the opening exchanges, with Bearne making one of his darting runs down the left after being played in by Joel Taylor in the fifth minute, dancing past the experienced Mike Koral but pulling his cross back into the path of Ben Harrison rather than Blissett

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Bearne was involved again three minutes as he escaped the attentions of Koral once more before looking to pick McHale out on the opposite side of the pitch. The stand-in Hednesford skipper looked to turn the ball onto his favoured left foot and gave opposition skipper Lee Jackson time to come across and block his effort at goal from eighteen yards out

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McHale was denied by another low block from Ben Harrison in the twelfth minute as a surging run across the face of goal from the playmaker culimated in a scuffed shot at goal which was cleared by the Witton player/manager

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Witton were neat and tidy in possession going forwards but had not really tested the Hednesford defence as yet, with Ollie Harrison and Hussey once again showing their new-found understanding at cente-back with a towering display. Isaac Graham momentarily got goal side of Hussey down the right on thirteen minutes as he got on the end of a Lawrie through wall, but dragged his shot from sixteen yards out wide of Tony Breeden's left-hand post

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Simeon Maye was lucky to escape a yellow card from referee Mr. Price two minutes later, as the combative midfielder dragged Graham down to the right hand side of the Hednesford penalty area. Jackson looked to curl the resultant free kick in on goal with his left foot, but could only strike the torso of Dan Trickett-Smith in the Hednesford wall

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Breeden's first real involvement in the game kind a minute later as the experienced stopper dived down low to his left to claim a curling effort from Djabi on the edge of the penalty area, clinging onto the ball ahead of the incoming Jackson as the Witton skipper looked to take advantage of any slip from the 37-year-old

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A flowing move from the Pitmen down the left on eighteen minutes saw a succession of neat flicks and tricks involving Trickett-Smith, Bearne and Taylor neatly played Taylor in behind the Witton defence; Taylor's attempted cross towards Blissett was headed behind by Jackson for a Hednesford corner

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Just after the halfway point in the first period, Bearne was up to his usual tricks down the left with a jinking run past Koral, cutting the ball back from the ball line and into the path of Niall Watson, whose first time shot at goal was brilliantly blocked by the diving tackle of Oli Hitchcox

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Koral was involved at the other end of the pitch for Witton sixty seconds later as he earned his side a free kick after a foul on him by Taylor. Lawrie elected to take this free-kick and whipped the ball into the far post, looking for the head of his manager Harrison, only to be denied by a timely defensive clearance by Blissett who had dropped back to help out his defence and use his sizeable frame to good effect

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Djabi will probably feel like he should have done better on twenty-eight minutes as he got in behind Taylor to reach a cross from Brazel but could only head high and wide of Breeden's far post from close range

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Shortly after the half hour mark, Breeden slumped to the floor after booting the ball out of his own penalty area and feeling the back of his leg, receiving a bout of treatment from Adam Paget before the game resumed

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Breeden was involved once more on thirty-five minutes as the burly stopper claimed a looping header from Djabi on his goal line after a corner kick was met by the former Fleetwood Town striker at the far post

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Taylor felt that he had a legitimate call for a penalty kick on thirty-six minutes after making a darting run into the penalty area from the left flank but having it ended by a challenge from Koral. Despite the protests of the left-back, Mr Price was unmoved and the game continued

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Some more fancy footwork from the Pitman going forwards saw Blissett and Watson both link up on the edge of the penalty area on thirty-seven minutes to lay the ball off to Bearne, whose low shot from just outside the penalty area was blocked by Hitchcox

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A minute later, Bearne - now playing on the right flank having switched with McHale a few minutes previously - raced onto a pass from Jamie Morgan, getting in behind the retreating Witton defence but then drilling his shot high and wide of goal with only goalkeeper Louie Fallon to beat

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At the other end, Ollie Harrison made a superb stop on forty-two minutes to deny Koral a clear shot on goal after the right-back had taken the ball into the penalty area unchallenged, making a risky but perfectly timed sliding challenge on the full-back to take the ball away from him

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As we entered the final minute of the first half, Bearne set off down the right wing once more, breaking quickly and supplying a neat pass into the penalty area for Watson, who had made his run a little too early and was flagged offside before he could shoot into the side netting from six yards out

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The home side had largely controlled the first forty-five minutes, enjoying plenty of spells of possession whilst also keeping Witton at bay with a competent defensive performance from the likes of Ollie Harrison and Hussey. Witton had played some impressively neat and incisive build-up play - something rarely seen at Keys Park from opposition tems so far this season - but had struggled to make any of their chances count

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Watson - still looking for his first goal for Hednesford since arriving a couple of weeks ago - sliced the first chance of the second half high and wide of goal as McHale brought the ball inside from the right and lay the ball off to the former Southport striker, whose first time effort lacked any real direction as it sailed into the Heath Hayes terrace

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Witton were forced into making an early change in the second half on fifty minutes as Koral was forced off with what appeared to be an injury, with James Baillie coming on in his place

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Lawrie picked up the games first yellow card of the afternoon on fifty-four minutes as the former Hednesford midfielder was booked by Mr Price for bringing down McHale on the Hednesford right, prompting ironic cheers from the home supporters who had felt that some of the Witton players had got away with some poor challenges in the first half without being booked

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Despite Witton not really offering much in the way of a constant threat in the Hednesford penalty area, the visitors were handed a great chance to equalise on fifty-eight minutes with the award of a penalty kick. A corner kick from Lawrie was flicked on at the near post by Baillie, with the ball striking the arm of Taylor at the far post as the left-back looked to clear the danger; Mr. Price was right in line of the play and had no hesitation in awarding the visitors a spot kick. It was down to the player/manager Ben Harrison to step up to the plate, sending Breeden the wrong way from twelve yards out with a cool and calm spot kick to level matters once more

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Almost immediately, the home side responded with their first substitution of the afternoon as the Pitman's top scorer Duku came on in place of the tiring Blissett, who had started to struggle with the pace of the game having not kicked a ball in anger all season long

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A well-rehearsed free-kick from the Pitmen on sixty-two minutes saw the excellent Hussey float the ball into the far post from thirty yards out and onto the head of Ollie Harrison, who looping header back across goal just evaded the incoming McHale at the far post by a matter of inches

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Midway through the second half, Witton made their second substitution of the game up front as midfielder Brazel was brought off and replaced by the more attack-minded Sotona, with Nigerian playing up on the right flank

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McHale went agonisingly close to giving the hosts the lead once more on seventy minutes as Duku broke the flimsy Witton offside trap to latch onto Maye's punted ball over the top, pulling it back into the path of the playmaker from the right. McHale's low, driven effort beat Fallon, but skipped inches wide of the young stopper's left-hand post

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Duku tried his luck from the edge of the area a minute later, picking up a partially cleared ball to the left of the box and teasing his way past two challenges befores striking a low shot at goal that Fallon claimed on his goal line ahead of Morgan

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With fifteen minutes remaining, Graham picked up Witton's second booking of the afternoon as Mr Price rightly showed the forward a yellow card for a clumsy challenge on Hussey as he tried to stop the defender from bringing the ball out of defence

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Three minutes later, striker Nick Hepple also picked up a yellow card for the visitors as he was penalised by the match official for an untidy challenge on Morgan just inside the Hednesford half

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With seven minutes left on the clock, Witton elected to make their final change of the afternoon up front as Djabi was brought off and replaced by former Stoke City youngster Adam Watson

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Witton were still hopeful of taking more than just a point back to Cheshire, with Lawrie sending over a dangerous-looking corner kick of eight-five minutes that was glanced just over the crossbar by Graham from eight yards out

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Sixty seconds later, Jackson looked to play Hepple in with a quickly-taken free-kick that forced man of the match Hussey to come across and make another very impressive and timely block with his right leg

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​With game ticking into its final minute and the Pitmen still pushing hard for a winner, Hurren elected to make his second change of the afternoon as Trickett-Smith was taken off and replaced by Sion Spence

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And what a substitution it proved to be, with Spence putting the finishing touch to a late, late winning goal for the hosts in the third of five added minutes; Hussey's outswinging corner kick from the Hednesford left was flicked on by Ollie Harrison at the far post and right into the path of Spence, who expertly diverted the ball into the empty net from a matter of inches out with an incisive glancing header past Fallon, sending the Heath Hayes terrace into raptures

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However, there was still time for Witton to give the Pitmen some late defensive work to do to protect their lead - almost from the restart, Bearne brought down Sotona in full flight and handed Witton a free kick in a dangerous position to the right of the Hednesford penalty area, picking up a yellow card for his troubles. Lawrie took the resultant free-kick and looked to pick out any number of purple shirts at the post, but could only guide the ball into the grateful arms of Breeden at his near post

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​A late and hard-fought victory earned by the Pitmen, courtesy of a growing belief in the Hednesford ranks and a new-found grit and determination under the guidance of Hurren that appears to be having the desired effect. Six undefeated league games moves them back up into the top five after defeats for Stalybridge Celtic and Nantwich Town today, with the Pitmen having the best goal difference of the play-off chasing teams and now facing two away trips this week against sides in the bottom four - Tuesday night sees them make a first-ever trip to twentieth placed Wythenshawe before a more local trip at the weekend with a short hop across the county to face seemingly-doomed Hanley Town at Potteries Park​

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, J. Morgan ▆, Taylor  Maye, O. Harrison, Hussey, N. Watson, Trickett-Smith (Spence 90), Blissett (Duku 60), McHale ©, Bearne    Sub Unused: Gwilt, Roberts, Brown

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Witton Albion: Fallon, Koral (Baillie 50 ▆), Jackson ©, B. Harrison, Hitchcox, Bailey, Lawrie ▆, Graham ▆, Hepple ▆, Djabi (A. Watson 84), Brazel (Sotona 66)     Subs Unsued: Harrop, Woods

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