The Pitmen started life without John Baldwin with a battling win this afternoon at fellow strugglers Woking in Neil Pointon's first game in charge of the club since taking over as player/manager

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Last weekend's 1-0 defeat at home to Scarborough had proved to be the final straw for the long-serving Baldwin, who had stepped aside in midweek after admitting that he had taken the club as far as he could in its current form. Veteran Pointon had been chosen by chairman Steve Price to step into Baldwin's shoes as the club's new player/manager, bringing nearly twenty years of Football League experience to the job as he looked to steer the club away from their precarious place of twenty-first in the Nationwide Conference table. Pointon wasted little time in making some key changes to his side for the trip to Surrey as Stuart Evans, Ian Robinson, Scott Goodwin and Lee Colkin all came back into the side at the expense of Stuart Lake, Jake Sedgemore, Scott Bonsall and Paul Bagshaw. Pointon also elected to name a new captain after he had become manager, handing the armband over to the popular and long-serving Colkin

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Woking - sitting just two places above the Pitmen in the table in nineteenth - had battled to a 3-3 draw at Chester City last weekend to make it four games without a win for Colin Lippiatt's underachieving side. Lippiatt made just the one change to his side for their return to Kingfield this afternoon as the aptly named Jamie Pitman replaced Junior Kadi

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The game was nearly over before it had started, however, as heavy downpours in the area overnight and throughout the morning put the game in some doubt. The Woking groundstaff did themselves and their club proud by pulling out all of the stops to ensure that the game went ahead, albeit on a heavy and boggy pitch

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The wet conditions nearly played into the Pitmen's hands within three minutes of the game starting as top scorer Neil Davis had a great chance to open the scoring early on as Colkin's long pass forwards skipped off the turf and into the path of the galloping striker, who burst into the penalty area but pulled his shot wide of Vince Matassa's goal from six yards out when he really should have found the net

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Three minutes later Pitman nearly caught out the Pitmen as he made his way down the right flank and cut back inside Colkin before attempting a cross-cum-shot over the head of goalkeeper Stuart Ford that forced the former Scarborough man to back peddle and tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick to the Cards

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The Pitmen were looking a far more urgent in their play early on, almost as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders this week, and took the lead in the eleventh minute; Colkin broke clear down the left flank and sent over a deep cross to the far post that was met by the boot of Micky Norbury, whose cushioned pass back across goal was met by Davis, whose first-time shot from twelve yards out was brilliantly blocked at point-blank range by Matassa. The ball ran free to Norbury once more, who turned the loose ball home at the second attempt from close-range

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Back came the Cards, who forced three successive corners in search of an immediate equaliser in front of their own fans. On sixteen minutes, an inswinging cross from Nick Roddis was flicked on Steve West and into the path of Charlie Griffin, whose goalbound effort was brilliantly turned around the post by Ford from close-range

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Good play from Griffin down the left on twenty minutes saw the winger skip away from Evans and leave him in one of the puddles on the side of the pitch, sending over a teasing cross to the near post that Ford did well to palm away under pressure from the incoming Martin Randall

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Randall headed wide for the hosts on twenty-five minutes as he stretched to reach a deep cross from Scott Steele, but could only divert his header into the stand as Mark Haran did enough to put him off

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Scott Goodwin was also off-target for the men in navy blue on twenty-eight minutes as the young midfielder rode a couple of challenges in the boggy midfield before stepping into space and striking a rising shot from thirty yards out that sailed high over the crossbar

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Ford was proving to be a frustrating barrier for the hosts' attack to breach, with the experienced stopper making another good stop on thirty-three minutes to push a Randall header away from goal with a flying stop to his right after Shane Wye's cross from the right-hand byeline was glanced goalwards by the Woking striker

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Three minutes later, a superb knock-down from Norbury from a Robinson pass sent Davis away, in behind a Woking defence looking in vain for an offside flag against the striker. The pitch intervened at the worst possible moment for Davis however, as his second touch skipped off the greasy turf and allowed Matassa to make a smothering save in front of him

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Woking continued to threaten on the counter-attack and went close to a leveller on forty-one minutes as Rob Hollingdale fed Griffin down the left-wing and took the ball back from the number eleven as he entered the penalty area, striking a fierce low shot across the face of Ford's goal and inches wide of the far post

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Just before the half-time whistle, Woking felt that they should have been awarded a direct free-kick inside the Hednesford penalty area as Haran's backpass to Ford was caught by the stopper at the second attempt after the ball had bounced awkwardly off the pitch. Despite remonstrations from the home players that Ford had handled a deliberate backpass inside his own box, referee Mr Wilkes stated that the ball had come off the midriff of Ford before he had claimed the ball and there was no case to answer

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In added time, Davis was sent clear once more by Mark Cooper's fine threaded pass, only for the striker to shank his shot over the crossbar despite being one-on-one with Matassa

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The Pitmen could, quite rightly, be pleased with their first-half display as they held a narrow lead that they had worked hard to keep against a Woking side that had seen chances come and go. The defence had looked far more solid than in recent games and the inclusion of Goodwin and Robinson had given the midfield much-needed legs and enthusiasm, again something that had been lacking lately

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Half-time had seen the heavens open once more, leaving the Kingfield pitch sodden underfoot and making some of the early play difficult for both sides to keep the ball. Griffin picked up the game's first booking of the afternoon within sixty seconds of the restart as he took an embarrassing dive in front of Mr Wilkes, claiming Evans had brought him down when the former Hereford United man was a couple of feet away from him at the time, prompting the referee to show Griffin a yellow card for simulation

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On fifty-two minutes, a corner kick from Steele almost caught Ford out at his near post as the ball drifted towards goal, with the stopper pushing the ball onto the outside of his woodwork and out for another corner kick

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From the resultant kick, taken again by Steele, the forward picked out the presence of Randall at the far post with the cross, allowing the striker to sidefoot the ball home from close range for his fifth goal of the season

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Roddis followed Griffin into the referee's notebook a minute later as he sent Cooper sprawling in midfield as the pair challenged for a forward pass from Russell Bradley

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Mr Wilkes was the busiest person on the pitch at this juncture as he also booked Goodwin on fifty-seven minutes for a clumsy and late tackle on Steve Perkins to stop the midfielder's progress

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On the hour mark, a good forward pass from Hollingdale down the left played Randall in behind the hesitant Hednesford back line that was expecting an offside flag against the Woking goalscorer; the striker was forced wide by Ford's positioning and presence, narrowing the angle and limiting Randall to a driven shot into the side netting

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The Pitmen had failed to test Matassa thus far in the second half, with an ambitious long-range shot from Colkin thirty yards from goal sailing high over the Woking woodwork on sixty-three minutes after he had exchanged passes with Robinson

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A fine run and cross from Griffin midway through the half was punched away by Ford - under pressure from Randall - and into the path of Pitman, whose lobbed return effort flew over the head of the goalkeeper but landed onto the roof of the net

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On sixty-nine minutes, the Pitmen were indebted to their new manager as Pointon denied Woking with a goal-line clearance as Steele's deep cross from the right was met by the head of the incoming Perkins, whose effort looked bound for the net until a late intervention by the boot of Pointon as he scooped the ball off the line

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Woking continued to knock on the door against the visitors, with a snapshot from Roddis on the edge of the penalty area palmed away by Ford on seventy-three minutes following good play through the centre of the pitch from the excellent Pitman

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Three minutes later, a rare break from the Pitmen saw Davis chest down a long, raking forward pass from Robinson into the path of Norbury, who held off a challenge from Smith but scuffed his low shot well wide of goal from eighteen yards out

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Norbury was the final play of the afternoon to pick up a booking with thirteen minutes remaining as he aggressively held off a challenge from Perkins and hauled the player down just outside the Woking penalty area 

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Another free-kick from Steele on seventy-nine minutes was flicked on at the near post by Smith and into the path of the incoming Griffin, only for more brave defending from Evans to hold the winger off and stop him from getting a toe to the ball as it bounced harmlessly across the face of goal and out of play for a goal kick

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On eighty-three minutes, a strong run down the right from Evans saw him play a one-two with Robinson before crossing deep into the penalty area, where Davis arrived ahead of West but toe-poked his shot over the crossbar from a tight angle. Neither West nor Matassa seemed happy with each other's part in the move and angry words were exchanged between the team-mates

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The inclement conditions denied Davis a great chance to nick all three points with four minutes left as a delightful through ball from Cooper spotted the striker's darting run in behind Smith. Despite being clear of the Cards' defence, Davis was robbed of a one-on-one with Matassa by the greasy turf as the ball skipped away from the striker's reach just inside the box

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In the final minute of the game, Woking looked to press home one of their many second-half chances as they won three corner kicks in succession to put pressure on the Hednesford back line. A few games ago, they may have cracked under the pressure but showed excellent composure and game management to hold the Cards at bay, with the excellent Ford and his defenders holding firm and clearing their lines in a no-nonsense manner

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A good start to Pointon's tenure and a battling point against a fellow struggler that keeps Hednesford in touch with the sides above them in the table. However, they face a severe test of their fragile confidence next weekend when they make the trip to Nene Park to face Rushden & Diamonds, who moved into second place in the Nationwide Conference table today courtesy of a 3-0 win at Hayes and within five points of runaway league leaders Yeovil Town ahead of their game against the twenty-first placed Pitmen

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Woking: Matassa, Wye, Hollingdale, West, Smith, Perkins, Pitman, Roddis ▆, Steele, Randall (Teague 90), Griffin ▆        Subs Unused: Kadi, Drewitt, Kamara-Taylor, Brown

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Hednesford Town: Ford, Evans, Pointon, Haran, Goodwin ▆, Bradley, Colkin ©, Robinson, Cooper, Norbury ▆, Davis        Subs Unused: Bonsall, Sedgemore, Lake, Russell, Jenkins

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