Hednesford's players hit a new, magnificent high this afternoon, as they demolished poor Worksop Town under an avalanche of goals at Hucknall Town's Watnall Road this afternoon

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Manager Dean Edwards was forced into one change from the side that beat Prescot last Saturday, with new boy Rapinder Gill making his debut in place of the homesick Decio Gomes at the back. In midfield, Chad Sheppard replaced Sam Hall, and also, somewhat strangely, was given the captain's armband ahead of usual skipper Ross Draper

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Twentieth placed Worksop - playing in exile at Hucknall this term due to their Sandy Lane ground failing to pass a pre-season ground grading - had recently beaten both Whitby Town and Ossett Town in league action to end a long winless run in the UniBond Premier League. Peter Rinkcavage made one change to the side that had beaten Whitby just before Christmas as Ben Tomlinson came in for Kevin Sanasy up front

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Worksop, trying desperately to stay afloat near the foot of the UniBond Premier League, started well enough, as they attacked into the late sunshine at Hucknall. Ross Dyer had to track back and do a spot of defensive work to deny Matt Glass an early shooting opportunity with a sliding challenge just as Glass was about to pull the trigger

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Elliott Durrell, who had been in fine form recently, was first to register a shot for the away side, somehow firing over the bar from close range after Dyer had headed the ball down to him

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Within two minutes of this, Andy White tried a spectacular overhead kick for Worksop that was easily fielded by Pitmen number one Stuart Brock

The Pitmen swept into the lead nearly midway through the first half. Durrell lofted a free-kick into the box, with Tyrone Barnett and Danny Harvey diving in to meet the ball. Barnett was the man to get the touch, heading past Steve Hernandez in the Worksop goal from two yards out

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There was an almost instantaneous response from the 'home' side, with White heading agonisingly wide of Brock's goal after he met a cross from the left. The Tigers kept the Pitmen in their own half for a short spell, pushing on through ex-Pitman Chris Adam and the dangerous White

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Gareth Holmes set up Ben Tomlinson for a shot on twenty-five minutes, but Harvey blocked his effort as it headed for goal. Holmes then set up Chris Glarvey, who pulled his shot wide

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The Pitmen continued to look the likeliest to score however and could have had a penalty on the half-hour, with Durrell looking to have been pulled down in the area. Mr Cook the referee was having none of it, however, and waved away strong Hednesford protests

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From this point on, it was all Hednesford, as the away side gave a strong indication as to why they topped the table by five points. Barnett brought the best out of Hernandez with a turn and shot that the Worksop keeper saved low down. This was followed by Ross Dyer beating his man all ends up with some clever footwork before firing just over the bar from close range

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Durrell was having one of those games again, and the diminutive playmaker grabbed another goal to add to his tally ten minutes before the break. Dyer's lay-off found Durrell on the corner of the penalty box. Rather than crossing, Durrell elected to shoot, firing an unstoppable shot past a bemused Hernandez and into the roof of the net from an angle - a clear front-runner for goal of the season

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It got even better for the Pitmen just before the break, as Dyer got his customary goal in typical style. He picked up a through ball from Durrell, before holding off his man and racing towards goal. As Hernandez came out to narrow the angle, Dyer placed the ball into the corner of the net to send the sizeable Hednesford following wild

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Durrell wasted a great chance to make it four on half time, pulling his shot well wide of goal after he had been set up by Barnett

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If the first half had been a fairly entertaining spectacle, then the second half was a real crowd-pleaser, as the game went goal mad. Barnett kicked off proceedings with his second goal of the game just three minutes after the restart; woeful defending from Worksop saw Barnett seize onto the ball on the edge of the area before he nudged the ball past Hernandez and just got enough on it to see it over the line at the far post

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Dyer, Durrell and Barnett were simply taking Worksop to pieces as the half wore on. Barnett's hat-trick seemed a little inevitable, and it duly arrived on the hour mark. Durrell brilliantly made room for himself, before sending over an inch-perfect cross for Barnett to powerfully head home at the near post

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Despite being five up, and the chants of 'easy, easy' ringing out from the Hednesford supporters, Worksop gave the Pitmen a reality check with two quick-fire goals. On sixty-five minutes, the Pitmen were the masters of their own downfall as Harvey heading the ball in the direction of Anthony Maguire, who deflected the ball past Brock for an own goal

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Four minutes later, and Adam got his name on the scoresheet against his former club, firing the ball into the far corner in confident fashion to further reduce arrears

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Back came the Pitmen, stung by this quick one-two. Draper made a burst into the area to collect a Durrell ball and collided with Hernandez as they both went for the ball. Despite protests from fans and players to use his common sense, Mr Cook decided that Draper's challenge was deemed bookable, meaning Draper will now miss the F.A. Trophy tie with Welling United due to suspension

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The visitors were clearly not in the mood to play out the final ten minutes just by stroking the ball around, especially with the holy trinity of Barnett, Dyer and Durrell in such sparkling form. Five minutes from time, Durrell found himself all alone in the area to pick up a through ball. Despite calls for offside, no flag was raised, allowing Durrell to fire the ball past the hapless Hernandez to make it six

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That was the last action Hernandez saw, as he was replaced a few seconds later later after failing to recover from the injury sustained in the challenge with Draper

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New keeper Calum Smith looked to have kept a clean sheet in his five minutes on the field, but Durrell had other ideas, as once again he stole a march on the Worksop defence in added time to collect the ball and slide it past the keeper from close range to clinch his hat-trick

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You can't help but feel that this kind of result - and performance - has been coming for some time. The Pitmen have threatened to do this to a number of teams this season, and unfortunately, it was Worksop who had to bear the brunt of it. Edwards must mow guard against complacency after this, and with some interesting games coming up in January, must be looking to add to his talented - but paper-thin - squad. Ilkeston Town visit Keys Park on New Year's Day as the Pitmen look to kick off 2009 with a win over one of the chasing pack

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Worksop Town: Hernandez (Smith 85), Glarvey, Davies, Holmes, Stevenson, Jones, Glass, Galloway, White, Tomlinson (Townsend 78), Adam      Subs Unused: Dempsey, Fretwell, Stansfield

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Hednesford Town: Brock, Hall, Maguire (Burley 72), Gill, Harvey, Marshall, Sheppard ©, Durrell, Barnett, Dyer, Draper © ▆ (Briggs 80)       Subs Unused: Harbutt, Hall

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