A six-goal thriller at Sandy Lane this afternoon extended Hednesford's recent run of good form to three unbeaten games, although they were denied all three points by a Worksop side that grabbed a late, late equaliser deep into stoppage time

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Successive wins over Moor Green and Vauxhall Motors in the past fortnight had put a spring in the step of Brindley's men as they continue to find their feet back at step two; Brindley made one enforced change to the side that had moved into the first round of the F.A. Cup last weekend with victory over Motors as Grant Beckett came in for the injured Rob Heath in midfield

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Worksop were currently three points, and three places, better off than the Pitmen going into today's game, having drawn 1-1 at struggling Hyde United last weekend. Manager Ronnie Glavin made two changes to his side for their return to Sandy Lane this afternoon as Richard Carrington replaced Steve Nicholson and former Hednesford man Ian Robinson came in for Lee Morris 

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This was the first meeting between the clubs in over thirty-two years, having crossed paths in the 1973-1974 Midland League. And what a reunion it was to be, as the game started with a bang; in the fourth minute of the game, Carrington's fine through ball found Ben Saunders in behind Richard Teesdale, whose low shot across the face of goal was saved by the legs of goalkeeper Tommy Whittle

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With their first attack of the game, the Pitmen stole into the lead a minute later with a superbly-worked goal; Mark Branch fed the ball into the path of Steve Anthrobus, who in turn found Colin Hunter out wide on the left flank. His pinpoint cross from out wide picked out Steve Brannan at the far post, with the youngster volleying the ball past the experienced Adam Sollitt in the Tigers' goal to record his first-ever Hednesford goal in spectacular style

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The home side went agonisingly close to levelling matters just three minutes later as a quickly-taken free-kick from Carrington played Saunders in once more, whose first-time shot across the face of goal came back off the base of the left-hand post with Whittle beaten

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Good play from the all-green Pitmen saw Hunter involved once again in the twelfth minute as he escaped the attentions of Adam Oldham and sent over an early cross into the path of Anthrobus, whose header sailed over the crossbar from eight yards out

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Former Kettering goalkeeper Sollitt - a regular opponent against the Pitmen for the Poppies and Rushden & Diamonds over the past few years - made a good save to his left in the fifteenth minute as he pushed Andy Bell's snapshot from the edge of the Worksop penalty area away for a Hednesford corner kick

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Two minutes later, good interplay involving Robinson and Saunders sent Blake Norton away down the left, only for an offside flag against the winger to pull the play back before he could get a shot away at goal

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On twenty-one minutes, the Pitmen should have doubled their advantage as a Lee Williams free-kick was not dealt with by the Worksop defence, who cleared the ball back to the midfielder just outside the penalty area. The former Peterborough United man picked up the rebound and struck a fine shot back at goal that bounced off the top of Sollitt's crossbar from fully twenty yards out

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Robinson - playing in a more advanced position than he did when he spent his two seasons at Keys Park from 1999-2001 - wasted a good chance to level matters for the Tigers five minutes later, turning past Lee Barrow and working the ball onto his left foot, but dragged his shot horribly wide of good from ten yards out

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Great wing play from Norton saw him see off the attention of Brannan on the half-hour mark, holding off a challenge from Ross Adams down near the corner flag to pull the ball back into the path of Saunders, whose shot bobbled into the arms of Whittle

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Back came the Pitmen through Bell on thirty-five minutes, who made a surging run from deep after Beckett had played him into space and clipped the ball into the feet of Anthrobus. The Hednesford assistant manager saw his shot blocked by Barry Miller, with the follow-up shot from Brannan sailing high over the crossbar and behind for a goal-kick

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Five minutes before the break, a great cross from Carrington from the right-hand touchline was aimed at Robinson, who was a touch behind the play and only just failed to get a toe on the ball to turn it home from close-range from a couple of yards out

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With two minutes of an entertaining first half remaining, skipper Barrow headed over the crossbar once more for the Pitmen as Williams' well-worked free-kick from the right was met by the defender just six yards from goal

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It had been a fairly even encounter thus far, with Brannan's fine strike just edging it for the visitors, who had defended stoutly against a lively Worksop attack of Robinson, Saunders and Norton

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Three minutes into the second half, an Adams through ball found Bell racing onto the end of it just inside the Worksop penalty area; his shot looked destined for the corner of the net until Sollitt produced a wonderful save to tip the ball around his post for a corner kick to the Pitmen

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This was to prove a key moment in the game as the hosts equalised with their first attack of the second half on fifty-three minutes. Norton was involved once again down the left flank, crossing to the far post where Saunders escaped the attentions of Barrow momentarily to head past Whittle from six yards out

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The home side almost turned the game on its head just three minutes later as Adams was caught in possession by Norton, whose subsequent cross was turned goalwards by Robinson and pushed away by Whittle's excellent reaction save

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Just before the hour mark, Norton himself went close to putting Worksop ahead as Carrington's curling free-kick found the winger arriving late at the far post, with his header coming back off the crossbar before Branch hacked the ball clear

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On sixty-four minutes, Bell swept the ball out to Brannan down the right to play the youngster into space. Kevin Davies dispossessed the youngster but could only play the ball straight into the path of Adams, whose cross was headed straight into the arms of Sollitt by Anthrobus

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Midway through the second half, Barrow was denied by another flying save from Sollitt as Bell won a free-kick just outside the Worksop penalty area, prompting the Hednesford skipper to bludgeon a shot at goal but was denied by the palms of the Tigers goalkeeper

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Sollitt again left the Poitmen frustrated as he made another fine save on sixty-nine minutes to turn the luckless Bell's shot behind for a corner after the striker had got on the end of a Beckett pass

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Once again, the Pitmen were made to pay for their wayward finishing as Worksop took the lead for the first time on seventy-three minutes; Teesdale brought Norton down twenty-five yards from goal and Carrington unleashed an unstoppable free-kick as the result, curling the ball over the wall and beyond the reach of Whittle and into the top corner of the net

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Super-sub Paul McMahon was brought on by Brindley before the game could restart as he looked for a response from his faltering team, bringing the tiring Anthrobus off in favour of the Pitmen's top scorer

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McMahon's impact was almost instantaneous, as the diminutive striker pulled his team level with his very first touch on seventy-six minutes; Bell turned provider to his strike partner with a fine turn and cross from the right that McMahon had the simple task of heading home from close-range as he got goal-side of Miller

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More uninspiring finishing from the visitors should have killed the game off as a contest on seventy-nine minutes as McMahon played the ball out to Hunter, who in turn pulled the ball back into the path of Brannan, whose low drive went wide of goal from twelve yards out

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Carrington's outswinging corner kick on eighty-three minutes was headed back across goal by Michael Simpkins and into the path of Saunders, who shanked his effort wide of goal from six yards out

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The Pitmen thought that they had snatched all three points on eighty-seven minutes as they got their noses in front once more through McMahon; a mistake from Miles Thorpe saw him allow the ball to run under his boot and find Bell, who slipped the ball into the path of the incoming McMahon. The substitute kept his cool and confidently slotted the ball past Sollitt from ten yards out to put his side back into the lead

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Despite the game moving into stoppage time, the action was far from done as both sides were reduced to ten men in the first added minute. Norton and Brannan - who had taken a few kicks at each other throughout the afternoon - came to blows down the Hednesford right after a coming together between the pair, sparking a melee involving over fifteen players and a bout of pushing and shoving. After the two sets of players had been separated, both Brannan and Norton were shown a red card for their part in the piece

 

Deep into added time, Robinson won a free-kick to the left of the penalty area, allowing Carrington to cross into the danger zone where Whittle made a terrible hash of his attempted punch, missing the ball completely and allowing the ball to hit the unfortunate backtracking Barrow and bouncing into the unguarded net

 

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Pitmen, who had looked like they were hanging on to maximum points thanks to McMahon's late cameo until Whittle's late mistake. The focus will be on the young goalkeeper to provide a response after three successive mistakes have cost his side in the past three games. The Pitmen will have to dust themselves down this week ahead of next Saturday's big F.A. Cup 1st Round tie at Conference South high-flyers Histon and look to move into the potential riches of the second round proper

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Worksop Town: Sollitt, Oldham, Davies, Thorpe (Wilson 62), Miller, Simpkins, Carrington, Dempsey, Robinson (Morris 79), Saunders, Norton ▆ (90)       Subs Unused: Flanagan, Jackson, Ratcliffe

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Hednesford Town: Whittle, Adams, Branch, Barrow ©, Teesdale, Williams, Brannan ▆ (90), Beckett, Anthrobus (McMahon 73), Bell, Hunter     Subs Unused: Brindley, T. Marshall

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