The Pitmen's outstanding form hit new heights this afternoon as they hit five goals for the first time this season to see off a poor Worksop Town side, who are struggling towards the foot of the table

 

Hednesford Manager Dean Edwards made only one change from the side that beat Stamford the previous Saturday in their exciting F.A. Trophy tie as with Mark Briggs and Chad Sheppard swapped places with Briggs restored to the starting XI

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Worksop started this afternoon's game occupying the final relegation spot in twentieth place after a run of five games without a win, including heavy defeats to Ashton United (6-2) and FC United of Manchester last time out (3-0). Under-pressure manager Peter Rinkcavage was without the services of former Hednesford loanee Terry Henshaw and was forced into bringing Scott Lowe into the Tigers defence for today's game. Another ex-Pitman in the form of Chris Adam lined up for Rinkcavage's side down the right flank

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The game started with centre-back Tom Marshall, of all people, producing the biggest attacking threat of either side. His presence of mind early on saw him set up Mark Briggs, who in turn put in Ross Dyer, who got his control all wrong on the edge of the Worksop penalty area

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Marshall was again involved two minutes later, taking the ball down the left flanks before sending over a great cross towards Dyer and Tyrone Barnett, but Worksop's Chris Glarvey beat them to it and put the ball behind for a Hednesford corner

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Elliott Durrell, looking to continue his impressive form, fired in a statement of intent with a rising shot that Tigers keeper Steve Hernandez turned over the bar for a corner

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You felt that the Pitmen would open the floodgates if they got an opening goal, and it duly arrived on the half-hour. Another Briggs corner kick caused panic in the Worksop defence, with Hernandez only succeeding in punching the ball straight to Dyer, who had little hesitation in firing the ball home from ten yards out

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The Pitmen had their tails up, and went in search of more goals against a limited Worksop side, playing with only one up front in an attempt to stifle the home side. Hernandez was having a busy afternoon between the sticks for the Tigers, turning Briggs' long-range shot away from goal with a smart save

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The hosts doubled their lead eight minutes before half-time; Anthony Maguire's cross found skipper Ross Draper a yard inside the box after Hernandez had flapped at the ball in. He turned and fired home to grab another goal in what has been an impressive campaign for the youngster in front of goal already

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With such limited attacking capability, Worksop were rarely inside the Pitmen's half, never mind threatening inside the penalty area. Much of the work done by Stuart Brock during the first half involved fielding back passes and barking orders to his defenders

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Edwards' team talk at the break must have struck a chord with the players, as they went all out to finish Worksop as quickly as possible. Dyer was a constant menace to the Tigers defence, firing a warning shot just over the bar three minutes into the restart

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Two minutes later, he got his reward with a second goal to put daylight between the two sides. A great run and incisive ball from Draper found Dyer, who beat Hernandez with a low shot

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The Pitmen have been fortunate to have quality replacements in many areas to replace any injured or suspended players, and this was in evidence again when Sean Platt returned to the side to replace the injured Sam Hall four minutes later

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At the other end, there was very little in the way of action, as Worksop retreated in search of damage limitation. Former Pitman Chris Adam was a peripheral figure for the Tigers as his attacking instincts were curbed

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Hernandez once again came to Worksop's rescue on sixty-seven minutes, making a fine save to deny Draper after the Pitmen captain had taken the ball forty yards inside the Tigers half before unleashing a shot 

The Tigers number one came to his side's rescue again to save from Durrell; his first-time shot was well parried by Hernandez, who got enough on it to turn it away from other Hednesford players lurking in the vicinity

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With the Pitmen having scored four goals on three occasions this season already, they were encouraged by the supporters to go for another strike. On seventy minutes, their hard work paid off, as Draper capped a fine performance with his second of the afternoon. Barnett headed down inside the area, allowing Draper to get enough to turn the ball home at the far post

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And still there was more for the Hednesford fans to feast upon as Durrell was involved yet again, jinking his way to the bye-line before crossing low to Dyer, who gleefully accepted the invitation of a hat-trick by firing past Hernandez from close range

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Briggs could have put the icing on the cake with a late strike that was well saved by Hernandez, with the stopper pushing Briggs'long-range effort away at his left-hand post in added time

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A fine win for the Pitmen and their highest margin of win so far this term - there has been a growing feeling that Edwards' side was likely to hand out a bit of a hammering to one side and it just so happened to be the luckless Tigers this afternoon. This puts the Pitmen in a commanding position at the top of the table, a full eight points clear of Kendal Town, although all of the teams directly below them have games in hand. This week's midweek encounter sees the Pitmen make the journey up the M6 to face ninth-placed Ashton United as they go in search of a ninth win in succession

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Hednesford Town: Brock, Hall (Platt 52), Maguire (Burley 67), Gomes, Harvey, Marshall, Durrell (Brown 76), Barnett, Dyer, Draper ©    Subs Unused: Stamps, Harbutt

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Worksop Town: Hernandez, Glarvey, Davies, Kempsey, Lowe, Boyce (White 83), Stansfield, Glass, Rowland, Sanasy (Tomlinson 76), Adam      Subs Unused: Jackson, Townsend, Smith

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