Hednesford brought the curtain down on a tremendously exciting and memorable pre-season schedule with another fine attacking display and comfortable win, this time over a young Wrexham side at Keys Park this evening

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Hednesford manager Steve King looked to give as many of his squad a final run-out ahead of Saturday's F.A. Cup tie at Racing Club Warwick, naming Dan Sparkes and Simeon Maye in the starting line-up for their first time at Keys Park since the pair joined in the summer as they replaced Elliott Johnson and Sion Spence respectively. Other personnel changes saw Ryan Brown return between the posts ahead of Saturday's triallist, Jacob Gwilt coming back in ahead of Omar Holness and Rob Stevenson playing up front ahead of Manny Duku. The final change on the left flank saw Jake Jervis rested and replaced by Zidan Sutherland. On the bench, Dom McHale and Rhys Williams both appeared for the first time in pre-season in front of their own supporters

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Wrexham's young side lacked much of the Hollywood razzamatazz and hype that tends to surround the Welsh club these days, with only three of their youthful squad having any first-team experience

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The crowd inside Keys Park was once again swelled beyond the 1,700 mark for the second time in a week, with some in the ground perhaps disappointed at a lack of presence from either Ryan Reyolds or Rob McElhenny with the Wrexham first team only just returning from a trip to the United States last week. The hosts went straight onto the front foot from the off, with Jack Bearne whipping in an early free-kick from the right flank that was cleared at the near post by George Cruise for a Hednesford corner kick

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The tricky and dangerous Bearne was heavily involved again for the hosts as he created the game's opening goal of the evening in the eighth minute; intercepting Alex Moore's slack pass out of defence, Bearne drove into the box down the right and played Sutherland in on goal, with the former Redditch striker doing enough to beat Max Purvis to the ball and turn it past goalkeeper Liam Hall from eight yards out

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The hosts continued to turn the screw on their young opponents, with Bearne again a menace down the right on eleven minutes as he skipped past two challenges before Pruvis put the ball behind for a corner on the right. Bearne took the inswinging corner but saw his ball in tamely turned wide by skipper for the night Kory Roberts at the near post

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Former Liverpool winger Bearne seemed to be involved in everything, firing wide for the Pitmen three minutes later as he took Blaine Rowe's pass into the box and drove his shot narrowly wide of Hall's near post

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A minute later, Hall was called into action to deny Bearne once more as the winger ran onto a Stevenson through ball and fired in an angled shot from twelve yards out that was parried away by the stopper to his right. The Pitmen recycled the ball well down the left with Alamu-Tajudeen playing Sparkes in behind the Wrexham defence, with the midfielder's cut-back to Sutherland somehow cleared off the line and smuggled away by Purvis before the goalscorer could get his shot away

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Hall denied Bearne for a second time in quick succession on sixteen minutes as he brilliantly turned the winger's shot on the run away from goal to his right after he had cut inside from the right flank and looked to bend his effort into the far corner of the net

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Gwilt was the latest man in white to go close for the hosts on twenty minutes as Joel Taylor's deep free-kick from the left caught Wrexham ball-watching, allowing Gwilt to ghost in at the far post and volley his effort narrowly wide of goal from the corner of the six-yard box

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Stevenson had cut a frustrated figure so far up front for the Pitmen, holding the ball up well and making plenty of willing runs without any real sights of goal so far. A good run into the box from the former Leek man on twenty-seven minutes saw him pick up a pass from the lively Alamu-Tajudeen and take the ball into the box, only to see his low driven effort blocked by Cruise

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A minute later, Sutherland went agonisingly close to adding to his tally as he got the better of Purvis on the right, taking down a Rowe throw-in before having the audacity to try his luck from an acute angle that struck the base of Hall's left-hand post

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Another Bearne corner caused Wrexham some issues shortly before the half-hour mark as they struggled to clear their lines. Kory Roberts did well to pick the pocket of the dawdling Harry Dean and play Gwilt into the space in front of him, with Gwilt's shot from a tight angle saved at his near post by the overworked Hall

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A minute later, the Pitmen's pressure finally told as they grabbed a second goal in spectacular style; Sutherland picked up Bearne's pass out on the left flank and cut inside, drifting past two Wrexham players before dispatching an unstoppable effort beyond the reach of Hall and finding the far top corner of the net from sixteen yards out. A super strike from the forward

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Wrexham had offered the square route of nothing in the attacking third so far but did have a sight at goal of their own ten minutes before the break; patient play from right to left saw the ball worked out to left-back Tom Kelly, whose deep cross to the far post was turned into the side-netting by Callum Edwards as Brown stepped across to cover his goal

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Hall nearly handed Sutherland a chance to make it a first-half hat-trick on forty minutes as Saprkes swung in a fine ball from the left that was dropped by the goalkeeper at the feet of the incoming Sutherland, only for Purvis to spot the danger and clear the ball

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Three minutes later, Rowe's long throw on the right was inadvertently flicked on by Purvis towards Sutherland, who did well to predict the bounce of the ball as he turned quickly past Cruise, forcing Hall into a smothering stop on his six-yard line with a sliced effort at goal

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It had been another well-controlled, confident and, most importantly, prolific half of football in front of goal for the hosts, who had once again dominated possession and created a host of chances for their front men. Sutherland's two goals may well have given King a selection headache he wasn't perhaps expecting come Saturday as the forward continues to impress as the inside forward coming in off the left flank

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Any assumptions that the Pitmen may slow the tempo down in the second half were dispelled within three minutes of the restart as they charged forward to extend their lead further. Alamu-Tajudeen's through ball sent Bearne away into acres of space down the right. He got a little lucky with the bounce of the ball as he played a one-two off Kelly before standing up a cross for Sutherland at the far post, who turned the ball into the net with a scuffed effort that may have come off the boot of Tommy Clayton last, although the goal was awarded to the Hednesford man

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Sutherland was rampant for the Pitmen, and very nearly made it four for the night just three minutes later as Maye's ball forward was flicked into his path of the hapless Purvis once more, allowing Sutherland to turn the ball towards goal from the edge of the penalty area. Despite Hall diving the wrong way, fortune favoured the stopper on this occasion as his trailing boot did enough to divert the ball away and deny Sutherland a certain goal

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With the hosts in full control of proceedings, King made his first changes of the evening on the hour mark as McHale came on in place of the excellent Bearne on the right and Sutherland was afforded a standing ovation for his hat-trick as he left the field to be replaced by Duku. The final of three changes also came up front as the out-of-luck Stevenson was replaced by Jervis

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McHale very nearly conjured up a quick remarkable fourth goal for the Pitmen with his very first touch of the ball; picking it up inside his own half, McHale showed wonderful close control to dribble past no fewer than four Wrexham players before spotting Hall off his line and attempting an audacious effort from thirty-five yards that dipped just over the crossbar

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On sixty-nine minutes, the tiring Sparkes was given a well-earned rest by King as he came off and was replaced by Matthew Barnes-Homer, who took up an unusual spot in the centre of defence alongside Roberts

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A corner kick from McHale two minutes later out on the right saw sung into the six-yard box by the substitute, with Kory Roberts somehow failing to apply the finish as the ball flashed across his body with the goal gaping in front of him. The Pitmen once again worked hard to win the ball back and return it to McHale, who tried his luck from another impossible position out on the right that forced Hall into punching the shot away at his near post

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The substitutions continued unabated for the hosts as Jamaican international Holness came on in the centre of midfield to replace the hard-running Alamu-Tajudeen on seventy-three minutes

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Local lad Williams - a rare survivor of last season's brutal squad cull - came on between the sticks for the remaining fifteen minutes of the game as he was handed a chance to impress King

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Another McHale corner on the right conjured up the final goal of the evening on seventy-seven minutes as his ball into the near post, aimed at Barnes-Homer, was diverted into his own net by the body of Dean from close range

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The Pitmen's final change of a busy second half came with eleven minutes left as midfield maestro Spence was handed a late run-out as he came on in place of skipper Roberts

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Wrexham showed some late resilience as they pushed forward against the makeshift Hednesford defence, with Purvis heading over for the Red Dragons on eighty-two minutes as he reached a deep free-kick from the right

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The Pitmen now move onto the serious stuff on Saturday as they kick off their season in earnest with a trip to Racing Club Warwick in the extra preliminary round of this year's F.A. Cup. We should have a good idea of where this exciting side is in relation to the season's expectations after what will no doubt be a good workout against fellow step four opponents on the 3G pitch at Townsend Meadow

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Hednesford Town: Brown (Williams 75), Rowe, Taylor, K. Roberts © (Spence 79), Sparkes (Barnes-Homer 69), Gwilt, Bearne (McHale 60), Maye, Stevenson (Jervis 60), Sutherland (Duku 60), Alamu-Tajudeen (Holness 73)     Subs Unused: None

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Wrexham XI: Hall, Clayton, Kelly, Moore, Dean, Purvis, C. Edwards, Cruise, Hazeldine, H. Roberts, Rainbird    Subs: D. Edwards, McTweed, Rees, Slozarsky, Almadia, Nuaz, Nicholas, Jones, Owen, Triallist

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