The Pitmen's excellent start to 2025 continue this evening with dominant second-half display, and two very well taken goals, to defeat struggling Wythenshawe at Hollyhedge Park

​

A long day at Keys Park had started with news of the departure of top scorer at Manny Duku by mutual consent, allowing the striker to return to his native Netherlands for family reasons. However, manager Gavin Hurren had moved quickly to cover for the loss of the experienced Duku with the signing of former Hereford, Ayr United and Grimsby Town striker Ahkeem Rose. In the defensive areas, the squad had been heavily hit by a spate of injuries and unavailability since Saturday's win over Witton Albion, meaning Hurren was limited in his options ahead of tonight's trip up to Greater Manchester. In came Kory Roberts, Jacob Gwilt, debutant Rose and Joe Doyle-Charles as Chris Hussey, Joel Taylor, Jack Bearne and Nathan Blissett all missed out. There was a first-ever call up to the first team for Development Side youngster Alex Harrison, such was the threadbare nature of the squad going into tonight's game. Zidan Sutherland - who had enjoyed a fine spell out on loan at local rivals Stafford Rangers in the past month - returned to the squad and was named amongst the substitutes

​

Wythenshawe's inuaguaral season at step four had proved a challenging one for the Ammies so far, with the hosts sitting down in twentieth place going into the game after successive defeats to fellow strugglers Clitheroe and Stafford. New manager Danny Moss elected to stick with the same XI that were beaten 3-2 by Clitheroe on this very pitch at the weekend, despite a late red card for striker and goalscorer Darrhyl Mason

​

It was a typically chilly late winter evening in the flightpath of Manchester Airport, with the Pitmen heavily backed by a very large percentage of the 345-strong crowd. The host started the game on the front foot, pushing the Pitmen back into their own half in the first five minutes and winning the first two corners of the evening in the process. A corner swung in from the right from Alastair Brown in the fourth minute was aimed at the head of tall striker Andy Keogh, but was headed away by the presence of the returning Roberts

​

More heavy pressure from the home side a minute later saw them work the ball into the box through skipper Arron Hevingham, with Ollie Harrison making the first of a series of important interceptions to deny Noel Brindle a chance to shoot from fifteen yards out

​

The Pitmen's first foray into enemy territory came in the ninth minute as Don McHale made a run across penalty area and laid the ball off to Niall Watson, whose first time shot from fifteen yards out was blocked by Luke Worth

​

A minute later, McHale drew, a foul out of Louis Corrigan to the right hand side of the Wythenshawe penalty area. Dan Trickett-Smith stood over the resultant free-kick but curled his ball into the area slightly over the heads of both Roberts and Harrison at the post

​

In truth, the opening quarter of the game was a poor, tepid affair, with the ball spending much of it's time in the air as both sides struggled to control the tempo or keep possession for long spells. Wythenshawe were content to sit behind the ball and allow the away side to play, looking to hit them on the counter-attack by aiming balls up to Keogh. On sixteen minutes, a free kick given away by Roberts on Mason handed the hosts a free kick thirty yards from goal, to the right of the Hednesford penalty area. Hevington took the kick and played it in to the far post, where Tony Breeden claimed the ball ahead of Keogh at full stretch

​

Two minutes later, Doyle-Charles picked up the evening's first booking from referee Mr Churchill for what appeared to be a fair challenge on Michael Monaghan in midfield as the pair rose to meet a long goal kick out by Kyle Haslam

​

The game finally crackled into life just after the midway point of the first half, after late a poor challenge by Brindle on McHale right in front of the two benches left playmaker flat out on the deck and both sets of players entering into bout of pushing and shoving as the young referee struggled to restore order. Breeden was heavily involved, as was Harrison, with Keogh wading in for the Ammies and comedically taking a blatant dive to the floor holding his head after an altercation with Breeden. After all of the drama had settled down, Keogh and Brindle both picked up yellow cards for their part in the piece

​

Before play could restart, Gwilt had to admit defeat in what had been only his second start of the season as a quad injury picked up a few moments earlier saw him taken off and replaced by Bearne. Jamie Morgan moved across to left-back to deputise for the injured Gwilt, with Doyle-Charles taking up an unfamiliar role at right-back

​

On the half-hour mark, Wythenshawe had a great chance to open the scoring through Keogh as he got on the end of a move down the left involving Corrigan and Will Igoe, getting goal side of Harrison but toe-poking his shot wide of Breeden's right-hand post from ten yards out

​

The referee was not exactly endearing himself to the Hednesford supporters with a series of baffling and inconsistent decisions throughout the first period; on thirty-eight minutes, Morgan appeared to be hauled down by Igoe as he entered the Wythenshawe penalty area down the left, only for the game to continue with a quick break for the hosts, culminating in Keogh once again taking a dubious trip to the floor under pressure from Simeon Maye and was handed a free-kick twenty-five yards from goal. Maye was also booked for the alleged foul, which he argued vociferously against with the young official

​​​

Roberts was next to pick up a yellow card from the wildly inconsistent Mr Churchill on forty-one minutes as he was penalised for pulling back Mason thirty yards from goal to deny the forward a chance to break into the penalty area. Hevington lined up the free-kick from range but drove his effort over Breeden's crossbar as the wall stood firm in front of him

​

The Pitmen went agonisingly close to ​opening the scoring with the final action of the first period as Maye earned his side a free-kick to the right-hand side of the Wythenshawe penalty area after a trip by Monaghan. Trickett-Smith lined up the free-kick and curled a delightful effort over the wall and past Haslam, but saw his effort come back off the crossbar and back into play, with Harrison's attempted follow-up blocked by Brown

​

It had been a largely uneventful and very poor game of football thus far, with chances at an absolute premium at both ends. Trickett-Smith's late effort had been the only actual shot on target throughout the whole half, with neither goalkeeper having had a save to make of any real note as the quality had plunged as low as the temperature

​

The powerfully-built Rose had looked a handful in the first half, using his strength to good effect as he looked to play off the shoulder of the last man. Within forty seconds of the restart, the debutant fired in his first shot of the night after a driving run in on goal, firing just wide of Haslam's right-hand post with a low effort from eighteen yards out

​

On forty-nine minutes, Breeden's excellent distribution saw him play a superb long ball out to McHale, who took full advantage of Corrigan's slip to bring the ball inside from the right flank and curl a low shot just wide of the far post with three defenders around him, looking to shut him down

​

Wythenshawe responded with a good chance of their own two minutes later; long throw from the right from Brown was not fully cleared by the Pitmen as the ball bounced around their own penalty area. It eventually dropped at the feet of Igoe, who took a touch before drilling in last shot at goal from fifteen yards out that flashed just wide of Breeden's left-hand post

​

​Brown was lucky not to follow his teammates Keogh and Brindle into the referee's notebook a minute later as he cynically chopped Bearne down in full flight, handing the Pitmen a free kick on the corner of the Wythenshawe penalty area but escaping with no more than a talking-to

​​​​​​​​​​

On fifty-four minutes, Morgan followed Roberts and Doyle-Charles into the referee's notebook in bizarre circumstances as the full-back cleanly won a ball from Igoe, but remonstrations from the home side saw the full-back booked instead and a soft free-kick handed to the hosts

​​​​

The Pitmen's second change of the evening came up front on fifty-eight minutes as Watson - again not really showing enough as an attacking force - was replaced by big target man Blissett

​

This proved to be a masterstroke of a change for the Pitmen as the big man made a huge difference with his physicality and aerial power, winning flick-ons and also controlling the ball well with his back to goal to bring other players into the game. One such touch saw him nod the ball down to Trickett-Smith on the hour mark, with the midfielder sending Bearne away down the left; his run and cross found Rose, whose attempted shot was blocked and turned behind for a corner kick by Worth

​​​​

The Pitmen finally made their second half pressure count on sixty-three minutes as Rose capped off an encouraging debut performance with a brilliant goal. Blissett was involved once more as he cleverly played a one-two with Rose on the left, sending the striker in with a perfectly weighted ball over the top. Without breaking his stride, Rose struck a powerful low shot across goal, beating the dive of Haslam and finding the far corner of the net from sixteen yards out

​

The goal seemed to fracture Wythenshawe's fragile confidence, as their gameplay started to suffer with misplaced passes and allowing the Pitmen to win the ball back with ease. Doyle-Charles won the ball in midfield on seventy minutes and played McHale into space, with the locally-based midfielder dancing past two challenges before drilling in a low shot that skipped inches wide of Haslam's left-hand post​​

​

Wythenshawe's first substitution of the evening came in the seventy-second minute as tricky winger Aarron Grewal came on in place of the long-serving skipper Hevingham

​

The game started to become stretched at this point, with the ball going from end-to-end quickly as both sides tried to counter the other. Wythenshawe broke quickly through Monaghan on seventy-four minutes, with Harrison once again imperious at the back for the visitors as he came across the body of Mason and intercepted the ball in his own penalty area​​

​

Rose thought that he had sealed victory for the Pitmen on seventy-five minutes as he latched onto a long, raking ball forwards from Harrison and spotted Haslam off his line, attempting an audacious lob over the stopper from twenty yards out that dropped just wide of the post

​

The away fans gave Sutherland a warm welcome back into the fold on seventy-seven minutes as the striker came on in place of Rose up front, with the debutant also given a standing ovation by the travelling masses for an excellent debut performance

​

A minute later, Moss made his second change of the evening for the home side as young striker Tremaine Eastmond was brought on to add to the shot-shy attack as he replaced Worth

​

On eighty-one minutes, Trickett-Smith linked up well with Blissett to send Bearne away once more on  seventy-six minutes, with the former Liverpool man showing great feet to trick his way past Brown and cross for the incoming Blissett at the near post, who was beaten to the ball by Fraser Goodwin

​

Sutherland was straight into the action, latching onto a Doyle-Charles long throw a minute later and looked to swivel on a sixpence on the six-yard line, but could only scuff his shot into the ground and Wythenshawe could clear their lines

​

It was left to Bearne to wrap up all three points for the Pitmen on eighty-six minutes with another excellent strike from range; Maye did well to pick the pocket of Keogh in midfield and slip the ball through to McHale, whose fierce strike from twenty-five yards out forced Haslam into a save down to his right. The ball ran to the incoming Bearne, who brilliantly executed a half-volley on the follow-up to slam the ball home from fifteen yards out

​

A very satisfying evening's work for Hurren's side, who had had to be patient in breaking down a stubborn Wythenshawe side over the ninety minutes but had been good value for the win with a composed and dominant second half display. Five wins in seven unbeaten games lifts the Pitmen back into fourth place in the Northern Premier League West table and within six points of second-placed Congleton Town. Another relegation-haunted side play host to the in-form Pitmen on Saturday as they make the short trip up to Stoke-On-Trent to face twenty-first placed Hanley Town, who are eighteen points from safety already and look destined for certain relegation

​

Wythenshawe: Haslam, Brown, Corrigan, Goodwin, Worth (Eastmond 78), Hevingham © (Grewal 72), Monaghan, Brindle ▆, Mason, Keogh ▆, Igoe      Subs Unused: Mail, Shenton, Orhenomare

​​​​

Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan ▆, Gwilt (Bearne 27), Maye ▆, O. Harrison, Roberts ▆, Watson (Blissett 58), Doyle-Charles ▆, Rose (Sutherland 77), McHale ©, Trickett-Smith    Sub Unused: A. Harrison, Brown

​​​​​​​