Despite a flying start to proceedings, the Putmen endure a tough and attritional ninety minutes this afternoon as a patched-up side that was reduced to ten men in the second half earns a point against Wythenshawe at Keys Park

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Tuesday night's narrow win over Shifnal Town had set up a mouthwatering F.A. Cup fourth qualifying round tie against Vanarama National League side Gateshead next weekend, with the club confirming yesterday that the game had been picked for live TV coverage by the BBC in a further boost to the club's profile and coffers. On the pitch, manager Steve King made one change to his side from the one that had started in midweek as Manny Duku was preferred up front to Rob Stevenson. Blaine Rowe passed a late fitness test but was only made the substitute's bench as Simeon Maye continued in an unorthodox right-back role

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Newly promoted Wythenshawe made their first-ever trip to Keys Park off the back of a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle Town last weekend, leaving them in tenth position going into today's game. Manager Shane Goldrick made two changes to his Ammies side as Ryan Tioffo and Jacques Etia came in for Arron Hevingham and veteran schemer Mike Phenix

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The four-figure crowds keep coming as the Pitmen played in front of a 1,000-plus crowd for the fourth successive game - a feat not achieved so far this century. And what a start the home crowd were handed as the Pitmen swept into the lead with the game's first attack on two minutes; Dan Trickett-Smith's delightful inswinging cross from the right was headed chipped by Jake Jervis, looping the ball over the head of Wythenshawe goalkeeper Kyle Haslam before coming back off the underside of the crossbar. Right-back Ally Brown followed the ball in but under pressure from Duku could only divert the bouncing ball into his own net from a matter of inches out

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The Pitmen looked to build on their flying start as Jack Bearne made a slalom-like run down the right in the sixth minute, leaving Abiola Obasoto in his wake and pulling the ball back towards Duku, who had his pocket picked by some smart defending from Ally Brown at the far post

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Three minutes later, Trickett-Smith sent over a deep corner kick from the right that was flicked on by Kory Roberts six yards from goal but headed clear by the versatile MJ Monaghan before Jervis could react in time

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Elliott Johnson was alert to Wythenshawe's first foray into Hednesford territory on twelve minutes, getting his toe to the ball and taking it away from young Burnley loanee Ryan Tioffo as the teenager broke into the box down the inside right position after picking up a long pass from Benjamin Mail

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Good approach play from Dom McHale on sixteen minutes saw him exchange passes with Bearne on the left before a delightful piece of footwork from McHale sent Bearne away into space behind the Wythenshawe defence. Bearne's low, driven effort across goal was aimed at Jervis but was cut out by skipper Luke Worth for a corner kick

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On the opposite wing, the Pitmen created a good opening for Joel Taylor on eighteen minutes as Sion Spence and Duku combined to play a neat reverse pass into the feet of the left-back, who ran into acres of space before chipping a cross into the box that was cleared. However, after over-stretching to reach the ball, Taylor remained on the floor holding his hamstring and required a lengthy spell of treatment from sports therapist Dan Brayson before very gingerly getting back to his feet and continuing with the game

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This was to prove to be the first in a series of incidents that sent the Pitmen's once-positive afternoon into a downward spiral as Taylor - who had been limping since he had pulled up a few minutes earlier - was forced off holding his left hamstring on twenty-one minutes and was replaced by Rowe, who slotted into an unfamiliar left-back role

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Three minutes later, goalkeeper Jack Rose went down inside his own penalty area holding his leg after taking a goal-kick, requiring more intensive treatment from Brayson before he also got back to his feet in a somewhat unconvincing manner and carried on with the game

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Somewhat against the run of play, Wythenshawe found themselves level once more on twenty-six minutes; Roberts' unconvincing header away found Obasoto, who was allowed to run unchallenged from the edge of the box and into the penalty area, pulling the ball falling nicely into the path of the lively Tioffo who had the simple task of guiding the ball past Rose from eight yards out with a well-struck low effort that ended up in the bottom corner of the net

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Tioffo continued to give the hosts the runaround as he found pockets of space inbetween the lines to confuse the Pitmen and made him difficult to know who was picking him up. On twenty-nine minutes, he was involved once more with a fine pass out to Darrhyl Mason on the left, whose cross was unconvincingly cleared by the home side to Abdullahi Ahmed on the edge of the penalty area, who struck a rising shot at goal that sailed over Roses's crossbar

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The visitors continued to look the more threatening in the final third and went close to turning the game on its head on thirty-three minutes as a corner kick from the right was cleared as far as Cameron Annis-Wade twenty yards from goal, whose firm first-time effort sailed just wide of Rose's left-hand post

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It was to prove to be a busy and somewhat bizarre afternoon of decisions from referee Mr Porter from this point onwards, as the match official showed what was to be the first of a raft of yellow cards to Jervis for simulation on thirty-five minutes, despite the striker being tripped by Annis-Wade twenty-five yards from goal as he took the ball away from him

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Two minutes later, goalscorer Tioffo followed Jervis into the referee's book after he had chased Duku down the Hednesford left and hauled the striker down in full flight. Trickett-Smith took responsibility for the free-kick and lifted the ball into the box, finding Jervis lurking inside the six-yard box. However, the former Birmingham City man's downward header from close range dropped the wrong side of the post when he really should have put the chance away

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Wythenshawe, you felt, were more than happy with the current situation as they had stopped with the high press at this point and were happy with two banks of four in front of the Hednesford players in a bid to keep the game tight. Tioffo made a surging run down the right for the away side on thirty-nine minutes that saw him drift past Rowe before being eased off the ball by some excellent defending from Johnson to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick

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With a couple of minutes of the first half remaining, McHale was the latest player to incur the wrath of Mr Porter as the midfield man was rightly booked for a frustrated swipe at Obasoto down the Wythenshawe left to stop the full-back from making progress

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Rose was causing concern on the terraces and the touchline for the Pitmen as he once again required a lengthy amount of treatment in the first half added time after once again going down inside his penalty area with no one around him

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At the very end of eight minutes of added time, the Pitmen were dealt yet another blow as Spence - who had been limping through the first period - came out worse in a challenge on him from Annis-Wade and had to be helped off the pitch before being replaced by Omar Holness

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The injuries to key players in the first half had left the Pitmen in a sorry state in defence, with three players now playing out of position as King desperately looked to plug the mounting gaps in his side. Unbelievably, there was to be even more bad news for the Hednesford manager ahead of the second half as Roberts also had to admit defeat with a hamstring issue and was replaced by utility man Jacob Gwilt before the second half could start. This meant another reshuffle in defence, with midfielder Holness playing at right-back, right-back Rowe playing at left-back and defensive midfielder Maye - already playing out of position at right-back - now shunted across to centre-back alongside Johnson

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​The Pitmen started the second half brightly and forced back-to-back corner kicks out of Wythenshawe in the opening minutes of the half, with Trickett-Smith playing a short corner into the path of McHale on forty-seven minutes although his shot was blocked and cleared

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A quick break down the right from the Pitmen on fifty-three minutes saw Maye, McHale and Duku all involved in laying the ball back to Bearne, whose wild effort inside the 'D' flew high over the crossbar. Perhaps with a little more composure, the winger should have taken a touch first as the space was all around him

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Two minutes later, Jervis picked up Duku's knock-down thirty yards from goal, turning inside of Ally Brown before trying his luck with a curling effort that took a nick off the right-back and flew wide for a corner kick

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The nightmarish unfolding of the afternoon still had another sting in the tail for the hosts on fifty-seven minutes as they were reduced to ten men with the dismissal of Jervis for two bookable offences. The striker appeared to be caught by Annis-Wade just inside the Wythenshawe half, clashing legs with the midfielder as they both challenged for the ball. To the amazement of the home crowd and Hednesford players, Jervis was shown a second yellow card for what had been a perceived foul on Annis-Wade when it appeared that the Wythenshawe midfielder had committed the foul

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Bearne - now playing on the left flank after switching with McHale for a spell - made a superb run into the Wythenshawe box on fifty-nine minutes before pulling the ball into the six-yard box where goalkeeper Kyle Haslam claimed it at his near post ahead of Duku

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Two minutes later, a brilliant delivery from Trickett-Smith saw him send over a sumptuous inswinging corner from the left that was somehow missed by everyone inside the six-yard box and ended up wide of the far post when someone in white really should have turned the ball home

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Wythenshawe's first change of the afternoon came on sixty-three minutes as midfielder Jardel Depeiaza came on in place of Etia for his fifth substitute appearance of the season

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Mr Porter's decision-making was called into question once more on sixty-eight minutes as a clean-looking challenge from Bearne on Ally Brown saw the winger come away with the ball but was somehow interpreted as both a foul and a yellow card by the match official. Bizarre stuff

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The Pitmen only had one more window to make any more changes, with King electing to make a double attacking change on seventy-three minutes with Stevenson and Zidan Sutherland coming on in place of the desperately disappointing Duku and McHale, who had both been off the pace all game long and had contributed little for the cause

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Sutherland's first involvement in the game was to be handed a great chance to put the Pitmen ahead once more just two minutes after coming on; neat play down the right from the Pitmen saw Bearne play a superb, intricate through ball behind the Wythenshawe defence for Holness to run onto, with the Jamaican international standing up a cross to the far post that was headed goalwards by Sutherland but straight into the grateful arms of Haslam​

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With thirteen minutes remaining, Stevenson made a superbly-timed run in behind the Wythenshawe defence to latch onto a pass from Bearne, nipping in ahead of the onrushing Haslam and lobbing the ball towards the empty net, only for the effort to lack enough pace on it and allow Ally Brown to get back and clear the danger ahead of Sutherland. However, the bigger talking point was the collision between Stevenson and Haslam after the striker had got his shot away as the goalkeeper had appeared to wipe out the Hednesford substitute on the edge of the box with a late tackle that left both players on the ground. Despite strong calls for a straight red card from both Hednesford players and fans, Mr Porter failed to show the stopper a card of any colour and continued to play on with a throw-in to the Pitmen

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With nine minutes remaining and both sides seemingly content to take a point apiece, Wythenshawe brought on defender Fraser Goodwin in place of skipper Worth

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Great play from Stevenson on eighty-three minutes saw him show great close control on the right-hand corner of the penalty area before chipping the ball into the danger zone where Sutherland could only head well wide of goal under pressure from Ally Brown once more

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Annis-Wade was booked by Mr Porter on eighty-five minutes for a foul on Trickett-Smith in midfield to blatantly stop the playmaker from launching yet another attack from deep

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In a bid to close the game down and protect their point, Goldrick made a third personnel change on eighty-nine minutes as goalscorer Tioffo was brought off and replaced by Hevingham

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There was to be six minutes added on at the end of the game, and still plenty of drama to come as the ten-man Pitmen desperately pressed for a late winner. Depeiaza was shown a late yellow card for a foul on the outstanding Maye in the centre circle that stopped the midfielder from playing a forward pass

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Deep, deep into added time, a late moment of inspiration from Bearne saw the winger show great footwork to bring Trickett-Smith's pass down and jink past Obasoto in the same movement, resulting in the left-back tripping the former Liverpool man. Mr Porter awarded the home side a penalty kick with one of his more authoritative decisions of the afternoon. Despite calls for Trickett-Smith to take the kick, Sutherland assumed responsibility and struck a low penalty to Haslam's right which the stopper guessed right on, pushing it around the post with a fine save to deny the Pitmen a late winner

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With no time left to launch another attack, the Pitmen had to be content with a hard-fought point against a Wythenshawe side that you felt had been playing for the point since Tioffo's equaliser in the first half. King will no doubt be a frustrated man tonight, not just at some of his misfiring big names not performing up front but at the alarming increase to his injury list in just forty-five minutes today. With a quick turnaround of games again as they travel to Witton Albion on Tuesday night, King may well have to do some wheeling and dealing in the next few days for the first time in his tenure to bring in some much-needed defensive reinforcements or face putting a patched-up side out at Wincham Park whilst he assesses the injuries picked up Taylor, Spence and Roberts today on top of the already missing Dan Sparkes

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Hednesford Town: Rose, Maye, J. Taylor (Rowe 21), Spence (Holness 45), Roberts (Gwilt 45), Johnson ©, Trickett-Smith, Jervis ▆▆ (57), Duku (Stevenson 73), McHale ▆ (Sutherland 73), Bearne ▆    Sub Unused: None

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Wythenshawe: Haslam, A. Brown, Obasoto, Monaghan, Mail ▆, Worth © (Goodwin 82), Tioffo ▆ (Hevingham 89), Annis-Wade ▆, Mason, Ahmed, Etia (Depeiaza 63 ▆)     Subs Unused: Owen, H. Brown

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