5.4.2025
Pitching In Northern Premier League West
Wythenshawe Town
Hednesford Town
Hussey (56)
(0) 0
(0) 1
Attendance
MoTM
Current Form
Next Match
252
Elliott Johnson
W W D W W W W W L W
Kidsgrove Athletic (A) 12.4.25
The Pitmen get themselves back to winning ways this afternoon with a narrow win over relegation-threatened Wythenshawe Town in their first ever visit to Ericstan Park, bringing Gavin Hurren's side within five points of league leaders Widnes in the process and leaving the hosts with much to do as they look to avoid an instant return to step five
Last weekend's defeat to Trafford had brought a halt to the Hednesford bandwagon after fourteen games unbeaten in the Northern Premier League West. Hurren was able to welcome back Joel Taylor for today's game, with the left-sided player replacing the suspended Simeon Maye and the first of three changes, with the others coming up front as Jake Jervis replaced the injured Dom McHale and Niall Watson was preferred to Jack Bearne
Wythenshawe Town were in the midst of a poor run of recent form, having dropped into the bottom four and not having won in their last six league games. Despite this rotten run of form, manager Rory Fallon remained faithful to his Wythy side from the one that had been beaten 1-0 at play-off chasing Congleton Town last Saturday, naming the same XI for today's return to Ericstan Park
It was a beautiful sunny early Spring afternoon and on first inspection, the pitch looked in good nick until the game kicked off, when it became quite obvious that it was in very poor condition - the ball bobbled across a horribly uneven and bone dry surface, with dust kicking up every time the ball bounced on it. Dan Trickett-Smith was first to register a shot at goal in the second minute, picking the ball up thirty yards from goal and advancing up the pitch before firing in a shot that sailed over the crossbar from range
Trickett-Smith was the first casualty of the terrible pitch three minutes later, making a darting run into the penalty area to latch onto a Nathan Blissett flick on, but losing his footing as he looked to cut the ball back across the face of goal and ended up on the deck on the left-hand byeline
Jervis - playing on the shoulder of the last man - escape the attentions of the Wythenshawe Town defence in the eighth minute as he raced onto a long point forward from Trickett-Smith, taking the shot on early and looked to try a lob over goalkeeper Greg Hall from eighteen yards out, but didn't get enough purchase on his effort and made it an easy claim for the stopper
The hosts seeemed content to soak up the Hednesford pressure and look to catch them on the counter, with a long ball forward on eleven minutes from veteran skipper Sam Sheridan dropping into the path of Jacob Blyth, who saw the ball taken away from him by the excellent Elliott Johnson as the Hednesford skipper cleared his lines
Another great chance dropped Jervis's way three minutes later as he picked up a loose back pass from Matt Liptrott to take the ball into the Wythenshawe Town penalty area, but saw his angled effort from twelve yards out to saved by the legs of Hall and turned behind for a corner kick
Taylor and Jervis linked up well down the left flank on sixteen minutes, with Jervis playing a neat reverse pass in behind the Wythenshawe Town defenders to find the underlapping run of the former Chester man, whose low cross into the six-yard box was hacked away for another Hednesford corner kick
Wythenshawe Town's best chance of the game fell at the feet of former Burnley and Scotland man George Boyd in the twentieth minute as a cross from the left from Rodney Ajayi was not cleared by the Pitmen and dropped to veteran Boyd, whose half-volley from ten yards out skipped just past Tony Breeden's left-hand post
It was a home player's turn to lose his footing at a crucial moment midway through the first half as Uche picked the ball up to the left-hand side of the Hednesford penalty area and looked to take the ball past Morgan, only to stumble on the most inconvenient moment for the striker as he lost control of the ball and allowed it run out of play for a goal kick
Jamie Morgan picked up the game's first yellow card of the afternoon on twenty-six minutes, receiving a caution from referee Mr Moosa for deliberately blocking Hall as the veteran goalkeeper looked to take a free-kick quickly
Morgan was involved again on thirty-one minutes as one of his barnstorming runs towards the opposition penalty area was checked by Liptrott, handing the Pitmen a free kick to the right-hand side of the Wythenshawe Town penalty area. Chris Hussey and Trickett-Smith both took a look at the set piece, with Hussey attempting a left-footed effort that cannoned back of the wall and was cleared by the hosts
Four minutes later, Jervis found himself in on goal once more as a delightful threaded pass from Trickett-Smith sent the former Blues man away in behind the Wythenshawe Town defence. Before the experienced striker could turn the ball past Hall, he appeared to have his ankle clipped by the covering Liptrott, sending him sprawling to the ground a yard or so inside the penalty area. Despite the Pitmen's vociferous protests, both on the pitch and on the sidelines, Mr. Moosa declined to award them a penalty kick
Breeden was called upon for the first time in the afternoon to make a smart save on thirty-seven minutes as he made a good stop to palm away a header from Fenton Green to his left after the young midfielder had headed Uche's cross goalwards
With four minutes of the half remaining, Emmanuel Omorogbe rose highest inside the Hednesford penalty area to meet Boyd's right-wing corner kick but got underneath the ball and headed high over the crossbar
The final chance of the first half fell to Jervis once more on forty-four minutes as Watson latched onto Hussey's long ball forward down the left flank, teasing his way past Omorogbe before laying the ball off to Jervis on the penalty spot. Green did well to make a covering tackle, however, getting across to block the striker's first-time effort and clear the danger
It had been something of an attritional first forty-five minutes from both sides, if the truth be told, with the dreadful pitch a major contributor in this as both sides resorted to simply lumping the ball into the air at every opportunity. The hosts made a half-time change of personnel as Joel Igwewanne came on to replace Liptrott at left-back
Breeden had to be alert to make the first save of the second half down to his right on firty-eight minutes after his defenders had failed to clear their lines down the Wythenshawe Town right, allowing Boyd to fire in a bobbling effort from the corner of the box that the veteran stopper managed to claim at the second attempt to stop it from dropping into the far corner of the net
A neat passage of play from the Pitmen two minutes later saw Trickett-Smith and Joe Doyle-Charles link up to send Taylor away down the left, with Taylor exchanging passes with Jervis before crossing low into the box where Watson turned the ball into the net at the far post, only to be denied by a offside flag against Watson in the build-up
The Pitmen got their noses in front on fifty-six minutes as the excellent Hussey registered his first goal for the club; Watson earned the visitors a free-kick just outside the Wythenshawe Town penalty area after being brought down by Sheridan, although the Wythenshawe Town bench felt that Watson had played for the free-kick. Hussey and Trickett-Smith stood over the dead ball before the veteran defender curled in a wonderful set-piece beyond the despairing dive of Hall to his left, thumping the inside of the post before the ball nestled in the far corner of the net
Midway through the second half, man of the match Johnson made an outstanding block tackle to deny Ajayi to the right of the Hednesford penalty area after initally looping his clearance straight into the path of the striker, making the ground up to come across and throw his body in front of the shot and turn the ball away from goal
Veteran Sheridan picked up Wythenshawe Town's first booking of the afternoon on sixty-seven minutes as the 35-year-old was shown a yellow card by Mr Moosa for a foul on Watson to stop him breaking down the flank
Sixty seconds later, Fallon made his first change of the afternoon as the ineffective Kieron Molloy was brought off and replaced by former Stalybridge Celtic forward Jacques Etia
On seventy minutes, the hosts looked to make another attacking change as they looked for a way back into the game as former Bury striker Sajjad Elhassan came on in place of Uche
Hussey followed Morgan into Mr Moosa's book on seventy-three minutes as the former Sheffield United defender was shown a yellow card by the official for a foul on the lanky Blyth. Boyd's resultant free-kick into the box was aimed at Blyth, but Breeden's presence saw him punch the ball away from danger before Ollie Harrison completed the clearance
Bearne was brought on to add his pace and craft on the left flank for the visitors a minute later as the ex-Liverpool winger came on in a straight swap with Taylor
Bearne was straight into the action two minutes later, picking up Blissett's lay-off and taking the ball into space, but was another casualty of the barren pitch as the ball got caught under his feet and allowed Green to make a smothering tackle to deny him a shot at goal
With ten minutes remaining and the Pitmen looking to run the clock down, Hurren made a change to his attack with Zidan Sutherland replacing Blissett up front; this saw Jervis move into a more central position to allow the substitute to play off the right flank
On eighty-four minutes, Wythenshawe Town made a further attacking change to their side as Fallon brought on the vastly experienced Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro in place of Blyth
On eighty-five minutes, the Pitmen made another, more conservative, substitution as defender Kory Roberts came on to shore up the back line as he replaced Watson, who picked up a retrospective yellow card from Mr Moosa after taking far too long to leave the field of play
Sutherland - full of running and wllingness to clase the ball down - did well to get goal side of Sheridan on eighty-six minutes as he kept the ball in on the right-hand touchline, teasing his way into space and pulling the ball back to Jervis, who had his pocket picked by Omorogbe on the edge of the Wythenshawe Town penalty area before he could get a shot away
Akpa-Akpro picked up a late yellow card from Mr Moosa after bringing down Trickett-Smith and was followed into the book just seconds later by Elhassan as he clipped the legs of Bearne in full flight to stop the substitute from breaking into space in the Wythenshawe Town half after the Pitmen had taken a free-kick quickly and looked to play Bearne into space down the left flank
There was just enough time for Wythenshawe Town to make a fifth change of the afternoon deep into added time as former Oldham Athletic youngster Trey Turner replaced Ajayi
A welcome - and timely - return to winning ways for the Pitmen, with news filtering in of a draw for league leaders Widnes against ten-man Newcaslte Town at the Lyme Valley Stadium, meaning that the Pitmen leapfrog Vauxhall Motors back into second place and only five points behind Widnes with four games left to play. However, another tough task appears on the horizon next Saturday when Hurren's men take a trip to the north of the county to face another team in desperate need of points in their search for safety in the form of Kidsgrove Athletic
Wythenshawe Town: Hall, Sheridan ©, Liptrott (Igwewanne 45), Grundy, Omorogbe, Green, Uche (Elhassan 70 ▆), Ajayi (Turner 90), Blyth (Akpa-Akpro 84 ▆), Boyd, Molloy (Etia 68) Subs Unused: none
Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan ▆, Taylor (Bearne 74), Johnson ©, Harrison, Hussey ▆, Watson ▆ (Roberts 85), Doyle-Charles, Blissett (Sutherland 80), Jervis, Trickett-Smith Subs Unused: Gwilt, Brown
