It proves to be a case of 'After the Lord Mayor's Show' for the Pitmen this afternoon as they have to rely on a late Manny Duku equaliser to earn a scrappy point at home to Wythenshawe Town this afternoon

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Coming off the incredible high of Tuesday night's 8-1 demolition of Clitheroe, new manager Gavin Hurren had made his first move into the transfer market to bring in the notable face of midfielder Joe Doyle-Charles from Leamington for an undisclosed fee. The 29-year-old came straight into the side as one of two changes to the side that had started against Clitheroe with Doyle-Charles coming in for Omar Holness and Jack Rose replacing Ryan Brown in goal. Joel Taylor had recovered from a virus to take his place among the substitutes

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Newly-promoted Wythenshawe Town had found the step up a struggle so far this term, sitting in the final relegation spot ahead of kick-off. Manager Rory Fallon had been busy in the transfer market ahead of today's game with no fewer than five new faces in his squad. Alex Panter (Maine Road), Jibran Ahmed (loan from Blackpool), Domaine Rouse (Clitheroe), Shay Logan (Cove Rangers) and Seb Bolton (Spennymoor Town) all joined the Blues ahead of today's game, with only Panter making the starting XI as one of three changes to the side that had started the 1-0 defeat against Congleton; Panter replaced Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro, Niall Fallon came in for Aaron Morris and Rodney Ajayi was preferred to Lee Wilshaw

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In front of yet another 1,000-plus Keys Park crowd, the visitors made a more assertive start to proceedings as Rose was forced into an early save in the third minute, palming away a first-time effort from Panter from ten yards out after a good run from Chinedu Uche down the right had seen him skip past Dan Sparkes and pull the ball back from the byeline and into the path of the oncoming debutant

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The hosts had become accustomed to quick starts to the game in recent weeks but found the going tough early on against an away side that had clearly done its homework on the Pitmen beforehand. Dan Trickett-Smith swung in a corner kick from the right in the seventh minute that was aimed at the head of Ollie Harrison, who stretched to reach the ball at the far post but headed well wide of goal

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Trickett-Smith had the Pitmen's first real sight at goal in the eleventh minute, lashing a low shot at goal just wide of the post from fifteen yards out after Jack Bearne had latched onto Elliott Johnson's raking long ball forward down the left and pulled it back into the path of the playmaker

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Two minutes later, Bearne earned his side a free-kick thirty yards from goal after being brought down by Sam Sheridan, allowing Tuesday's goal hero Sparkes to float a left-footed free-kick into the box where Kory Roberts diverted his header from ten yards out wide of goalkeeper Greg Hall's left-hand post

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Roberts was involved at the other end of the pitch sixty seconds later as he managed to get enough on Sheridan's deep free-kick to flick it away from Luke Merrill at the far post and turn the ball behind for a corner kick to the visitors

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Neat interplay from the Pitmen three minutes later saw Sparkes, Sion Spence and Jervis all link up to play Bearne into space behind Sheridan once more, only for a tight offside flag against the winger to pull the play back before he could whip the cross in

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Jervis very nearly played Dom McHale in one goal with a neat flick-on in the twentieth minute following a long punt forward from Rose, only for the ball to narrowly escape the clutches of the in-form playmaker and end up in the grateful gloves of Hall

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Wythenshawe Town were content to play on the counter, using the pace of Uche and the craft of former Burnley and Scotland midfielder George Boyd to good effect. A quick break down the right midway through the first half saw Uche wriggle clear of Sparkes and cross for the incoming Matt Liptrott, who wildly fired over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area as Johnson looked to close him down

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Sparkes picked up the game's first booking of the afternoon on twenty-six minutes as he brought the lively Uche down twenty yards from goal, handing the away side a free-kick in a dangerous position. Sheridan took the resultant kick and played a floated ball to the far post that Roberts again managed to deal with aerially to head away from Fallon and Eddie Servuts

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Boyd probably should have opened the scoring for Wythenshawe Town a minute later with a glorious chance; a throw-in from Liptrott caused the Pitmen all sorts of problems, with Servuts cleverly flicking the loose ball over his shoulder and into the path of the veteran, whose low driven shot across goal narrowly skipped wide of Roses's far post

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Wythenshawe Town's direct approach to the game bore fruit shortly before the half-hour mark as they took the lead through Uche in controversial circumstances; a long, hopeful punt forward from Ajayi caught the high line of the Hednesford defence out, with Uche making the most of it as he chested the ball down before sidefooting the ball past Rose at his near post from fifteen yards out. On closer inspection, Uche appeared to have been a yard or so offside when the pass was played but despite the protests of the Hednesford players and officials, referee Mr Hales allowed the goal to stand ​

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Back came the Pitmen, in search of an immediate response through a Trickett-Smith corner kick a minute later that was headed back to him, with the former Liverpool man playing in a delightful rebound that was somehow missed by a forest of legs at the far post and ended up out of play just past the far post

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McHale picked up a costly booking on thirty-five minutes for arguing with Mr Hales after a free-kick was awarded to Wythenshawe Town, earning him a fifth yellow card of the season for dissent and a one-match ban in the process

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Halle denied Bearne an equaliser for the hosts on thirty-eight minutes, making a fine save down to his left to divert the winger's shot away from goal after a fabulous run and pass from McHale from deep

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The excellent Ajayi picked up Wythenshawe Town's only booking of the afternoon four minutes before the break for his only real misdemeanour of the game so far after he had brought Jervis down twenty-five yards from goal

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The away side went straight down the other end and were denied a second goal of the afternoon through some wonderful covering defending from Johnson, who somehow managed to get back on his line and hack Uche's low driven shot off the line after a quick break down the left saw Boyd spray the ball out to the unmarked winger on the opposite side of the penalty area

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The same player was guilty of a wild effort at goal on forty-three minutes, lifting his shot high over the crossbar after once again getting the better of the struggling Sparkes on the right-hand corner of the Hednesford penalty area

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It had been a tame display from the hosts so far, trailing to a well-organised Wythenshawe side that had earned their lead with some dogged defensive play and quick counter-attacking football. As had been the case so many times this season, Hednesford would need to find a way through two banks of four in front of them in the second half if they were to continue their fine recent run of winning form

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The Pitmen fared little better in the opening stages of the second half despite Hurren's half-time words, continuing to run out of ideas in the final third and being overly reliant on Jervis to win the aerial battles against Akayi and Merrill. A flick-on from the big man on fifty-two minutes looked to play Bearne in on the left, but again Hall spotted the danger early and smothered the ball before it could reach the winger

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Harrison picked up the Pitmen's third yellow card of the afternoon on fifty-five minutes as his mistimed challenge on Servuts handed Wythenshawe Town a free-kick on the right that Sheridan played into the box but was easily cleared by Johnson's no-nonsense boot upfield​

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Shortly before the hour mark, Hurren had seen enough from his shot-shy side and made an attacking change as top scorer Duku came on to play up with Jervis as he replaced Spence. Sparkes was also replaced by Taylor at left-back as the Pitmen looked for more legs down the flank to support Bearne

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Jervis was left frustrated with Mr Hales on sixty-two minutes as his leap and flick-on to Bearne once more was deemed a foul against Merrill, who angered the Heath Hayes terrace by seemingly feigning his injury before leaping back to his feet and continuing with the game after the award of a free-kick against Jervis

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Midway through a slow burner of a second half, Trickett-Smith and McHale stood over a free-kick to the right of the Wythenshawe Town penalty area, with Trickett-Smith electing to float the ball to the far post where Roberts and Harrison were both denied by Ajayi's timely clearance

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Trickett-Smith was the latest man in white to earn himself a booking on sixty-six minutes as he caught Fenton Green with a late challenge to stop his former Leek Town team-mate from breaking into the centre circle

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Jervis - with two goals in his last two games for the Pitmen -  should have done better with a chance he created for himself on sixty-eight minutes, picking up a Roberts pass on the right before driving infield and past Liptrott, only to weakly strike a bobbling shot straight into the arms of Hall at his near post

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Another rapid counter-attack from the men in blue on seventy-four minutes saw Boyd look to play Servuts in on goal behind Harrison but was denied by an offside flag against the former Widnes and Nantwich Town striker

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This was to be the final action of Servuts' afternoon as Wythenshawe Town made their first change of the afternoon three minutes later with new signing Bolton coming as he replaced the striker

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Roberts picked up a partially cleared Trickett-Smith corner kick on the right on eighty minutes and returned the ball into the six-yard box, where yet again no-one in white was able to turn a fine cross home, with the ball ending up out of play on the far side and several players holding their heads in disbelief

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The pressure was starting to ramp up on the Wythenshawe Town defence at this point as the hosts desperately looked for a route back into the game. On eighty-two minutes, another Trickett-Smith free-kick was played into the six-yard box from the right but was again slightly overhit as it looked to pick out Harrison, with Ajayi again on hand to clear

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The Pitmen's pressure finally told on eighty-five minutes as Duku popped up to grab his sixteenth goal of the campaign; Roberts' long punt out of defence was seized upon by Jervis, who looked to be clear on goal before a challenge on him from Ajayi sent him sprawling. With the supporters screaming for a free-kick and a red card for the Blues defender, Mr Hales gave the Pitmen the advantage with Duku scooping up the loose ball on the edge of the box, taking it around the dive of Hall before firing into the roof of the net from eight yards out

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Before the game could restart, Zidan Sutherland was brought on to add his pace to the side as he replaced Bearne on the left flank to see if he could get goal side of the excellent Sheridan in the final minutes

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The game was now very much being played in the Wythenshawe Town third of the pitch as the Pitmen sensed a late winner - on eighty-seven minutes, McHale's dancing feet down the right saw him beat two players and cross for Jervis, who was denied at the near post by a clearance from Merrill

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Panter's game was run on eighty-seven minutes as the youngster was brought off by Fallon and replaced by another one of his new signings, the experienced Rouse

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Two minutes later, frantic defending inside the Wythenshawe Town six-yard box saw Trickett-Smith's corner from the left drop into the danger zone before eventually being blocked and cleared by Liptrott after Johnson had looked to get a shot away from close range

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Jervis was presented with an absolute gift of a chance to win it for the Pitmen in the first of five added minutes as an angled ball into the box from Roberts was fumbled by the advancing Hall, who was blocked by Sheridan and inexplicably dropped it at the feet of Jervis, who seemed so surprised at this gift of a chance that his sliced his shot over the crossbar with the goal gaping in front of him. A great chance wasted late on for what would have no doubt been the winner

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Depending on your viewpoint, this could be looked upon as either a point gained or two dropped for the Pitmen. Either way, the Pitmen remain mired in the lower part of the top ten, still within a clutch of points of the play-offs but having had their recent winning run checked by a hardworking Wythenshawe Town side that deserved at least the point they took away from them. The consecutive home games keep coming for the Pitmen this week, with fellow mid-table dwellers Bootle making the trip down from Merseyside on Tuesday night

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Hednesford Town: Rose, Roberts, Sparkes ▆ (Taylor 59), Spence (Duku 59), Harrison ▆, Johnson ©, Trickett-Smith ▆, Doyle-Charles, Jervis, McHale ▆, Bearne (Sutherland 85)       Sub Unused: Gwilt, Brown

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Wythenshawe Town: Hall, Sheridan, Liptrott, Fallon, Merrill, Green, Uche ©, Ajayi ▆, Servuts (Bolton 77), Boyd, Panter (Rouse 87)       Subs Unused: Morris, Ahmed, Wilshaw   

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