Hednesford 2 Tiverton 1

Elliott Durrell was the hero as Hednesford opened their Zamaretto League campaign with a dramatic last minute win over Tiverton.

Richard Walker was dismissed on 32 minutes for aiming a punch at a Tiverton striker and Dean Edwards' team battled to stay in the game until Durrell stepped up to the plate on 92 minutes, finishing clinically after his first effort had bounced back off the upright.

Ben Bailey opened the scoring for the Pitmen after 13 minutes with a powerful header, which was blocked on the line but then rebounded back off the unlucky Tiverton goalkeeper Steve Book.

The game swung violently towards the away side in more ways than one when Walker saw red.

Referee Hayward shocked everyone in the ground when he dismissed the Hednesford captain and from the resulting free-kick the Keys Park faithful had Bailey to thank for a brave block on the line to keep the score at 1-0.

Influential midfielder Tony Dinning moved into the back four, as boss Edwards was forced to re-shuffle his pack. In a brave move he decided to keep two in attack but Tiverton enjoyed the lion's share of possession right through until the final whistle.

Ward was powerless to prevent the equaliser on 53 minutes, when Dean Griffiths turned Bailey and was brought down by. Dave Morrissey stepped up and despatched the resulting penalty kick into the bottom corner.

The winner came when Barnett flicked the ball through and Durrell raced clear. He fired past Book but saw his attempt rattle the left-hand post.

'Lady Luck' smiled sweetly on him as the ball rebounded back. He dropped his shoulder, took on a defender and calmly drilled the ball into the net.

The Pitmen fans erupted and scenes of unbridled celebration in the Hednesford dug-out showed how much the three points meant.

The result and especially the performance has sent a strong message out to Hednesford's promotion rivals. They will be looking to build on this game when they face Stourbridge at Halesowen's ground on Tuesday night.